Under the Bridge

Starting my painting commission at dawn,
under the Anzac Bridge, looking at Sydney City Marina over to the western side.
'Under the Bridge 1- early morning' oil on canvas 76 x 76cm 2012
Sold : Private Collection Sydney

The Anzac Bridge has always held a special place in my heart.
Even before I was given the amazing opportunity to paint it from the top, I had painted the progress of the construction of its pylons in the background of many of my Pyrmont paintings during the early-mid 1990s.


'Under the Bridge 1- early morning' oil on canvas 76 x 76cm 2012
Sold : Private Collection Sydney
Enquiries about similar paintings
Many other people also love this bridge.
Recently I was given a very special commission to paint the Anzac Bridge.

'Under the Bridge 1- early morning' oil on canvas 76 x 76cm 2012
Sold : Private Collection Sydney
Enquiries about similar paintings
But not from the top this time.
From underneath.
The "Underbelly".

'Under the Bridge 1- early morning'

oil on canvas 76 x 76cm 2012

Sold : Private Collection Sydney
So now I'm painting on the other side of Blackwattle Bay.
Behind me are the dragon boat teams, and beside me are the construction sheds of the people doing maintenance work on the Bridge.
My canvas is 76 x 76cm and has been primed with black acrylic paint to help me gauge the colour values against the glare of the morning sun.

'Under the Bridge 1- early morning'
oil on canvas 76 x 76cm 2012
Sold : Private Collection Sydney
I've started to paint in the pale blue morning sky.
The building in the background is "evolve", part of the Jackson's Landing development, which was built on the site formerly occupied by the 'Caneite' building of the CSR Refinery.
The mysterious 'great balls of Pyrmont' which now adorn the park in front of this building were digesters originally used in the Caneite factory to turn sugar cane waste into masonite and similar building products. They still bear the scars of marine worms and barnacles that they accumulated after rolling off the wharf and spending a few years underwater.
One of the men from Waterways Constructions took a fancy to them and fished them out.
Now they are "works of art".

6.30am 'Under the Bridge 1- early morning'
oil on canvas 76 x 76cm 2012
Sold : Private Collection Sydney
The morning sun lights up the Glebe Island silos and the old Glebe Island swing bridge.
At the moment Glebe Island is almost deserted, but soon this will change when they start construction of a new temporary exhibition space while the Darling Harbour space is undergoing refurbishment.

A promising start 'Under the Bridge 1- early morning'
oil on canvas 76 x 76cm 2012
Sold : Private Collection Sydney
Enquiries about similar paintings
After 2 hours, the silos and the bow legs of the pylons supporting the Anzac Bridge are starting to take shape. The Anzac Bridge is a beautiful, elegant and supremely functional piece of design, but from certain angles it can sometimes look a bit bandy-legged.
There are several bridges around the world of similar design. I remember walking across a huge version in Rotterdam, and being very surprised when they rang an alarm and people walking across started to scatter to either end. The bridge appeared to 'break' in the middle and a huge container ship moved through the gap in the centre.

At the end of the first session 'Under the Bridge 1- early morning'
oil on canvas 76 x 76cm 2012
Sold : Private Collection Sydney
However my first painting session was cut short unexpectedly.
At 8am I got a phone call from the hospital saying that after reviewing some of my mum's blood tests they wanted me to bring her in so that they could operate on her, so I stopped painting and rushed to get her.

Stage 2 Half finished -'Under the Bridge 1- early morning'
oil on canvas 76 x 76cm 2012
Sold : Private Collection Sydney
During the next painting session, I made sure to paint the green and yellow Devine tug berthed at Sydney City Marina, as I knew it would soon move away.

Next week it was on the other side of the old Glebe Island swing Bridge, so I was lucky to catch it.

To the far left is one of the chimneys of the White Bay Power Station, and on the right are some rotting stumps belonging to the old Glebe island swing Bridge.

Stage 3 Nearly finished -'Under the Bridge 1- early morning'
oil on canvas 76 x 76cm 2012
Sold : Private Collection Sydney
Enquiries about similar paintings
This painting is nearly finished, but the colour and shadows need a bit of adjusting before I'm happy with it.

Stage 4 Nearly finished -'Under the Bridge 1- early morning'
oil on canvas 76 x 76cm 2012
Sold : Private Collection Sydney
Almost finished.
I was a bit on edge as I had to make sure that I didn't get locked in with all the dragon boats.There are several clubs but nobody seems to know when the last club will leave. My painting site is hidden by the construction area, so I have to keep checking to see if there are any cars left.
There are lots of different clubs. Some of the rowers say that it will close about 2 - 3pm, and some say as early as 11am.
I don't want to be locked in!
I'm working fast!

'Under the Bridge 1- early morning'
oil on canvas 76 x 76cm 2012
Sold : Private Collection Sydney
I needn't have panicked about being locked in.
The construction guys have promised that if I get locked in they will let me out, and there are constant security patrols.
Tuesday to Thursday mornings there is a boat repair course for unemployed people, so I have a bit more access than I thought I would.
I was worried about completing this commission as I thought that my access would be restricted to very early on Saturday mornings.
As my mum has been so ill, I can't predict when I'll get any free time.
A bit of glazing to add colour highlights and some rose pink early morning clouds will complete the painting.

Stage 2 Half finished -'Under the Bridge 2- storm warning'
oil on canvas 76 x 76cm 2012
Sold : Private Collection Sydney
Enquiries about similar paintings
But even though it was so close to being finished, there were a few twists before it was finally complete.
The weather has been variable - sometimes very windy and a couple of wild storms.
One morning I turned up and it was so cloudy that I almost decided to head back home again.
I'm glad I didn't, although I couldn't paint for long before it started raining.
I always take a couple of spare canvases just in case, and luckily I had one the same size as the one for the commission.
The sun crept out from behind the clouds every now and then - playing across the bridge pylons and the last vestiges of the working harbour beneath.
The colours changed the mood so much that I had to start another painting rather than add to the one that I was half way through.

Stage 3 Nearly finished -'Under the Bridge 2- storm warning'
oil on canvas 76 x 76cm 2012
Available for sale
Enquiries
Exactly the same time of day as the earlier painting , but the stormy conditions give such a different mood, and a complete change of palette.
One of my favourite paintings is "The Tempest" by Giorgione. I love the sense of foreboding he has created by such simple means - a few clouds, shadows and highlights, and the resulting painting has a mysterious poetry that defies analysis.

'Under the Bridge 2- storm warning'
oil on canvas 76 x 76cm 2012
Available for sale
Enquiries
At first I was worried that I wouldn't have enough time to complete my commission - and now I have 2 canvases!
I don't know which canvas my client will choose.
I've emailed both and she's said that I've made it difficult for her - she loves both of them! This is her birthday present to herself, and very important to her, so I wanted her to be very happy with the result.

The big decision is tomorrow.

Update

She finally decided on the early morning painting.

Enquiries about similar paintings

Related posts

Artist in Residence at the Sydney Heritage Fleet 

Artist in Residence at the Sydney Heritage Fleet Part 2

Follow the Fleet

Blowing in the Wind

Slipping Away

 Changing Pyrmont - guest post by Jane Bennett

Pyrmont paintings past & present - My exhibition in the Maritime Museum

Artist in Residence at the Sydney Heritage Fleet- Part 5 ' Follow the Fleet'

My first attempt to paint the entire Rozelle contingent of the Sydney Heritage Fleet ended in disaster when my canvas stretcher snapped in two.
I was better prepared for my second attempt, with a bigger easel, stronger canvas stretcher, more ballast and longer cable ties.
Armed with a canvas stretched on the strongest and heaviest stretcher frame I could buy, this time I took my "studio" easel. It might be called a studio easel but I can manage to stuff it in the back of the car and use it for plein air painting.
I brought the longest cable ties that I could find to tie the canvas to the easel, and the easel to my trolley luggage, which I am using as an anchor.
The canvas stretcher weighs about 10 kilos; my large easel weighs at least 15 kilos and the trolley luggage with all its contents of extra paint, brushes, palettes, turps, painting medium, sketchbooks, lunch, thermos of water, folding table, first aid kit, spare clothes, hat and boots weighs in at a good 25 kilos. I also took the French box easel, just in case. It took 4 trips to lug this stuff the 200 metres from the car to my painting site, and 5 to lug it back, as a wet canvas has to be handled on its own.
If all of that starts to be blown around in the wind and into the water it really is time to wimp out and go home.
I'll never need to join a gym or a bootcamp. Who knows, large scale plein air painting could become the latest fitness craze!

My plein air painting of the

"Sydney Heritage Fleet from Blackwattle Bay"

2012 oil on canvas 122 x 183cm

Available

It isn't immediately apparent which bits belong to which vessels.
I tried hard to take a photo showing both the painting and all the ships in the same frame to show some of the difficulties.
Apart from the distance making details hard to see, there is a narrow window of opportunity to do any painting. I have to choose a day that has no more than the gentlest breeze, and has enough sun to throw some light on my subject. Even then, there are only a few hours of painting time between when the early morning haze lifts, and when the afternoon sun starts to dazzle my eyes.

My plein air painting of the

"Sydney Heritage Fleet from Blackwattle Bay"

2012 oil on canvas 122 x 183cm

Available

Photography doesn't really work, as a telephoto lens flattens and distorts the relationships between the vessels and the colours are highly misleading. There is such a mad jigsaw puzzle of funnels, prows, awnings and lifeboats all jumbled together. Bits that belong to one vessel can easily be mistaken as belonging to another .
For understanding the close up details, I find it better to visit the Rozelle shipyard and run my canvas past the gauntlet of all the volunteers who have devoted their lives to rescuing these ships. If I've made any truly embarrassing mistakes I can rely on them to correct me. Loudly, often and in great detail!

My plein air painting of the

"Sydney Heritage Fleet from Blackwattle Bay"

2012 oil on canvas 122 x 183cm

Available

In the centre of my painting, the 'Bronzewing' and 'Currawong', tugs recently acquired by the Sydney Heritage Fleet, are face to face like two old friends having a chinwag.
Crammed behind them, the funnel of the a coal-fired steam tug 'Waratah' juts out at a jaunty angle. 'Waratah' was built at Cockatoo Island in 1902.
After a lot of untangling. the steam tug 'Lady Hopetoun' appears shadowed in the background of the dilapidated hulk of the 100 year old ferry 'Kanangra'. The 'Kanangra' is another link with Cockatoo Island. I remember catching her in the morning when I was painting on Cockatoo island in the early 1980s. I think she was retired by about 1985.

My plein air painting of the

"Sydney Heritage Fleet from Blackwattle Bay"

2012 oil on canvas 122 x 183cm

Available

Beyond the 'Kanangra' are the runts of the litter, the 1908 motor launch 'Protex', the 1943 motor launch 'Harmon' and the 1955 motor launch 'Berrima'.

My plein air painting of the

"Sydney Heritage Fleet from Blackwattle Bay"

2012 oil on canvas 122 x 183cm

Available

To the right of the canvas is the graceful 1903 "gentleman's schooner", 'Boomerang', which I have just finished painting on the slipway at Noakes.

My half finished plein air painting of the

"Sydney Heritage Fleet from Blackwattle Bay"

2012 oil on canvas 122 x 183cm

Available

All of these are dwarfed by the bulk of the 1927 steamship "John Oxley", currently being restored to its former glory.

My half finished plein air painting of the

"White Bay Power Station from Blackwattle Bay"

2012 oil on canvas 41 x 51cm

Available

By 1pm the changes in the direction of the light had made it difficult to see any useful details on the ships.
It was still about an hour before the wind would change, so I started painting a small canvas of the silhouette of the White Bay Power Station.
I have frequently painted this beautifully brutal building, from the inside as well as the outside. However I have rarely painted it from Blackwattle Bay, so I'm making up for this oversight.
The wind whipped up about 2pm, so both canvases are going well, but still unfinished. Till next time.

Related posts

Artist in Residence at the Sydney Heritage Fleet Part 1
Artist in Residence at the Sydney Heritage Fleet Part 2 : The 'Lady Hopetoun'
Slipping away
Artist in Residence at the Sydney Heritage Fleet - Part 4 'Blowing in the wind'
'From the Hungry Mile to Barangaroo'
"Lashed to the Mast" - Plein Air painting as extreme sport
Painting the 'Poolya' at Glebe Island
Jane Bennett paints the 'Lady Hopetoun'
Exhibition SALT IN THE AIR 27 April - 3rd May 2013 (asma-artistinresidence.blogspot.com)
Boat at Goat (janebennettartist.blogspot.com)

Artist in Residence at the Sydney Heritage Fleet - Part 4 'Blowing in the wind'

I have been commissioned to paint a monumental canvas of all the vessels of the Sydney Heritage Fleet from the foreshore of Blackwattle Bay at the end of Glebe Point road.
There are a few obvious challenges to overcome.
One of the challenges is that from this distance it is difficult to separate one vessel from another - they seem to merge into each other.
After my first session of painting this, I made several visits to the Rozelle shipyard and to the Noakes shipyard at Waverton to paint smaller canvases of some of the vessels such as the 'Lady Hopetoun', the 'John Oxley', the 'Kanangra' and the 'Boomerang'. Even though these were from different angles to the way they are from this viewpoint, I now have a much better understanding of what I have to deal with.
The sheer complexity of the subject could swamp the viewer in a mass of inchoate detail, so I have to choose carefully which areas to highlight and which to shadow to create enough rhythm to tie the composition together.

Painting 'The Sydney Heritage Fleet from Blackwattle Bay'

2012 oil on canvas 122 x 178cm

Available

A much bigger problem is very size of the canvas to be painted 'en plein air' . This canvas is 122 x 178cm.
The concept is for the ships to dominate the space and immerse the onlooker in the unique world of the Rozelle shipyard.
I have painted works on this scale 'en plein air' before and know all too well how it can turn into a wrestling match with the artist pitted against the elements.


Painting 'The Sydney Heritage Fleet from Blackwattle Bay'
2012 oil on canvas 122 x 178cm
Available
My painting was really starting to come together, but by noon the light had shifted so that I was looking into the glare of the afternoon sun.
And the wind was steadily rising.
The scene in this photograph looks deceptively calm, with Blackwattle Bay looking as still as a mirror, but less than half an hour later, I was chasing my brushes all over the park.
I knew that I should really stop painting, but the temptation for just one more brushstroke was too much.

Painting 'The Sydney Heritage Fleet from Blackwattle Bay'

2012 oil on canvas 122 x 178cm

Available

A sudden gust of wind and it was all over.

My canvas stretcher had snapped clean in half!
I had used cable ties to secure it to my easel, but the wood itself wasn't strong enough to withstand the weather conditions.
Fortunately, some people who had been watching me paint while they walked their dogs, helped me drag the flapping canvas and the rest of my belongings to my car.

If they hadn't, I would have been in some danger of going hang-gliding into Blackwattle Bay.

The other side of the canvas.

Painting 'The Sydney Heritage Fleet from Blackwattle Bay'

2012 oil on canvas 122 x 178cm

Available

 
Unfortunately this is 122 x 178cm which is not a standard size for a canvas.The standard stretcher size is 122 x 183cm.
I will have to unpick the staples and restretch it. By a miracle, the canvas itself wasn't damaged, just the wood.
But I will have to restretch this on another stretcher of the same type which is made of lightweight wood, probably balsa. This will withstand moderate wind up to about 25-30 km/h but a random gust of 35-40 km/h might be too much.
At the moment the wind gusts at Blackwattle Bay are so strong that I will need to use an extra heavy duty stretcher frame composed of stronger wood, and twice the depth of this one. And these types of stretchers are not available for a 122 x 178cm size canvas.
I will finish this painting one day, when there are a few calm days together. But I really need to get this done by the end of October, so rather than risk another lightweight canvas suffering the same fate I might as well start a fresh canvas.

Update
At times I never thought I'd live to see the day, but at last I have finally finished my giant canvas!
And now with 9 other women members of ASMA, the Australian Society of Marine Artists I will be holding an exhibition of my paintings of the Sydney Heritage Fleet.
In 2008 the Sydney Heritage Fleet in conjunction with the Australian Society of Marine Artists inaugurated an Artist in Residence programme, with the commission from sale of paintings going towards funding the Fleet's maintenance.
Our group of 10 artists will hold an exhibition of our completed paintings on the 'tween decks of the tall ship 'James Craig', which is the jewel in the crown of the Sydney Heritage Fleet, from 27th April 2013 - 3rd May 2013.
This must be the world's coolest gallery!
As well as this enormous canvas, I will exhibit 16 other paintings. Some of these were painted at the Rozelle headquarters, some from the Noakes slipways, others from the Australian National Maritime Museum and others from vantage points around Sydney Harbour.
The official opening will be 2pm on Saturday 27th April by Tanya Plibersek MP.
Everyone is welcome!

Related posts

Artist in Residence at the Sydney Heritage Fleet Part 1

Artist in Residence at the Sydney Heritage Fleet Part 2 : The 'Lady Hopetoun'

Follow the Fleet

Slipping away
'From the Hungry Mile to Barangaroo'
"Lashed to the Mast" - Plein Air painting as extreme sport

Painting the 'Poolya' at Glebe Island

Boat at Goat

Jane Bennett paints the 'Lady Hopetoun' (asma-artistinresidence.blogspot.com)

Exhibition SALT IN THE AIR 27 April - 3rd May 2013 (asma-artistinresidence.blogspot.com)

Artist in Residence at the Sydney Heritage Fleet Part 3 -'Slipping away'

Painting 'Boomerang' being slipped at Noakes
I was invited to join the volunteers who were working on the 'Boomerang' while it was slipped at the Noakes shipyard in Berry's Bay, North Sydney.

On the little steam tug 'Harmon'

starting my painting of the 'Boomerang'

on the slipway at Noakes Shipyard, Berry's Bay

oil on canvas 46 x 46cm

I arrived at the Sydney Heritage Fleet shipyard at 8am so that I would be in time to join the volunteers on either the 'Harmon' or the 'Boomerang' to be ferried over the Harbour.

On the little steam tug 'Harmon'

starting my painting of the 'Boomerang'

on the slipway at Noakes Shipyard,

Berry's Bay oil on canvas 46 x 46cm

Enquiries : janecooperbennett@gmail.com

I had a choice of catching either the 'Harmon' or the 'Boomerang'. Although the stately 'Boomerang' promised a stylish ride, I chose the 'Harmon' so that I could watch the drama of the 'Boomerang' being hauled ashore.
I started painting while still on board the 'Harmon', but she soon had to return to Rozelle, so I completed my painting on the jetty at the Noakes shipyard.
The 2 photos above show the first stage of my painting while on board the 'Harmon', with the 'Boomerang just visible in the background.

Starting my painting of the 'Boomerang'

on the slipway at Noakes Shipyard, Berry's Bay

oil on canvas 46 x 46cm

11.30am Monday 20th August

Available

By 11.30am I was deposited ashore with my canvas and easel.
I had to make sure that my canvas would be finished by the time the volunteers knocked off at 2.30pm or I would have had to walk or swim back to my car at Rozelle! Noakes is in a little cove of Berry's Bay, which is west of the Waverton Peninsula and east of McMahons Point.
The deepwater frontages of Berry’s Bay were used by the port and maritime industry from the late 19th century.

Starting my painting of the 'Boomerang'

on the slipway at Noakes Shipyard, Berry's Bay

oil on canvas 46 x 46cm

11.30am Monday 20th August

Available

A Short History of Berry's Bay
During the 1930s the Berry's Bay waterfront was one of the most important boatbuilding sites in the harbour.

There was also a timber mill which provided the materials for the construction of North Sydney’s cottages and churches during the early decades of the 20th century.

Other important industries around the site during the early 20th century included the North Shore Gas Company which had shifted its productive gas works from Neutral Bay to Balls Head Bay in 1906 and the Sydney Coal Bunkering Company which began building a coal loader in 1917, to act as a steamship bunkering station. It was the most advanced means of loading coal into steamers then available in Sydney Harbour.

Coal from colliers was dumped onto a huge timber and rock platform on the shore. It was fed by gravity down shutes to four tunnels below, and then into waiting hopper cars which were then hauled by cable out to a long wharf.

Fortunately I painted and drew it before the coal loader ceased operating in October 1992. The wharf, coal-loading platform, tunnels and a few brick administrative buildings remain.

Opposite Noakes is the former site of the BP fuel depot. Their first tank was installed in 1923 and many more were added until there were 31 by the late 1960s. The cliff was known locally as "Gibraltar". BP ceased operations at the site in the 1980s and by the mid-1990s the tanks had been dismantled although their ghostly outlines are still visible in the cut rock.

2nd stage of painting the 'Boomerang'

on the slipway at Noakes Shipyard, Berry's Bay

oil on canvas 46 x 46cm

1pm Monday 20th August

info@franceskeevilgallery.com.au

The Art and Times of Berry's Bay

Berry's Bay has a distinguished artistic heritage dating from the earliest days of the 20th century.

Some of Australia's best artists of that time lived locally and were attracted to the picturesque scenes of boat building and ship repair. Roland Wakelin, Rah Fizelle, Sydney Ure, Roy de Maistre, Lloyd Rees and brothers Percy and Lionel Lindsay, often painted together around Berry’s Bay between the 1900s and 1930s and were known as the "Northwood Group".

Completed painting of the 'Boomerang'

on the slipway at Noakes Shipyard, Berry's Bay

oil on canvas 46 x 46cm

2.30pm Monday 20th August

Note the railway in the background
Available

In the vast collection of Prints and Drawings of the Art Gallery of NSW is a lovely 1926 etching The Harbour from Berry's Bay by Sydney Long (1871 – 1955) which follows the glassy expanse of water down to the clutter of wooden ships, boathouses, yards and mills. Another evocative Whistleresque etching is Ship Berry’s Bay 1918
by Sydney Ure Smith.
Sydney Long later painted a lively little plein-air oil sketch Across Berry's Bay To The Sobraon 1939 from exactly the same viewpoint as Percy Lindsay's Shipyards, Berry Bay (also known as The Bridge Builders) c. 1927 (AGNSW). Both these works also shows the Sobraeon, a famous clipper ship later refitted as a naval training ship HMAS Tingira, that was moored there until being broken up in 1943.
In 1916 Wakelin painted Down the hills to Berry’s Bay (AGNSW), which has become an icon of early Australian Modernism. Another Roland Wakelin study, Berry's Bay 1919 shows an aerial view of the shipping, while later works such as Berry's Bay c.1934 shows details of ship repair and Berry's Bay c.1945 shows more of the industrial ambience.
In 1922 Lionel Lindsay created a mezzotint, A nook at Berry’s Bay of the boathouses along the foreshore, and in 1923 a etching of a venerable old figtree shading the shipyards The Great Figtree.
So while I painted here I was constantly aware that I was treading in the footsteps of the masters.

Starting painting of the 'Boomerang' on the slipway

at Noakes Shipyard, Berry's Bay

oil on canvas 38 x 78cm

8am Tuesday 21st August

Available

The next day I took the less scenic route to Noakes, driving there rather than taking the Harbour cruise option so that I could spend more time and paint a larger canvas.

2nd day Tuesday 21st August 9.30am -

1st stage of painting the'’Boomerang’ at Noakes Yard 2 -

oil on canvas 38 x 76cm

Available

2nd day Tuesday 21st August 11am -

2nd stage of painting the'’Boomerang’ at Noakes Yard 2

oil on canvas 38 x 76cm

Available

With this extra time I was able to include a couple of the volunteers as they worked.

As I was trying to complete this canvas on the day, I wasn't able to take too much time to explore this fascinating site, but I promised myself that I would be back. The staff at Noakes invited me to return to paint the giant travelling cranes, and the quaint cream and red heritage ferries of the Rosman fleet.

2nd day Tuesday 21st August noon -

3rd stage of painting the'’Boomerang’ at Noakes Yard 2

oil on canvas 38 x 76cm

Available

The vessels of the Sydney Heritage Fleet are often repaired at Noakes. There are few other options available now as more and more waterfront has been gobbled up by developers for apartment blocks.


2nd day Tuesday 21st August lunchtime break -3rd stage of painting the'’Boomerang’ at Noakes Yard 2 - oil on canvas 38 x 76cm
Available

I finished my canvas just in time to avoid being locked inside the gates. I was only able to include a few of the many volunteers who were tirelessly scampering up and down ladders with scrapers and hoses.

2nd day Tuesday 21st August 5pm -

completed painting of the'’Boomerang’ at Noakes Yard 2

oil on canvas 38 x 76cm

Available

There used to be many ''working harbour'' boat repair businesses around Berry's Bay , but by now most of the slipways have "slipped away".

Now Noakes is the last of its tribe, and I am one of the last of a proud artistic lineage to paint the bustling boatyards of Berry's Bay.

Related posts

Artist in Residence at the Sydney Heritage Fleet Part 1

Artist in Residence at the Sydney Heritage Fleet Part 2 : The 'Lady Hopetoun'

Follow the Fleet

'From the Hungry Mile to Barangaroo'
"Lashed to the Mast" - Plein Air painting as extreme sport

Painting the 'Poolya' at Glebe Island

Boat at Goat

Jane Bennett paints the 'Lady Hopetoun' (asma-artistinresidence.blogspot.com)

Exhibition SALT IN THE AIR 27 April - 3rd May 2013 (asma-artistinresidence.blogspot.com)

Artist in Residence at the Sydney Heritage Fleet Part 2 : The 'Lady Hopetoun'

Painting the 'Lady Hopetoun' in a quiet spot in the 'Ability Barges' yard next to the Sydney Heritage Fleet.
As the 'Lady Hopetoun' was the first vessel acquired by the Sydney Heritage Fleet, it seemed appropriate to kick off my residency in earnest with her portrait.

starting my painting of 'Lady Hopetoun' oil painting on canvas 36 x 46cm

$1,500

Enquiries  

'Lady Hopetoun' a classic Edwardian VIP steam launch  was built in Berry's Bay and launched on 10th April 1902.

starting my painting of 'Lady Hopetoun' oil painting on canvas 36 x 46cm

$1,500

Enquiries  

While she was officially described as a vice-regal steam yacht, not all her duties were so aristocratic. She was used as a relief pay boat, for small towing jobs and even ferried the children who lived on Fort Denison to school.
So even though she looks very stylish  with her low profile, raked lines and graceful counter stern, the 'Lady Hopetoun' was really a workhorse.

starting my painting of 'Lady Hopetoun' oil painting on canvas 36 x 46cm

$1,500

Enquiries  

On the left of the 'Lady Hopetoun'is flotsam and jetsam belonging to Ability Barge Services, who are the real workhorses of the present day Sydney Harbour.

starting my painting of 'Lady Hopetoun' oil painting on canvas 36 x 46cm

$1,500

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The hull of SS John Oxley looms in the centre of the background. To the left is part of the 'Kanangra', a dilapidated 100 year old ferry that the men's shed seem to have been restoring forever.

starting my painting of 'Lady Hopetoun' oil painting on canvas 36 x 46cm

$1,500

Enquiries  

starting my painting of 'Lady Hopetoun' oil painting on canvas 36 x 46cm

$1,500

Enquiries  

starting my painting of 'Lady Hopetoun' oil painting on canvas 36 x 46cm

$1,500

Enquiries  

starting my painting of 'Lady Hopetoun' oil painting on canvas 36 x 46cm

$1,500

Enquiries  

You can see how I've chosen as my vantage point a sheltered nook in between a collection of large rusty pipes. The weather might gradually be warming up and Blackwattle Bay looks deceptively calm, but on the waterfront there is still a nip in the air.

starting my painting of 'Lady Hopetoun' oil painting on canvas 36 x 46cm

$1,500

Enquiries  

starting my painting of 'Lady Hopetoun' oil painting on canvas 36 x 46cm

$1,500

Enquiries  

half finished painting of 'Lady Hopetoun' oil painting on canvas 36 x 46cm

$1,500

Enquiries  

Related posts in this blog

• Artist in Residence at the Sydney Heritage Fleet Part 1
• "Lashed to the Mast" - Plein Air painting as extreme sport
• Storm warning, Goat Island

Related articles

• 'Lady Hopetoun' Article in Afloat.magazine May 2011
• 'Lady Hopetoun' page Sydney Heritage Fleet 
• The Artist in Residence Program at the Sydney Heritage Fleet 
• Painting the 'John Oxley' at the Sydney Heritage Fleet