Gordon Frickers' Blog » The Plimsoll Sensation

Glenorchy, published by Sea Breezes magazine

Gordon Frickers — Wed, 19 May 2010 16:07:39 +0000

I hear from my friends at Sea Breezes magazine, “Yes we did manage to get the Glenorchy scan to a publishable quality“.

Sea Breezes, Glenorchy the marine painting is in the June issue which is on sale today.
We had a slight problem because of the tight deadline.
I have an excellent 5″ x 4″ transparency of this beautiful marine art painting but no high resolution digital image and my Epsom Perfection 2450 scanner is currently NBG, refuses to talk to Vista.

Glenorchy is on the Sea Breezes gatefold in this issues, a rare chance to have a nice print of this classic Glen Line ship and Empire class tugs, some of the ex William Watkins, Alexander Towing Company tugs.
You can find the picture and more text on page http://www.frickers.co.uk/marine-art/glenorchy_thames.html.

The pop up on this page shows you the painting about life size but is not as crisp, sharp as the original consequently the colours have suffered a bit.

Of course, many of the illustrations here and on www.frickers.co.uk you can view larger than life.

Recently for your enjoyment, we have started to include a grey and a colour scale with the pictures thus if you wish to se them as close as is possible to the image we place on the web you can adjust. yourscreen.

I hop you think, still fun to see though?

The editor is would like to use more of my pictures in the future, probably “Plymouth Cattewater” featuring the crack clipper Samuel Plimsoll next.
Sea Breezes are preparing an article on the Samuel Plimsoll.
I mentioned to my friends at Sea Breezes, the exceelent new-ish Nicolette Jones book “The Plimsoll Sensation” to them (ISBN 978-0-349-11720-1).

Marine Art progress

Gordon Frickers — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:03:32 +0000

I am still exchanging emails re the European Parliament Marine Art Exhibition at Brussels.

We are hoping to show about 50 examples of my marine art including prints during May, European Sea Month.

Looks hopeful but nothing in writing yet.

Until they confirm I can’t do much about financial aid, grants, sponsors etc.

This is a great sponsor opportunity for a company wishing to be noticed in a high profile location, excellent soft advertising opportunity.

I have one tentative offer so far from Savage Lighting who among other projects supplied the lighting for the square rigged super yacht Maltese Falcon.

It does have the active backing of Brian Simpson, MEP for Transport so will probably go ahead.

Most of the paintings are ready to go.

I need new frames for some and others I am actively working on in the studio and quietly confident I will have all ready in time.

I have had my best frames hand made to my own designs specially suited to marine painting by Frinton Frames (http://www.frintonframes.co.uk/) for some 25 years.

This exhibition is though a considerable expense for some one in my situation to carry alone.

Also, it seems a shame for other businesses not to reap some benefit at the same time.

Then the question is where to show after the EP, would be good to keep the momentum going?

Here in Itzac, we have had a series of fine, mild sunny days with temperatures dropping to below – 6 at night.

Today in the sun my balcony thermometer was recording 20 C.

Excellent light for painting and makes me hesitate to return to England for the winter, maybe you can understand why?

Over the past few days I have been working on a series of marine paintings.

Most will be familiar if you have read earlier entries of this blog.

The largest physically will be a moon light scene of Plymouth Cattewater.

This historic stretch of water, the mouth of the river Plym at the junction of Plymouth Sound and Sutton Harbour has seen countless voyages commence from at least as far back as the Phoenicians who visited the place the Saxon’s named Sutton Harbour and also Mount Batten to trade.

Francis Drake, first captain to circumnavigate the globe, and many of the great Elizabethan seamen sailed from this very stretch of water, here the battle fleet of Queen Elizabeth the first waited for months and eventually sailed to combat with Spain’s great ‘Invincible’ Armada.

The Pilgrim Fathers in Mayflower and literally countless other emigrants sailed from Plymouth Cattewater.

James Cook, William Bligh, Horatio Nelson, all knew Plymouth as a point of departure.

Great liners formaly graced Plymouth Sound, they though like the modern navy did not use the smaller historic Cattewater.

Today though, the boats from luxurious cruise ships do visit.

Some roll of honour?

More recently flying boats operating from Mount Batten taxied on these waters and patroled in World War 2 hunting U-boats while the Americans used Plymouth Cattewater extensively while preparing a more modern armada, the largest in history, for D Day.

The first single handed transatlantic yacht race sailed form here (”Blondie” Hasler raced Francis Chichester for ‘half a crown’ (a 2 shiilings and 6 pence coin) after a bet at the bar of the Royal Western Yacht Club).

I kept my own yacht “Music Maker” on a mooring in the lee of Mount batten in the days when I had a family.

Can you be very sure more famous sailors will continue to make Plymouth Cattewater their point of departure?

Cattewater, maybe you know the origin of the name?

The colouring of this marine painting will be based on the many times my family and I “rolled” out of the Royal Plymouth Corinthian Yacht Club after Wednesday evening dinghy racing followed by a meal and drinks with our fellows.

Also on the stunning moon rises I saw from the beach last autumn at Hossigur.

You may not believe it to see the attached pop up progress report but, the scene will show the emigrant clipper Samuel Plimsoll and the (now demolished) emigration buildings at Phoenix Wharf.

The site has been a disgrace to Plymouth for the past 25 years thus I hope the painting will help influence the council to redevelop sensitively and intelligently.

So far, there has been talk in Plymouth of offering me an exhibition after the exhibition at Brussels but nothing firmly done.

Will Plymouth miss the chance presented here?

When I started this painting I did not fully appreciate how important the art work would be.

Like most people I’d heard of Samuel Plimsoll, knew of the Plimsoll Line (as used by the merchant ships of some 60 plus nations today) and of the plimsoll shoe.

I was pleased to find a very suitable ship for my painting called Samuel Plimsoll.

The Samuel Plimsoll sailed regularly from Plymouth to Australia with emigrants during the 1870’s and 80’s, returning with the new wool clip, racing such illustrious ships as Cutty Sark and from the same builders, Thermopylae.

I am researching the history of Samuel Plimsoll the ship, maybe you know some thing of her?

As for her mane sake, if you like social history and wish to rediscover a very remarkable Englishman, The Plimsoll Sensation by Nicolette Jones, ISBN 978-0-349-1720-1 is a gripping read, a formidable achievement by Mrs. Jones, deservedly acclaimed by both the popular and the more high brow nautical press.

Several other marine paintings are intended for the European Parliament Exhibition are alongside the Plymouth Cattewater scene in the studio, more about them in the next few days…

Sorry to have missed the National Scorpion do, 50th anniversary of Taprell Dawling designing the Scorpion sailing boat.

For me it is rather ancient history, would have been nice to see the folks and hear who is doing has done what; Happy days.

Of all the boats I owned the one I miss most is Wellington, Wayfarer 6778, pictures here at Bodinnick Ferry, Fowey, Cornwall.

I built her after I finished in Scorpions.

Was that really in 1979…?

I don’t feel much older.

My mirror disagrees though ~ mirrors should be specially made, sympathetic to people over 40?

The Scorps were unforgettable, so where many of the people, a heap of fun !

Plymouth, the Samuel Plimsoll and a big surprise

Gordon Frickers — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 12:42:10 +0000

I am flat out working on new marine art, the largest marine painting will be a view of Plymouth Sound, the Cattewater including Commercial and Pheonix Wharves , by moon light and intended as a major exhibition piece to be shown at my coming exhibition at the European Parliament then later an exhibition at Plymouth.

This Plymouth scene is not a long story but goes back a long way.

Here is a progress report including sketches to date.

The painting was inspired by often seeing this view by moonlight, on many occasions after supper at the Royal Plymouth Corinthian Yacht Club following an evening dinghy racing.

This marine painting is being produced “on speculation” intended as a major exhibition piece, a demonstration of my skills.

Make no mistake though, the painting is for sale and could be pre bought as shipwrights might have put it, “off the building stocks”, or in this case wet off the easel!

As ideas developed, I researched extensively in Plymouth including at the Local and Naval Studies Department, Plymouth Central Library and made several special visits to the location.

More recently, my good friend the musician Bob Brennan has joined in the fun and been hugely helpful as have several of his friends around Plymouth, in helping find historic information and rare pictures relating to the view I have in mind.

Now the idea of the painting has grown.

This painting will at face value be a fine large port scene by a warm summer full moon.

There will be many layers under the face of this new marine painting:

emigration from the British Isles,

the story of the Plimsoll line and Samuel Plimsoll,

the ship Samuel Plimsoll,

the history of this now derelict location,

and the fact that it is up for redevelopment and I intend to remind Plymouth City of the site in it’s hay day hoping they will be encouraged to develop sympathertically, imaginatively and not just “build a hotel2 as is rumoured… (as I did most successfully at and for the City of Chester with the marine painting “The Port of Chester (1863)” ~ A civic reception, the ghost of Salty Cyril and a coat of arms.

See http://www.frickers.co.uk/marine-art/chester.html and follow the further reading links to discover how and why.

The original thoughts evolved to include a large sailing ship on the Cattewater, ready to sail.

Sketches attached here and below:

You may recall, “Catte” refers to catting an anchour?

The ship I would chose had to be a big square rigger, ideally with an interesting history.

I settled for ship the Samuel Plimsoll, built by Walter Hood at Aberdeen in 1873.

Walter Hood famed for his fast clippers which included Salamis and Cutty Sark’s great rival, the glorious Thermopylae

Samuel Plimsoll was named for and launched by Mr. Samuel Plimsoll.

You may have heard of the “Plimsoll Line”, maybe seen Plimsoll lines on ships?

I gradually discovered I could not have made a better choice.

I’ll tell you more of the illustrious ship Samuel Plimsoll in progress reports as the painting develops over the next few months.

Imagine my surprise?

We have been working on and off on researching this painting for 3 years when yesterday Bob Brennan emailed me about

Nicolette Jones who is trying to raise money (£1 or two) for water for Africa at JustGiving.com.

So?

Nicolette Jones is only the author of The Plimsoll Sensation: The Great Campaign to Save Lives at Sea, published in paperback on 3 May 2007 (Abacus).

The Plimsoll Sensation was the Radio 4 Book of the Week for 3-7 July 2006, and won the 2006 Mountbatten Maritime Prize and the International Division of the 2007 US Maritime Literature Awards. See the citation and photos.

I was totally unaware of Nicolette Jones and her book…

Wow, what splendid reviews Nicolette Jones and The Plimsoll Sensation have!

I wonder if she and I will ever correspond?

This is the same piece of water, Plymouth Cattewater, where Drake, Hawkins and numerous famous sailors formerly anchoured their ships.

This is the anchorage where the battle fleet of Queen Elizabeth 1 waited for the Spanish Armada and would later witness the departures of the Pilgrim Fathers followed by tens of thousands of other emigrants.

Then I became interested in the buildings on the derelict sites, a disgrace for 50 years and significantly up for re development, of the wharves under the East side of Citadel.

I was looking for a suitable fore ground for the design.

I found one plus!

This is the site where my family, friends and I so often launched our dinghies so more personal, and the only remaining building of note is in a shabby state because the city dispute who is responsible for it’s upkeep as it is the now the Mayflower Sailing Club.

I expected a long history, I found one.

I was most surprised though to discover the quay had been the most popular point of departure for emigrants leaving the British Isles, preferred over London and Liverpool.

Why?