Painting the Royal Australian Navy

In 2017 I was invited to sail in the R.A.N.’s supply vessel HMAS Sirius from HMAS Stirling, Rockingham, W.A. to Garden Island Dockyard, Sydney, NSW. The voyage took 10 days, during which I was able to paint life at sea in the R.A.N. As a young man I served 13 years in the navy ashore and at sea in surface ships and submarines. The opportunity to go to sea again was a rare one, and which would connect my naval past to my artist’s present. It stoked up a lot of old memories.

During the course of the voyage I painted each day, at every opportunity. I was involved on the edge of all of the training evolutions that were held, from helicopter transfer and flight deck operations, to fire and man overboard drills, to RAS (replenishment at sea) and small boat operations. I filled a sketchbook with over 50 pencil and wash sketches, as well as a number of completed watercolour paintings. Back home in the studio, I worked on another twenty or so paintings from my sketches and photographs for later exhibition. I also compiled the work with a narrative text to publish ‘The Sirius Sketchbook’, which details the 10-days through sketches, paintings and text.

In 2018 I was again invited to join the navy, this time for a week at HMAS Cerberus, to paint life ashore in a naval training establishment. Again, each day was filled with painting, sketches and immersion in the activities of the establishment, including a Recruit School graduation, Having commenced my own naval journey at HMAS Cerberus, my week there was another sentimental journey that further bolstered those connections with what, from today’s vantage point, was a past life.

Below are some of the works that have sprung from the amazing opportunities I was afforded to be a part of the navy once again. I am indebted to the generosity of the Oborn family, and in particular Mrs Jan Oborn and Captain Michael Oborn, R.A.N.; to the ship’s company of HMAS Sirius, and in particular Ship’s Warrant Officer Dale Young.