Ship Wrecks , design blocks for abstruction.

On this  the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, I would like to share with you my own personal thoughts about ship wrecks, as basic starting points for abstract painting. Whether it is my own experience of viewing wrecks around the world, the left overs from the Second World War in places like New Guinea, or my life for many years at sea as a non swimmer, I can't say. But ships in all their shapes and sizes continual forms draw me to them. The underlying organized structure gives them strength. A strength that evolves with time, formed and reformed by natures elements. The wind ,sea, sand all have played their part to resurrect a life lost to a new one. All good painting needs a  strong grid like underbelly to make them work.

Unlike, landscape based abstraction, were  the natural random design elements of nature dominate, the engineering discipline of a wreck, now modified plays a major part. The natural erosion of the elements soften the impression, and unlike a formal French garden like Versailles, never look contrived. Luckily, were I live, we have a wonderful wreck on the shore of the D'Entrecusteaux Channel, south of Hobart. The steam ferry "Laura" ran aground here around 1923, and has become a favorite sanitary for fish and seabirds alike. She was built I believe in Newcastle, of steel and rivet construction, and though she no longer looks her best offer any visitor bothering to walk along the shore line a welcome. In her working days the "Laura" plied the Channel Ports collecting apples, milk, and and other agricultural products for the Hobart market. At this time there was no satisfactory road to the city. The highway as such was built during the great depression in the 1930's.

Over the years, I have taken many photos of the "Laura", and produced several painting based on her. I have attempted in these photos to capture the beauty and charm of such a sight. I know many people only look for perfection, the perfect reality without the realisation that everything in this world is always in a state of flux. Things never remain the same for one moment, to fully understand the visual world, we must always try to look with new eyes.

Tasmania has many wrecks scattered around her coast, no doubt due to the location of the island in the roaring 40's, a latitude that allows the wind to roar around the world without hindrance.  Many a sailing ship in the age of sail meet there doom on this rocky coastline. Most of course, now lie at the bottom of the sea, so I am lucky to have accesses to one without getting my feet wet. Here are a few images of the "Laura", so you can appreciate the abstract possibilities of wrecks.