Painting the International Fleet Review at Barangaroo Part 2

During the recent International Fleet Review celebrations I painted on the Barangaroo wharf, close to my Moore's Wharf studio.  On Wednesday 9th and Thursday 10th I completed 3 paintings of the USS Chosin, HMS Daring and the 2 Australian ships HMAS Parramatta and HMAS Perth. 

My previous post showed the stage by stage development of these 3 canvases.

In this post I show the completed canvases of these ships, as well as 2 canvases I painted on Friday 11th October of their departure from the vantage point of my studio at the Sydney Ports Corporation Headquarters at Moore's Wharf.

 IFR2A 'HMS Daring at Barangaroo' 2013
 oil on canvas 25 x 51cm
Enquiries : janecooperbennett@gmail.com

This is the completed canvas of HMS Daring, with USS Chosin just visible in the background to the right.

IFR3A 'HMAS Parramatta with
HMAS Perth at Barangaroo' 2013 
 oil on canvas 25 x 51cm
Enquiries : janecooperbennett@gmail.com

HMAS Parramatta (154) and HMAS Perth (157) were tied together, making it difficult to paint the pair from the Barangaroo wharf.
Thursday was blisteringly hot, especially on the bare concrete wharf, but it rained Friday morning during the departure of the first 2 ships.

As you can see from the photo, there wasn't much difference between the grey of the sea, sky or ships - they were all of a piece.

Starting a panoramic canvas of
Sydney Harbour from Moore's wharf

IFR5 'HMS Daring  + HMAS Perth

departing Barangaroo-painted from Moore's Wharf'

2013 oil on canvas 25 x  153cm 

Enquiries : janecooperbennett@gmail.com

 

A few months before, I had started to paint a Sydney Harbour panorama on a stormy day. I wanted to put some ships in the centre, as it seemed a little empty, but I couldn't decide which ships to include.

The sky colour on Friday morning was so similar to this half finished canvas that I decided to use it to record the departure of the last of the ships from the International Fleet Review.

IFR5 'HMS Daring  + HMAS Perth
departing Barangaroo-painted from Moore's Wharf'
2013 oil on canvas 25 x  153cm 
Enquiries : janecooperbennett@gmail.com

By a stroke of luck, HMS Daring and HMAS Perth departed so close together that I could place them both on the same panoramic canvas. It provided the perfect opportunity to combine the beauty of Sydney Harbour with a historic event.

HMAS Perth was flanked by 2 small black and red tugs, the oddly named 'Rhumb Melba' and 'Rhumb Matilda'.
In the left foreground is the Ausbarge Marine Services boat, from the Barangaroo North Headland Park, currently under construction to the west of Moore's Wharf.

 IFR4 'HMAS Parramatta departing
 under the Sydney Harbour Bridge'
2013 oil on canvas 
 oil on canvas 31 x 61cm
Enquiries : janecooperbennett@gmail.com

By the afternoon, the weather had cleared, so that the HMAS Parramatta left Sydney under a glorious cobalt blue sky.

To continue my naval theme, the iconic Hammerhead Crane will be demolished early in 2014, and I have just received permission from the Navy to paint it from the vantage point of Garden Island itself.

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Painting the International Fleet Review at Barangaroo

The White Shed at White Bay

Demolition of the White Bay Transit shed will soon commence.

Cardinal, who demolished the wharf buildings at East Darling Harbour, have set up in the old canteen at the western end of the shed.

I started this canvas on Tuesday 8th November.

White Bay Transit Shed, from Berth 6, White Bay'
2011 oil on canvas 61 x 91cm.

I've been told that the gantries on either side of the shed have been heritage listed, but I don't know if they will be retained. White Bay has been confirmed as the site of the new cruise ship terminal.
Sydney Ports Corporation owns and manages White Bay Berths 1-6. The berths are leased to licensees who operate independent businesses including:
Private Harbour Cruises, Road Construction, Harbour Construction and Vessel Maintenance.

Starting to paint the sky of a canvas of the
soon to be demolished
'White Bay Transit Shed, from Berth 6, White Bay'
2011 oil on canvas 61 x 91cm

I've been allowed to paint the shed from the most eastern point, Berth 6, leased from Sydney Ports Corporation by Bailey's Marine Fuels.
Berth 5 is leased by the PB tug "Endeavour", a small and extremely cute pale blue tug with a black hull, only just over a year old.

My half finished canvas 'White Bay Transit Shed,
from Berth 6, White Bay' 2011 oil on canvas 61 x 91cm.

At Berth 4, is the scary looking "Sea Shepherd", bane of the Japanese whaling fleet. They will depart for Antarctica on Friday 18th November, so if I am to paint them I need to work fast.

'White Bay Transit Shed, from Berth 6, White Bay'
 2011 oil on canvas 61 x 91cm.

Berth 3 houses Waterway Constructions. They are now the proud owners of the largest crane I have seen since Titan sank.

'White Bay Transit Shed, from Berth 6, White Bay'
2011 oil on canvas 61 x 91cm.

Berth 2 has a motley collection of barges and a yellowish tug that looks just as battered as my station wagon. To the west are the Ausbarge tugs, the Morpeth and Coramba. Their funnels have been given a fresh coat of bright blue, since I last painted them.
Berth 1 is home to the tall ship, the 'Southern Swan', formerly known as the 'Svanen'.

'White Bay Transit Shed, from Berth 6, White Bay'
2011 oil on canvas 61 x 91cm.

 

The sullen clouds overhead developed into a violent storm, known as a "southerly buster".
The day after, Baileys started to construct an awning between the two blue containers, to provide shelter for their workmen.Later that afternoon an impressive southerly buster blew up, as you can see by the ominous stormclouds above the shed in both the painting and the photo.

'White Bay Transit Shed, from Berth 6, White Bay'
2011 oil on canvas 36 x 46cm.

The next day, Wednesday 9th November, I had to make an early start, as I had a very important appointment to keep.

In late 2009, I had been approached by some people from St Vincents Hospital to paint a block of heritage terraces soon to be redeveloped for the new Kollings Cancer Institute. Just when I had thought everyone had forgotten about this, St Vincents Hospital notified me that they had booked me to have a major solo exhibition of these paintings from 4th February - 8th March 2012.

Wednesday would be my opportunity to meet and discuss the exhibition before the organizers took their Christmas break.I arrived by 7am, unpacked and started this small canvas by 7.30am.

White Bay Transit Shed, from Berth 6, White Bay'
2011 oil on canvas 36 x 46cm.

However, to arrive at my meeting and still manage to look halfway human for the meeting at 1pm I had to stop painting by 11am and scrub myself clean.
The weather looked a bit dodgy, so the people from Bailey's kindly allowed me to store my half finished canvases in one of the toilet blocks in case it rained while I was away.
As I was going to take my collection of paintings of the Victoria terraces in to see how they would look in the exhibition space at Xavier level 3, I wouldn't be able to pack my wet canvases and easel on top of these earlier works without risking disaster.

Painting the White Bay Transit Shed, from Berth 6, White Bay.

White Bay Transit Shed, from Berth 6, White Bay'

2011 oil on canvas 61 x 91cm.

The meeting was a great success, and I'm very excited about the forthcoming exhibition at St Vincents, even though my last exhibition at the Frances Keevil Gallery has only just ended.
I'll barely have time to catch my breath between projects. 

White Bay Transit Shed, from Berth 6, White Bay'

2011 oil on canvas 61 x 91cm.

The tanks and containers are reflected in the pools of water left over from Tuesday's violent storm.

 

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"Tugs, barges and Tall ships"

 

"Sea no evil" 

 

"St Vincent's Art in the heart of Darlinghurst" 

Tugs, barges and Tall ships - Glebe Island, Jackson's Landing and White Bay

'The tug 'Edi' and the OES barge at Glebe Island wharf'
 2010 oil painting on canvas 31 x 41cm
SOLD
Enquiries about similar paintings

This tug escorted the OES barge to White Bay and then to Port Botany, where it is laying cables.

This canvas was painted at Glebe Island wharf, opposite LendLease's Jackson's Landing Development. In the background the yellow column of one of their apartment blocks pokes up like an impudent finger. There is an equally lairy lime green apartment block further down the road to match - their not entirely endearing local nicknames are the 'Lemon' and the 'Gherkin' respectively. Jackson's Landing was built on the site of the CSR Refinery and Distillery, which had operated on the north-western end of the Pyrmont Peninsula for over a century. A relic of these times, known as the 'Cooperage' can be seen directly in front of its fluorescent new neighbour.

'The OES Barge with the tug 'Edi' at Glebe Island from the park at Jacksons Landing, Pyrmont''
oil painting on canvas 25 x 31 cm
SOLD
Enquiries about similar paintings

The view from across the ditch.
This evening study of the barge and tug is painted from the park in front of the 'Cooperage' at Jackson's Landing.

'Dawn -The tug 'Edi' at Glebe Island wharf '
2010 oil painting on canvas 25 x 51cm
SOLD
Enquiries about similar paintings

Sunrise, with the tug docked in front of the Anzac Bridge. 

The grey apartment block in front of its eastern pylon, catching reflections of the rose pink dawn clouds, is the strangely named 'evolve' building. I hate buildings with verbs for names - especially in the imperative case. It sounds like a command - both patronising and presumptuous. 'Into what?' is the unspoken question.
The crew of the tug and the barge are making preparations for the departure to White Bay, and then, just as the song goes, they are bound for Botany Bay.

G45 'The tug 'Edi' with the 'Southern Swan' at White Bay'

2010 oil on canvas 31 x 25cm

SOLD
Enquiries about similar paintings

This was painted at the Ausbarge Wharf facility at Berth 2 White Bay, Roberts Street, Rozelle.
The tall ship 'The Southern Swan' (formerly the 'Svanen') is docked behind the Ausbarge tug 'Edi'. This tall ship, built in Oslo 1916 is a schooner (rig: triple masted gaff) used for educational sail-training.
Ausbarge's other tugs include the 'Warren', the 'Taralga', the 'Coramba', the 'Morpeth', the 'Bega', the 'Temora', the 'Marrakai' and the 'Mudgee' in roughly descending order from largest to smallest.

'The tugs 'Edi' and 'Morpeth' at White Bay wharf'    

2010 oil on canvas 25 x 31cm
SOLD

Enquiries about similar paintings

The 'Morpeth', much smaller than the 'Edi' is not quite the runt of the litter. She just looks dwarfed by the 'Edi' in comparison. She is a steel built twin screw tug with a 7 tonne bollard pull and a LOA 15.8m Draft 2.38m.
At the moment, White Bay is a sleepy little nook of Sydney Harbour, filled with little tugs, garbage barges, boats refuelling etc. All the flotsam and jetsam of the remnants of Sydney's working harbour.
But this will change - and soon.
Soon White Bay will be redeveloped extensively. The cruise ship terminal, now temporarily located at a marquee at Barangaroo's Wharf 5, will be permanently relocated to White Bay to make way for the Barangaroo redevelopment.
Plans for the new terminal are awaiting approval from the NSW Planning Department.
Construction is expected to start soon, with completion due in 2012. So watch this space!

 

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