Cyril by Sally Heinrich

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ARTIST NOTES: South Australian Icons - Cyril
I recently learned that it’s the 100th birthday of the Stobie Pole in 2024, so here’s a print to celebrate this local icon. And the face behind it.
James Cyril Stobie was educated at Adelaide Tech. He won a scholarship but had to leave early due to the untimely death of his father, which meant taking over running the family grocery shop in Mile End to help support his mother and three sisters.
Known as Cyril, or simply ‘C’, he went on to complete his education at night school.
While working for the Adelaide Electric Supply Company (precursor to SA Power Networks) he became aware of South Australia’s problem with sourcing power poles. A lack suitable timber locally meant poles had to be brought from interstate at considerable expense, and these were being destroyed by termites. His brainwave was to use two steel beams filled in with concrete, impervious not only to termites but to wayward cars. (I found a letter to the editor that my dad wrote in the 1980s, questioning the headline ‘Killer Stobie Poles’ and whether it was really the poles that were at fault … ) Usually between 9 and 26 metres, heights of up to 36 metres are possible. They’re so tough that a Stobie Pole has a working life of up to 80 years, or even longer with new replating technology which can add another 40 years.
Cyril was paid £500 for the patent rights. There are now more than 725,000 Stobie poles, with around 4,500 new ones being made each year.

Hand coloured lino print
This print was created by carving the design, in mirror image, into a lino block. It was printed by hand on Stonehenge 100% cotton paper, and coloured using watercolour paints and inks. Therefore, although there are multiples available of the same image, each print is a unique and original artwork. The numbers on each piece refer to the edition size (to the right of the slash), which is the total number of that image that will be produced. The other number identifies the individual print. AP means the print is an artist’s proof, which is a stage in the development of the image, and may differ slightly from the final edition.

DIMENSIONS (Height - 52.00 cm X Width - 45.00 cm )
MEDIUM ON BASE Other Medium on Paper
GENRE Portrait
REGISTERED NRN # 000-38976-0146-01
COPYRIGHT © Sally Heinrich
PRIZES AND AWARDS No Awards

 

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Artist: Sally Heinrich




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