At the Classic & Wooden Boat Festival

Despite some dramatic weather on the preceding days, 

it was bright and fine for the Classic & Wooden Boat Festival at 

the Australian National Maritime Museum 

over the weekend of 13/14th October.

Marijke set up her easel on the wharf

and Jane was positioned high up on the HMAS 'Vampire'.

The members of the Australian Society of Marine Artists

exhibited their paintings inside the Museum, and

the Artists-In-Residence displayed some of their

preparatory sketches and paintings in a tent at the wharfside.

Marijke working on a painting of 'Carpentaria'

Christine sketches maintenance work on 'Endeavour' and 'James Craig'

The Australian National Maritime Museum has made us very welcome,
and one morning in August some of the women artists met at there and
sketched and painted around the wharves. It was a very windy day,
so I was happy to snuggle up on the deck of the tall ship 'Endeavour'
and sketch from there. I have never used so much red paint!

On 'Endeavour' there is always work to do, and Steve and Tony have a nice shady spot this morning.

 Over in the large building called 'Wharf 7', alongside the tall ship 'James Craig', 

is a workshop where one of her masts is currently laid out for work.  

It was a lovely scene of 'boaty' clutter, and I settled into 

the corner and sketched the guys at work.  

I think I will make a large watercolour painting of this scene - 

it is evocative of the Sydney Heritage Fleet's whole ethos.  

Here in the workshop of Wharf 7, the mizzen mast of 'James Craig' is laid our for a complete stripping of old varnish and white lead paint.  It's a tedious work, and Cody and the volunteers keep at it!

Elena Parashko looks through the porthole of 'John Oxley'

            The coastal steam ship, John Oxley (1927), is on the floating Heritage Dock 

undergoing major restoration. Donning a hard hat, climbing up the scaffolding to board 

this vessel and walking through the deteriorating compartments of the John Oxley 

gave me an insight into how magnificent this steamer once was and will eventually be again. Small details instantly caught my eye and imagination. In my artistic practice, much of 

my work is aimed at highlighting the beauty all around us that often goes unnoticed 

in the busyness of our lives. I found much fuel for inspiration here.

During this pause in construction, painting there and then on board John Oxley 

was not an option, so I relied on taking quick photographs to record

 the images that made a visual and emotional impression on me. 

I worked from these reference photos and my personal experience back home in the studio.

 An open porthole with cracked glass transported me to a different time and place. 

I empathised with all sailors who travel far from home and miss their loved ones 

and imagined them being on the open sea and thinking of 

their wives and children who were waiting for their return. 

That inspired me to paint “Thinking of You”. Looking through the porthole, 

I painted a view of the open ocean instead of the current reality of the shipyard setting.

Thinking of You

Jane Bennett paints the 'Lady Hopetoun'

As the 'Lady Hopetoun' was the first vessel that was acquired by the Sydney Heritage Fleet, it seemed appropriate to kick off my residency in earnest with her portrait.

I looked for a quiet spot that was sheltered from the sun and wind to start my painting, 
and found a little nook sheltered by a forest of giant rusty pipes in the Ability Barges' yard 
next to the Heritage Dock. I explained what I was attempting to do and they were very happy 
to let me stay there to paint as it was out of their way. 
In the Sydney Heritage Fleet yard itself it can be difficult to get a complete view of some 
of the vessels, so I was grateful for this vantage point which gave me a great view.

I started the canvas, which is 36 x 46cm, about 2pm and had to leave off at about 5pm when the light faded. It is about half-finished - plein air painting can leave you with the problem of having several half-finished works waiting for the right weather conditions and time of day to complete. 

I'll need to return to put the finishing touches to this work - same time, same kind of sunny day!

At the Heritage Dock - first thoughts, by Marijke.

Artists on Induction tour of the Dockyard

Marijke Greenway  writes of her impressions of visiting the Heritage Dock, and gives the story of how some paintings were created  ....

All the artists-in-residence met at the Rozelle site for the induction by Tim, so, wearing our hard hats and cameras we followed Tim around the site for the grand tour.

First day impressions

After the tour, I set up to paint as I had brought all my painting gear. I tried to capture what had been my first impression of the Rozelle site, and that was the enormous bulk of the John Oxley. Seeing it side on, but just the bow of the ship, it was almost an abstract shape of white, black and red, divided into sections by rivet heads. So that was what I painted the first day, but I did not finish it.

I visited the site each Thursday and slowly got used to the enormity of the John Oxley; this week I painted an almost glamorous picture of her beautiful dry-dock shape - enhanced by sunlight and shadow and made more interesting with all the cranes and scaffolding around her and even a bit of city skyline and the Anzac Bridge. Getting the perspective right on this painting was the hardest bit, I kept measuring against the Anzac Bridge and eventually got it right. Then there was the trick of laying in the shadows very early as the whole picture can change dramatically in half an hour.  



John Oxley

I was thinking that each one of the three boats I painted had a different problem -  the iwas  straight in front of me, so practically no perspective, just face to face. The Lady Hopetoun was below my field of vision, so the most  difficult to get a decent perspective as, due to the wall of steel behind me,  I could not stand back far enough. Then the John Oxley towered so high above me that I had to crane my neck and put my head into abstract mode to fit her on to the canvas.  But I managed it and feel satisfied that I painted what was brewing in my mind over the past few weeks.

Suzanne sketching 'Endeavour' at the North Wharf of the Australian National Maritime Museum

Captain James Cook sailed the Endeavour , which was built in 1768-71.

The Replica ship built in 1994 has "30 kilometres of ropes and 750 wooden blocks or pulleys; 

the masts and spars carry 28 sails that spread approximately 10,000ft (930 sq m) of canvas".

Members of the ASMA AIR Programme spent an enjoyable day sketching and painting this vessel - 

maybe not every detail of the rigging was included by me - more sketching needed!

Artists-in-Residence workspace on the 'Kanangra'

On our first day at the Heritage Dock, I walked on board the old ferry 'Kanangra'.  How different from the days when I rode in her to work each day!

The top deck is our workspace - an art studio and a Mens Shed.

Freshly red-painted windows were laid out to dry on a bench - the golden afternoon light flooded the interior - here was a painting subject and I started work with pencil and watercolour .......

Warm afternoon light through an orange tarpaulin, cool blue interior.

Back at home, I could take my time and develop the subject.  Because the only available canvas was not a matching rectangle, I had to adapt the original sketch and bring the window frames more to the foreground; after all, that beautiful new red paint deserved pride of place.

The finished oil painting next to the sketch.
(I still want to keep the sketch, so made sure it was safe in a plastic pouch from oily splashes .)

Painting the Lady Hopetoun

I was amazed how difficult it was to paint the Lady Hopetoun at an angle, as her nose was nearly touching the wharf and it is difficult to get a good place to stand because of the forest of iron pipes that stand on the wharf in front of her...

Anyway I found a little 'inlet' and set up my easel and got to work getting her lovely lines onto my board.  I was going great guns when the wind that was forecast came up and knocked  over my easel, and paints  and all my dirty painting water over the painting as well as over my clothes. That's when I packed up.

Painting the Kanangra face to face

Today is my first adventure of being an Artist in Residence for the Sydney Heritage Fleet at Rozelle Bay. I sign myself in at the huge shed and don a bright red safety helmet, which means I can't wear my usual painting hat with the shady brim, but never mind.

The ferry Kanangra

A plein-air artist can look like a beast of burden, bags attached to shoulders and weighing down each arm, all equipped for a good day's painting outside, the easel, canvasses, paints, bucket, brushes and of course some lunch, for this is an all-day affair, I have come a very long way today.

 I wander around all the very important ships and boats - there is the huge John Oxley balancing high above me on rows of blocks, many angles that could become a painting.  Then there is the Kanangra ferry which does not present well from her side, but then I discover her lovely face, wrinkles and all, and that's where I spent the day, face to face with the Kanangra. My easel was lightweight and wobbly and wedged into a tight corner where I watched, overcome by the industrious throngs of men who were refurbishing the boats.  Bob and Peter said they had been there, working on the boats, for 20 years, almost a lifetime.

Day 1 – Jane Bennett and the SS ‘John Oxley’

On the first day Jane Bennett produced a finished work and impressed the others enormously!

Art and Life

Marijke in action – and Christine's sketch of Marijke in action!

Christine sketching Marijke at work

The sketch