Ghost ship - ex-HMAS Adelaide at Glebe - Part 2

HMAS Adelaide was decommissioned in 2008 and prepared for scuttling as a dive wreck during late 2009 and early 2010.
Her mast was removed, dangerous materials and toxins were removed, and access holes were cut in the ship's flanks.
She was originally intended to be sunk on 27 March 2010, 1.7 kilometres (1.1 mi) offshore from Avoca Beach, in 32 metres (105 ft) of water.

"The ex-HMAS Adelaide on Glebe Island wharf" 2010
oil on canvas 30 x 61 cm
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By late 2009 the Baulderstone group had left the northern end of Glebe Island, leaving it clear for the ex- HMAS Adelaide.
At the southern end, the 'Thor Kis' arrived with cable which would later be laid under Port Botany.
McMahons Services started preparing the ex-HMAS Adelaide for scuttling, which was then earmarked for March 27th 2010.

'Salt Truck at Glebe, with the 'Thevenard'

2010 oil on canvas

15 x 30cm
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I painted some other interesting visitors to the wharf.
In this painting you can see the ex- HMAS Adelaide lurking in the background behind a giant mound of salt being poured on the wharf from the salt ship 'CSL Thevenard'. This salt was then loaded into trucks and driven down to chemical plants at Port Botany.

Painting the 'Adelaide' on the wharf
Available

Painting the 'Adelaide' on the wharf
Available 
These 2 photos show me at work on the painting shown below. This large canvas, 61 x 183cm, really pushed the boundaries of what is physically possible in plein air painting.
When it became windy I would have to lie the canvas flat on the ground, or I would end up chasing it and my easel all over the wharf.

My easel and palette - gone with the wind !

Painting Ex-HMAS Adelaide at

Glebe Island wharf en plein air

Ex-HMAS Adelaide at Glebe Island wharf -

plein air oil painting

2011 oil on canvas 61 x 183cm
Available


"The ex-HMAS Adelaide on Glebe Island wharf"
2011 oil on canvas 61 x 183 cm
Available 
On the right hand side of this painting is the OES Barge. This finally left Glebe Island wharf for White Bay in June 2010, 1 day before leaving Sydney Harbour to lay cables under Botany Bay.
I had rushed to complete this, as some of the people on the wharf were quite interested in acquiring a work. I needn't have hurried, as a literally last minute decision pulled the plug on the scuttling.
Over a year of apparently interminable rolling legal action ensued before the end of the saga.
An appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal by a local and vocal
protest group 3 days before the sinking saw the project placed on hold until the case can be heard in full.
The case was originally to have been heard on 5 May, but was then postponed to July.
Finally the federal judge, Justice Garry Downes, president of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, approved the project but imposed stringent new conditions.
His decision ended a legal battle which had lasted almost six months. On 15 September, the Tribunal ruled that the scuttling of the ship could go ahead after the removal of any remaining wiring, canvas, insulation, and exfoliating red lead paint.
The delays caused by the tribunal hearing meant that instead of costing the original $5.8 million assigned to the scuttling project, the tribunal hearing, additional cleanup, and berthing fees brought the total cost to $8.5 million.
The ship was still there, looking a little forlorn until the dawn of April 11th when it embarked on its final triumphant journey to its final resting spot off North Avoca.

"Ex HMAS Adelaide departing Glebe Island at dawn"

2011 oil on canvas 112 x 183cm

Available 
Her last journey, accompanied by the 'Woona'. The other tug was hidden by the bulk of the ship.
I met up with her again in Terrigal, a couple of days before the sinking and painted her last moments before her new life as an artificial reef.
There was a dramatic viewpoint of her from a rocky cove beneath the imposing "Skillion".

'Ex HMAS Adelaide from the 'Skillion' at sunset '2011
oil on canvas 15 x 30cm sold
PRIVATE COLLECTION : TERRIGAL

"Ex HMAS Adelaide from the 'Skillion' the next morning"
2011 oil on canvas 25 x 51cm
Available
I also painted her from a lookout next to the surf club at North Avoca Beach.

"Ex HMAS Adelaide from North Avoca" 2011
oil on canvas 31 x 61cm
Available 

Painting "Ex HMAS Adelaide from North Avoca" 2011
oil on canvas 31 x 61cm
Available
Ex HMAS Adelaide was finally successfully sunk at midday on Wednesday April 13th. As if all the previous nail biting suspense hadn't been enough, there was over an hour long wait for an inquisitive pod of dolphins to move out of the area.
I watched and sketched its final moments above water barely 300 metres away from Andrew MacMahon's huge white boat "Strictly Business, which you can see in the distance in the painting below.
The next day I painted the same spot where the ship had been from the same vantage point next to the Skillion.


Painting the Adelaide from North Avoca 13th April 2011

''Strictly Business' from the 'Skillion' Terrigal

(Adelaide underwater) '

oil on canvas 31 x 61cm
Available 
For a long time it had seemed as though the ship would remain in limbo.
All the drama was worth it in the end.
It has succeeded as an artificial reef beyond the wildest dreams of its creators.
Recently I was painting a commission at Chowder Bay, Clifton Gardens, which is the headquarters of SIMS, the Sydney Harbour Institute of Marine Science. The marine scientists raved for hours about the wonderful diversity and abundance of marine species newly inhabiting the artificial reef.

Related Posts

Ghost ship - ex-HMAS Adelaide at Glebe - Part 1

Ship to Shore - Australian Marine Artists Society exhibition at Mosman Art Gallery

Beyond the Sea

Two Ships in dock

Tugs, barges and tall ships

From the Tampa to Strictly Ballroom

See my Hungry Mile page in this blog

For more paintings and information about the ex-HMAS Adelaide:

See my White Bay Wharf / Glebe island Wharf page in this blog

Ghost ship - ex-HMAS Adelaide at Glebe - Part 1

'Ex HMAS Adelaide arrives at Glebe Island wharf' 
2009 oil on canvas 31 x 61cm
Available

The HMAS Adelaide had a varied career-  the Australian response to the 1987 Fijian coups d'état, Iraq invasion of Kuwait, Indonesian riots in May 1998, the INTERFET peacekeeping taskforce, the War in Afghanistan, and the United States-led invasion of Iraq.

She rescued 2 competitors  in the 1996–97 Vendee Globe solo round-the-world yacht race when in January 1997, the yachts of Thierry Dubois and Tony Bullimore capsized. 

Her most notorious moment was in 2001 when she intercepted a boat known as SIEV 4 carrying suspected illegal immigrants, now known as the 'Children overboard affair'.

'Action men' 2009 
oil painting on canvas 31 x 31cm

Available

The men from 'Action Cranes' start to remove railings in the first sign of the flurry of activity to come. . 
I painted close up details of the men at work, as well as a panorama of the ship positioned between the pillars of the Anzac Bridge, with its strings providing a dramatic counterpoint to the mast. 

'Action men' 2009 oil on canvas 31 x 61cm
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COLLECTION : ACTION CRANES

Enquiries about similar paintings- janecooperbennett@gmail.com

At this stage the ship was at the southern end of the wharf.
At the northern end, I had been painting Baulderstone Hornibrook's construction of a screed and shear leg for the Port Botany Expansion Project. I became  frustrated at middle management's mindless onerous conditions while painting this project, which seemed designed to prevent me painting anything interesting without  helping anyone's health or safety.

 'Action cranes with the Adelaide' 
2009 oil on canvas 38 x 76cm
Available

As a plein air painter who has been used to painting under conditions that would scare most artists out of 10 years growth, it takes a lot to annoy or frustrate me! Coping with Baulderstone's minions was too much like beating my head against a brick wall for me to continue painting their project, but it was a blessing in disguise.
I had no idea how gripping the saga of the ex-HMAS Adelaide would become.
On the extreme left hand side of the last painting in this post is a strange contraption with white columns. This was a drill rig starting exploratory drilling for the ill-fated Sydney Metro project, which was finally shelved in early 2010 after a great deal of controversy.
Soon the controversy surrounding the scuttling of the ex-HMAS Adelaide would even rival the debate over the Metro! 

See my Hungry Mile page in this blog
For more paintings and information about the ex-HMAS Adelaide:
See my White Bay Wharf / Glebe island Wharf page in this blog

Related posts

From the Tampa to Strictly Ballroom

Ghost Ship Part 2

Ship to Shore - Australian Marine Artists Society exhibition at Mosman Art Gallery

A good Korea move

Two Exhibitions in Seoul, Korea

"Together in Harmony for 50 Years"

I have been invited to exhibit paintings in 2 exhibitions in Seoul, Korea as part of the celebration event for '50 years of Friendship Between Australia and Korea'.The exhibition "Together in Harmony for 50 years" at the Noori and Arum gallery in the Korea Foundation Culture Centre in Seoul, Korea opens 4 -7pm Friday 29th April 2011. 

The sequel exhibition in the "Bom" gallery in Chongdamdong, Seoul's most prominent art precinct, opens on the 3rd May 2011.

This exhibition is also organized by the Australian Embassy in Korea and also invited by "Bom" Gallery themselves.

106 paintings have been selected for the exhibition in the Korea Foundation Culture Centre, which is owned by  Samsung, and run by the Korea Foundation Australia.
This is the painting I will be displaying in this exhibition.

"Fitzroy Dock, early morning, Cockatoo Island" 2007 oil on canvas 75x100cm.

Bom is a commercial gallery with a smaller exhibiting area, so only 30 paintings have been selected to be displayed.

This is the painting I will be displaying in Bom.

 "Sunrise, Fitzroy Dock ,  Cockatoo Island "2007 oil on canvas 75x100cm

Hoim Lee ,President of KWASS, the Korean Women's Art Society in Sydney has worked tirelessly to organise and promote these exhibitions.


KWASS is a non-profit organization established in 2006, to promote activities among Korean-Australian female artists who are based in Sydney.
The artworks have been selected from both KWASS exhibiting members (Korean Australians) and non-members (of non-Korean ethnic background).

KWASS held a very successful exhibition in Seoul in November 2009, with the support of the Australia-Korea Foundation, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. His Excellency, the Ambassador Sam Gerovich, was so impressed with this exhibition that he invited KWASS to hold a second exhibition in 2011, as part of the 2011 Year of Friendship Between Australia and Korea, celebrating the 50th Anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The event has been financially supported by the Australian Embassy in Seoul.

I haven't been overseas since my Marten Bequest Travelling  Art Scholarship, which was 1996 -8! I let my passport lapse as I've always been too busy to travel. Often my paintings would go to interstate or international exhibitions , but I was working too hard to join them. This time I thought, it looks exciting and I need a break, so why not? So I am off to Korea for a week or so.

It won't be all sight-seeing  and attending gallery openings. I've been asked to give a seminar on Australian art for a couple of hours at the Korea Foundation Culture Centre. 

UPtown Festival 2011

The 30th Pyrmont Ultimo Festival
Saturday 19th March 2011

The Pyrmont- Ultimo UPtown Festival 2011

Photo is courtesy of Jeffrey Mellefont,

Australian National Maritime Museum.

Quarry Green is a charming little park between Quarry St and Bulwara Road behind Harris St Ultimo. Its most famous landmarks are the church and tne pub, which lie close to the border between Pyrmont and Ultimo.
The festival began modestly thirty years ago, when it was started by two enterprising local residents, Debra Berryman and Olga Reader, as a simple get-together to unite the small local community. Since then, year by year, the UPTown Festival has witnessed the Ultimo Pyrmont precinct’s remarkable re-birth and transformation from a quiet, post-industrial area in the early 1980’s, with a population of under 2000, to today’s thriving business, media and education centre, with a dynamic, multi-ethnic community of around 20,000.
I had displayed some of my many paintings of Pyrmont and Ultimo in previous UPtown festivals, but always inside the church hall which made them difficult to see. This time I was given a large tent and a prime position outside the local community's favourite watering hole, the Lord Wolseley. This delightful old pub, at the northern end of Quarry Green on Bulwara Road, is one of the narrowest in Sydney, but makes up for that in 'character'. Its interior boasts a bullet hole left in the pub mirror by Neddy Smith, who had rather shakily aimed at the bartender during the 1980's gangland wars. Those were the days!
Despite the heavy rain the festival drew a large crowd-the organizers estimated that there were over 4,000 people attending. I caught up with lots of people I hadn't seen for years and met many new residents who were interested to see what their suburb used to look like.The tent sheltered my 40 paintings and 2 large drawings, attached with cable ties to the 14 easels I had again borrowed from my long suffering mate John from the Australian Society of Marine Artists. Lots of people helped me lug the easels from the Mustard Seed Centre where they were stored.
The paintings in this photo are some of my more recent Pyrmont artworks. In the foreground is the "Carpentaria and the James Craig" from just outside Wharf 7, and above it are 2 views of Jacksons Landing from Glebe Island Wharf and a painting of Pyrmont from the East Darling Harbour Wharves.

For more information see My Pyrmont page in this blog

Related posts
Looking over the overlooked-Urban decay in Pyrmont
To the Point
Wrong side of the tracks - Darling Island Bond and Free

Pretty vacant

A Tale of two hotels - the Terminus and the Point

Pyrmont Paintings past and present
Paintings of Pink pubs - Painting the Jolly Frog Part 2 
Not the Writers Festival- Exhibition of Pyrmont Paintings by Jane Bennett at 2013 Pyrmont Festival
We like sheep - Waite and Bull Building 137 Pyrmont Street
Marine art exhibition at Australian National Maritime Museum
Pyrmont Sandstone - The Lizards of Oz

A Royal Rendevous- Part 2 Farewell to the Queens

Unfinished painting of 'The Queen Elizabeth docking at Circular Quay '
oil painting on canvas 61 x 76cm
 $4,500 

Enquiries about this painting:
janecooperbennett@gmail.com 

        For information and price list -Artist information page

Photo of me starting this painting of the Queen Elizabeth

(Photo is courtesy of Callan Back)

Completed painting of  'The Queen Elizabeth docking at Circular Quay '
oil painting on canvas 61 x 76cm
 $4,500 

Enquiries about this painting:
janecooperbennett@gmail.com 

        For information and price list -Artist information page

The Queen Elizabeth left at midday, taking the clouds with her. The morning had started almost as bleakly as the day before, but the pale apricot tinge to the dawn clouds was actually enhanced by the darker storm clouds to the west.

• Pyrmont paintings past and present- My Exhibition in the Australian National Maritime Museum
• Not the Writers Festival- Exhibition of Pyrmont Paintings by Jane Bennett at 2013 Pyrmont Festival
• We like sheep - Waite and Bull Building 137 Pyrmont Street

After a swift lunch I found a good vantage point overlooking the Andrew Boy Charleton Pool to paint the Queen Elizabeth's older and much larger cousin, the Queen Mary 2, before she left Garden Island at about 5.30pm. 

• Pyrmont paintings past and present- My Exhibition in the Australian National Maritime Museum
• Not the Writers Festival- Exhibition of Pyrmont Paintings by Jane Bennett at 2013 Pyrmont Festival
• We like sheep - Waite and Bull Building 137 Pyrmont Street

Related articles

• Pyrmont paintings past and present- My Exhibition in the Australian National Maritime Museum
• Not the Writers Festival- Exhibition of Pyrmont Paintings by Jane Bennett at 2013 Pyrmont Festival
• We like sheep - Waite and Bull Building 137 Pyrmont Street

• The Two Queens - Sydney, Australia (travelpod.com)
• Queens Meet on Sydney Harbour (cruiseblogjohnpond.com)
• Pyrmont : Shadows of the past (janebennettartist.blogspot.com)

Related posts in this blog

• A Royal rendezvous 

A Royal rendezvous

Painting the Queen Elizabeth's arrival at the Overseas Passenger Terminal, Circular Quay, Sydney Harbour 
Woke up at 4am on a grey, drizzly dawn; at the steps of the Opera House by 5am - must be cruise ship season again!
Waiting for the royal rendezvous when the Queen Mary 2 and her newer, smaller cousin the Queen Elizabeth pass each other with Fort Denison between them.
I have gouache paints and a large block of watercolour paper to catch the occasion. However this proves not to be the most sensible choice for this type of weather. The paintings turn out well, but by the time I have chased the Queen Elizabeth to its berth for the next day and a half at the Overseas Passenger Terminal at Circular Quay, all the pages are well and truly stuck together as it starts to rain.
After a few more promising attempts at painting gouaches of the docking super liner get partially washed away, I try plan B and swap them for oil paints.
 

I'm starting a small plein air oil painting of the Queen Elizabeth at Circular Quay Tuesday 22nd February 2011

The Queen Elizabeth at Circular Quay from the Commissioners Steps' 2011 oil on canvas 31 x 61cm
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A young couple from Melbourne happened to wander up just as I was wondering what to paint in the foreground to show the scale of the huge ship, and add some human interest. I painted them arm in arm at the top of the Commissioner's steps. (They now own the painting).

Oil painting of ' The Queen Elizabeth at Circular Quay from the Commissioners Steps' 2011 oil on canvas 31 x 61cm
Sold  Enquiries

The rain nearly drove me crazy, stopping long enough to give me a false sense of security, then setting in as soon as I settled down to get some serious painting done, but I managed to finish this oil painting at the end of the first day.
The next day I bravely started a larger canvas, knowing that the ship was due to sail at midday. I managed to paint most of the ship before it left, but have to return to fix up the sea, and sky to my satisfaction.
I will post the "Royal Rendezvous" gouaches of the 2 Queens passing each other, as soon as I can carefully prise the paintings apart, hopefully without damaging them too much.
I might be able to use them as studies to paint a canvas from in the studio.

Related posts

Wrong side of the tracksPyrmont : Shadows of the past

Pyrmont paintings past and present

Not the Writers FestivalWe like sheep

A Tall Ship and a Lightship

The CLS 4 Carpentaria, unmanned lightship

Starting a new canvas of the lightship 'Carpentaria'

with the James Craig behind it.

In the background is Barangaroo.

'The lightship 'Carpentaria' with the James Craig '

2010-11 oil painting on canvas 61 x 76cm

Enquiries about this painting
A lightship is a ship acting as a floating lighthouse to aid navigation and warn ships of hazards. Lightships anchor in waters that are too deep or dangerous for a permanent lighthouse to be built.
Commonwealth Lightship 4, 'Carpentaria', was one of four unmanned lightships built at Cockatoo Island Dockyard, Sydney, in 1916-17. After a close encounter with a container ship
in Bass Strait nearly scuttled her, the 'Carpentaria' finally retired in 1985.
Originally she had an automatic acetylene light mounted on its tall mast, with a sunlight-operated valve to switch it on and off.
The Carpentaria barely seems to need any additional light to make her visible to navigators as she has been painted an eye-ball burning bright red and has its name inscribed in huge letters on the side. She is difficult to miss against the bland white waterfront of Darling Harbour.
While I was Artist in Residence at Cockatoo Island (for the 2nd time from 2005 until 2007 when the island was being prepared for opening to the public, The 1st time was during the 1980s while the island was still an operational shipyard) I noticed the Carpentaria docked on the southern slipway adjoining Fitzroy dock for several months.
I had high hopes then that Cockatoo Island would be returned to its original purpose of a working shipyard, but no such luck.

'The lightship 'Carpentaria' with the James Craig ' 2010-11
oil painting on canvas 61 x 76cm
Enquiries about this painting
The Tall Ship 'James Craig'
Behind the scenestealing lightship dominating the foreground is the square-rigger, the James Craig. She is a three-masted, iron-hulled barque currently berthed at Wharf 7 of Darling Harbour, near the Australian National Maritime Museum.
One of only 4 operational ships of her era and rig , she is a true link to the heroic age of the seafaring past. In 1972 volunteers from the Sydney Heritage Fleet refloated her and towed her to Hobart for initial repairs. She was then towed back to Sydney, and after an epic program of restoration and repairs, was finally able to set sail by 2001.
The 'James Craig' is open to the public, and is crewed and maintained by my good mates from the Sydney Heritage Fleet.
"Salt in the Air"
I am one of 10 women artists from the Australian Society of Marine Artists who have been Artists in Residence at the Sydney Heritage Fleet.
We'll hold an exhibition "Salt in the Air" aboard the James Craig to help provide funds to restore the vessels of the fleet.
This is one of the 17 paintings I'll exhibit.
The exhibition will be opened by Tanya Plibersek MP at 2pm on Saturday 27th April on board the James Craig. It is open daily 10am - 4pm from Saturday 27th April - Sunday 4th May 2013

Exhibition SALT IN THE AIR  Saturday 27th April-Sunday 4th May 2013 (asma-artistinresidence.blogspot.com)

Related posts

Pyrmont : Shadows of the past

Artist in Residence at the Sydney Heritage Fleet 2 "Blowing in the Wind

Artist in Residence at the Sydney Heritage Fleet Part 1

Irons in the Fire - Part 5 'Playing with Fire'

Paintings of the Blacksmiths at Wrought Artworks,

Bay 1/2 Australian Technology Park,

Eveleigh Railway Workshops

'Lok forging at Wrought Artworks' 
2010 oil painting on canvas 
36 x 46 cm
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Enquiries about similar paintings

It was hard to catch Lok on his own without Dave (who was centre stage in the previous painting) from the viewpoint I had, but worth it -he looks quite heroic! I didn't want to move my position in case I got in the way.

I feel that the movement implied in the pose and the glow cast by the light from the furnace capture the element of danger of this ancient craft.
I've always loved the paintings of Caravaggio,  Georges de La Tour and the 18th century painter of the early days of the Industrial Revolution, Joseph Wright of Derby. As well as his most famous masterpieces about the dawn of the Age of Enlightenment, the 'Orrery' and 'Experiment on a bird in an Airpump', Joseph Wright of Derby had painted a wonderful series of canvases of blacksmiths at the forge.

I stayed in Derby while I was on my Marten Bequest Travelling Art Scholarship, and frequently visited the Derby Art Gallery, where most of Wright's work is displayed.
My paintings of the blacksmiths are painted from life, but also pay tribute to these masters of the effects of light and shadow.

 More Eveleigh paintings

Related posts

Irons in the fire
Watching the forge fires fade
Macdonaldtown - A Station without a suburb
Strike while the iron is hot
Eveleigh- Industrial Heritage Artist at Work
Time for Safety 
The slow return from the fire 
The fire within 
En plein air with street cred (sydney-eye.blogspot.com)

The village smithy (sydney-eye.blogspot.com)