When one thinks about art the small South Australian town of Cowell, on the eastern end of the Eyre Peninsula, does not come to mind. The Louvre, Museum of Modern Art, Musée d'Orsay, Museo Nacional del Prado, Uffizi Gallery sure, they come to mind when one thinks art, but Cowell? No, there's no way it could ever compete with the best galleries of the world. But art exists nonetheless and I went to take a look last week.
Cowell, South Australia
The small town of Cowell lies 493 kilometres by road from South Australia's capital city, Adelaide. Back in the mid-1800's Franklin Harbour was seen as the natural and most convenient place to load ships with the local product, wheat and wool. The town of Cowell sprung up in 1880, named for John Clayton Cowell, a British soldier who also served as the Governor of Windsor Castle in England. Around 900 people call the town home these days and...Well, it's a sleepy little place with not much going on at all.
Silo art
Grain-silo art, and water-tank art for that matter, is gaining much momentum in Australia. It is a great way to attract people to small towns that otherwise would not see a lot of visitors and helps to generate much-needed economic stimulus though those visitors spending money in the towns; Lunch and coffee's It's better than stark white silos too.
The towns engage artists to do these massive works of art and often use it as an opportunity to showcase the local area, town itself or personalities who live, or lived in the town. This is certainly the case here in Cowell. It was completed in 2019
Artist Austin Nitsua took only two and a half weeks to create this artwork and chose to use black and white to represent the past and colour to represent the essence of what remains, the present and future. He has also chosen to use a hyper-realistic colour palette to help portray the stunning western sunsets the town enjoys. The main subject is local personality Lionel Deer and you can see one of his camels, Diamantina, on the left, a historic building and parrot on the right.
The camel was chosen to signify strength, dependability and resilience; Traits that the tough folk who made a life out here needed. Lionel could be anyone from the area; Farmer, shearer, fisherman, father, brother, husband, grandfather, cameleer. Each wrinkle on his face tells a story of persistence, hard work and perseverance through a lifetime spent upon this harsh land; That what it takes to carve out a life in places like this.
You can also see an historic ruin depicted on the right silo; It was a school and is remarkably well-preserved, can still be seen to this day. Then the Ring Neck Parrot represents the journey the local community still travels as they overcome the challenges of life in a harsh land - A struggle many small Australian towns face.
Lionel Deer
Lionel was a local character who developed a fascination with camels in his 30's. You may not know but there are over a million feral camels in the Australian outback left over from those the Afghanistan-cameleers brought over in the early 1800's as pack animals for outback exploration. The early explorers realised quickly that horses were ill-suited to the task and so imported the cameleers and their beasts. Most were let loose eventually and they simply thrived here. They are culled sometimes and farmed for their meat as well. It's really amusing to see feral camels in the outback - Not something one expects.
He offered rides to locals and tourists alike and would appear around the area at fairs and events cementing himself and his camels as local legends. I think Lionel and his very first camel Diamantina are a great choice to represent the area on the silos.
The old-timer was 85 years old when the silo art was completed and he posed in front with the artist and said, it was the greatest thing that even happened in his life. The chap is a prankster, a joker, father, grandfather, great grandfather...A hard worker, loyal, generous and tough as old nails. He's an example of what this harsh land of Australia produces.
Silo art in Cowell.
The silos are pretty huge as you can see from the image above with my Landcruiser parked in front. The gate in the lower left of the top image will also add some perspective. These silos are visible when travellers drive into the town and I'd say that very few would pass by without stopping for a closer look. I was there a week ago on a pretty nice sort of day and I think the blue skies make the silo art pop a little better right?
What to do in Cowell
The main street of Cowell.
The town of Cowell comprises of a main street with a few shops, a hotel and not much else. People come here as a stop-over on the way through although the fishing is pretty good so there's no shortage of people coming here for that. The great local fishing has helped drive the need for a new marina which is being constructed at the moment. A friend of mine who owns an earth-moving company has the contract actually, so it was good to see how his crew is progressing. Below is the marina so far. In the distance is one of his machines and you can see the breakwater being constructed. To the right, out of shot, is where all the real work is being done, but I didn't get a good photo of it.
One can take a stroll on the coastal boardwalk through the mangroves and do some birdwatching, take a swim in the tidal aquatic area or throw a line off the jetty somewhere. Nearby is a nice park, picnic area and playground also.
The new marina being constructed.
Franklin Harbour has calm waters which attracts boaties and fishermen and so holiday-makers come to Cowell which helps drive the economy. Fish on offer are silver whiting, snapper, mullet, tommy ruff, garfish, salmon and a few others - The area is also an important element of the pacific oyster industry, the waters being ideal for farming that tasty treat which can be sampled at the pub, straight from the water in fact!
Part of the long jetty where one is almost certain to bag some fishy treats.
I usually spend a lot of time in remote areas, the wilderness and outback, and getting there means travelling vast distances across Australia - It's a big country. One of the most enjoyable things is to stop at places like Cowell, poke around, buy a pie or pasty and a coffee and see what one can see. These are the grass-roots locations of our country but are often in decline these days as the younger generations all seem to want the faster lifestyle cities provide. It's sad really; Being a farmer doesn't seem to be a very attractive job these days - Maybe the work is too hard in a society where people just want handouts. For me? Well, I love these small places and the relaxed, slower lifestyle they provide. I'm a country boy by birth and I feel comfortable in places like this.
When I travel through these places, where possible, I stop in and spend a little money, talk to the locals and get a feel for it. That's what I did in Cowell too spending ninety minutes looking at the silos, wandering the street and marina area whilst sipping a locally-made coffee...And yes, just maybe I had a donut too, but I'm not admitting to it. But if I did admit to it I'd say, it was just to boost the local economy.
Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default - Tomorrow isn't promised so be humble and kind
Discord: galenkp#9209
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Wow, I love that Silo art. I know I've beaten you up about drones at least twice this week, but think of the great shot you could get of that from 100-200-300-400 feet up in the air with the other countryside in the background. That would be awesome. I'm going to hold you to that shot once you eventually get your drone to go back and take some comparison shots. They will be amazing.
Enjoy!
K
This is what I like about you Kris, you never miss an opportunity! 😂
I agree though, getting a drone up and doing a far to near fly-in from high up and a kilometre away down to the level of the top of the silos would be cool. I promise I'll get it done when I am drone-equipped.
If I crash I'm blaming you.
Drone flyers are like Motorcycle riders. There's only two types.....
Those that have crashed and those that are going to.
I'm still in the going to category, hope to welcome you soon!
lol
Maybe you can talk @liverpool-fan into giving you a deal on his Mavic to get your feet wet, He's somewhere on your island and talking about upgrading to Mavic2 Pro. He posted some nice beach shots this week.
I'm almost completely positive I'll crash pretty early on. I had a model plane once...Built it up, practices on the simulator that came with the controller...First flight...Crashed and burned. I did a funny post on it a while back.
I think @liverpool-fan is in Sydney, 1850km from me. Still, if he wants to send me his drone I'll be grateful. 😆
I thought I would crash pretty early on too. But the Dji technology is amazing, most of the flying in automated. If you loose the sight of the drone just let go of the controller and the drone just hovers in the same position. If your not confident to land, just press 'come back home' button... It's so much fun
There is a concerted effort on hive to get me to buy one...I'm warming up to it...It's a money thing at the moment as I'm not much of a want buyer, more a need buyer. I'm sure it'll happen.
Wow some amazing places to see art...
I know right? Really cool...I*t's pretty impressive to see it in person too...Those silos are big!
Yeah those will definitely hold a harvest that's for sure.
That art in the silo is great, it reminded me of an Argentine muralist who does that kind of work. Even looking at this photo from his Instagram I read that this mural is also in a small town, in Australia. https://www.instagram.com/p/BhoP6R6Hf5k/?igshid=18hn08r766zx4
Thanks for sharing and showing us about Cowell ❤.
It's pretty cool right?
I'm sorry, I can't see your link because I'm not on Instagram.
Oh, sorry. Here is the post 😃.
Yeah, this is in Tumby Bay, I was there last week.
Great ❤️.
This is really pretty cool Galen. You got a great shot of the silo art and that grabs you right away. Then reading the back story was effortless. Loved this. My morning read with my coffee😃
Hey mate, thanks for your cool comment and compliment. These silos never fail to impress me; They are so large and impactful and are just really cool to view in person.
Cowell is a nice little spot to be honest, great fishing and quiet too. I didn't eat at the pub on this trip but have been told it's very good too. Seems a decent combination right?
I hope you and Camille are well, and the canal cruising is still awesome. I'm still
jealousenvious too. 🙂I didn't know it was your post at first the photo just 'grabbed' me. Then I was ahh that makes sense. Then I started to have a read and it was a great morning read. I didn't know about the ferral camels and this dudes story as both back drop and lead in the photo stitched it all nicely together. These towns kind of remind me of those towns in the middle of nowhere in texas and new mexico too.
We are all good. We have ran into a possible gearbox issue but we are having the boat out of the water in June to reblack the hull so hoping i can nurse the old girl through and do it all same time.
As I was writing I wanted to tell more of Lionel's story but it would have made the post far too long so maybe someday I'll tell it in a separate post - It's quite interesting.
These places, small outback towns, are quintessentially Australian and there's always something of interest to be found: Characters like Lionel and quirky stories. There's something comforting about wandering main streets in places like this. It reminds me of my own hometown...A small rural town that was not much bigger than Cowell.
Bugger about the gearbox, I hope you can get it through to the haul-out.
Keep on chugging.
also just uploading tour of the tiny boat on 3 speak. SHould be uploaded in 5 mins. You can be nosey 🤣
I'll have a squiz. 🤓
haha still waiting for 3speak to encode it shouldn't be long
finally uploaded
Love the art. And the camel especially. I think Australia is having the largest population of Camels in the world now. You saved them from extinction lol.
I don't know why but your story reminds me of a place in Texas I have been too. Small, tiny place with Silos that weren't painted and I had a coffee there while getting gas.
The art on these silos', *all silo's really, is pretty cool. Quite often the artists are from around the world too...Adds a little flavour.
The camels are often culled, shot, buy professional shooters - The same as I do on that cattle farm each week. They cause massive issues out there in the outback really, same as the brumbies (feral horses). They're also rounded up or culled where possible.
Its funny how remote or country towns can resemble each other even from across the world huh?
I know the term Brumbies but haven't heard it in years. As a kid I learned all horse breeds of the world and I was able to tell you by picture what type it was 😁.
I gently ignore the culling now lol, but yah, humans cause a lot of issues right? In the end it was them bringing all the animals over.
The world should be painted like that, maybe we would create a better one then. There are so many places and buildings that could use a touch of inspiration, that would make the humans be more inspirational and open maybe.
It would certainly be a more colourful world if some of the drab buildings were painted up like this.
Very impressive art pieces on those water tanks. Never really get it how someone can create something that cool on such a large scale...
It's pretty cool right? They use cherry-pickers to work up high, sometimes rigging from the top of the silos. It's all really cool.
Wow! Such a great art idea! I live in a small town in south of Brazil, here we have some of this silos, mostly for grains, like corn, soy, beans. But, something in the cultural patterns of people here cannot make this possible. Unfortunately "street art" or variations have minimum space here, its just not natural, maybe cause the culture of the traditional families, dont know. But, love to see this art! Thanks!
It's odd that your people there would rather see a plain white silo instead of a magnificent piece of artwork. Hmm...I guess like you say, it's probably cultural. Thanks for commenting though, I really appreciate it.
I am a big art fan and this is so fun to see. Street art out in the country becomes silo art. I like how you talked about going into the town and being a part of it, even if just briefly.
Small towns like this are dying as people move away, industry gets purchased by overseas operators and major roads bypass them...But they eek out a living and as a small-town country lad myself I like to support them. It's not an imposition to go in, look around and buy a pasty, coffee and donut. Pleasurable really.
Thanks for commenting.
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Woah, so much passion for arts to make these their canvas. Hmmm... I wonder if they had to pay for permission or they were granted the freedom to do so. Well, just being curious. If it was me, I would love my work to be there and be appreciated by many who might pass by the location. Such a brilliant idea!
The town commissioned the artist and paid him for his work. It happens in many towns across Australia, as per the post text.
Oh... I see. 😅