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| 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.
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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.
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| 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.