Visit to Brixton Market on Tuesday 18th March

Meet at the exit to Brixton Underground Station at 11am. Brixton Station is on the Victoria line and is accessible from Finsbury Park and Highbury and Islington. Brixton Market, which has reinvented itself as Brixton Village, is a lively and diverse venue full of small stalls selling exciting merchandise. Not the usual High Street chains.

The bit of that enormous market area which is prettiest calls itself Brixton Village Market. 

The market itself is under cover so will be rain proof and a bit warmer than outside! There are plenty of eateries and coffee shops. Bring a sketching stool and a warm jacket.

The market is very old established and Electric Avenue is the adjacent street with its coloured Victorian arches and canopies.

We last went there in the autumn of 2023.   

Below is Sue Lees's picture from our last visit

Below is a picture that Christine Khwaja did at the Queen's in Crouch End on our last visit.

Visit to The Queens, Crouch End, on Tuesday 11 February 2025

 20 artists, plus some supporters, arrived at The Queens on Tuesday 11 February.   Yet another cold and grey day, but some intrepid souls sketched outside before opening time, and some from comfortable cafes across the road.   The interior is magnificent, as befits its original conception as a smart hotel by its builder and developer, John Cathles Hill (1858-1915).   It has a sister building on Green Lanes, The Salisbury Hotel, which we must investigate in future.  On the ground floor, most of the decor is original, miraculously, as The Queens narrowly avoided bomb damage in the Second World War.  It is now grade II* listed.  The crowning glory is the stained glass, which leans towards the art nouveau, but the wood panelling is also very architectural.   We were able to spread ourselves around the ground floor, and then sampled the very nice menu - and some of us enjoyed sketching the chefs.  We had a great welcome from the staff,  and look forward to going back again in the future.  

Enjoy looking at our artwork.    Our next sketch date will be Tuesday 18 March, details to follow.  

Image above by Gafung Wong

Image above by Vanessa Whinney

Image above by Steve Betts

Image above by Janet Payne

Image above by Alison Gardiner

Image above by Vanessa Whinney

 

Image above by Gill Steiner

Image above by Sue Loder

Image above by Betty Wang

Image above by Diana Marshall

Image above by Peter Colley

Image above by Do Burgess

Image above by Sue Lees

Image above by Janet Perkins

Image above by Gafung Wong

Image above by Janet Payne

Three images above by Audrey Rapier

Two images above by Cathy Burkinshaw

Image above by Ann Kozlowski-Hunt

Three images above by Alison Sandifer

Image above by Ruijun Hu

Two images above by Sue Lees

Our Visit to the Haydn Orchestra

 On 25 th January a dozen artists arrived at St Michael's Highgate to sketch the Haydn Orchestra in rehearsal.

As usual we throughly enjoyed ourselves. Thank you to the orchestra and the facilitators. The whole atmosphere of the church with the stained glass windows and the fading winter daylight is always amazing. Really exciting and thank you conductor George Jackson and cello soloist Guy Johnston.

People drew quickly and produced a vast quantity of work, so I have had to edit down the number of pictures that I have posted. No more than two per person. Apologies if your favourite picture is not posted here.

From Lindsay Topping

From David Gilbert

 From Do Burgess

From Sue Lees

From Janet Payne

From Cathy Burkinshaw

From Ruijin Hu

From Maureen Bocking

From Christian Cook

Tuesday 11 February 2025: Visit to The Queens pub, 26 Broadway Parade, Crouch End, London N8 9DE (corner of Elder Avenue and Tottenham Lane)

On Tuesday 11 February we will visit another indoor venue, The Queens in Crouch End.   This is a very beautiful Grade II listed Victorian pub, with lots of panelling and interior glass, and still with its crowning glory, its (almost) art nouveau stained glass windows.    More details here , the photos are at the end of the architectural text.   The pub will be very uncrowded at this time on a Tuesday so it will be a very soothing experience. 

Unfortunately The Queens does not open until 12 noon, but if the weather is reasonable, we can assemble outside at 11 o'clock and sketch the streetscene, and The Queens' palatial exterior architectural embellishments.  We suggest that we plan to have lunch at 2pm to give everyone time to have a good go at the interior.

Just for once, we have sampled part of the menu in advance, and the soup was delicious!

Crouch End is miles from any tube, and approx 15 minutes walk from the overground at Crouch Hill or Hornsey, but buses 41, 91, W5, W7 all stop in the centre, and the W3 stops in Ferme Park Rd nearby.   The W5 goes to the Archway tube station (closeish, you need to check exactly where the stop is at the north side of the old gyratory,  and the W3 and the W7 go to Finsbury Park station.   Car parking is controlled, morning or afternoon depending on location.   

Meanwhile, we are assembling the sketches some of us produced at the rehearsal of the Haydn Chamber Orchestra on Saturday, and as before, the experience was tremendous and such a privilege.  We will post the images towards the end of the week. 

 

 

Tuesday 14 January 2025: visit to the Victory Pub, Waterloo Station

16 artists came along to Waterloo Station and the Victory Pub, and despite expectations, most people sketched aspects of Waterloo itself, a very complicated large subject involving lots of geometric shapes.    We were able to look down upon the station from The Balcony, where the Victory Pub was located.   The new(ish) Windrush Memorial by Basil Watson caught the attention of several artists.  Others painted various aspects of the interior of the pub.   We very much appreciated the welcome from staff in the pub, and their kindness in allowing us to sketch inside.  

Our next event is on Saturday 25 January when we will be in St Michael's Highgate drawing the Haydn Chamber Orchestra, please see details in earlier blog.   

Please enjoy our artworks!

Image above by Janet Payne

Image above by Doreen Burgess

 

 

    

Image above by Alison Gardiner

Image above by Lindsay Topping 

Image above by Tricia Sharpe

Image above by Gafung Wong

 

Image above by Daniel Lloyd Morgan

Image above by Gill Steiner

Image above by Maggie Pettigrew

Two Images above by Tricia Sharpe

Image above by David Gilbert

Two images above by Lindsay Topping 

Image above by Peter Colley

Image above by Diana Butement 

Image above by Steve Betts 

Image above by Sue Lees

Image above by Janet Perkins

Image above by Sue Loder