Tuesday 23 September 2025: Visit to Liverpool Street, EC2M 7PY

 On Tuesday 23 September we will visit the pedestrianised area outside Liverpool Street Station.  This is currently a mix of interesting Victorian buildings and state-of-the-latest-style modern offices.  Certain views of the station frontage have appealed to this editor as a curious mix of Victorian Renaissance styles.

Unfortunately some of the Victoriana is not as Victorian as it might be, and Network Rail has applied for planning permission to pull down the two towers and the building alongside them in the photo, and cover the original station with an enormous office block, and make new cathedral-like entrances, etc.,   The station itself is currently over-crowded, and in order to pay for the new escalators., etc etc., the new offices have to be built on top, so say Network Rail, there being no government money.  You can read about the proposed new build here:

It is not clear whether the project will be approved, but now seems to be the time to go and sketch the plaza before the place is demolished.   There are also some sculptures by Japanese artist Yagoi Kusama a little way down Liverpool Street, which look like silver bubbles on stems, which we might also like to sketch, this area is also pedestrianised, with an office overhang which would be useful if it rains.   This location is another opportunity to draw people both moving and static.

We will meet under the canopy between the two towers at 11 o'clock.  There are loos in the station, and various cafes, or we can bring sandwiches.   There are various blocks of concrete to sit on scattered around, but as always, it is best to bring a sketching stool.

Sue's phone number for the day is 07975 864 142.

 

 

Tuesday 12 August: Visit to Bonnington Square

16 artists braved the heatwave forecast and came along to Bonnington Square on the 12th August.   We were agreeably surprised to find that the climatic conditions were very comfortable in the Square, all the trees creating a very pleasant microclimate, so nobody got too hot.  This gem of a location was new to many participants, and ticks so many boxes for a desirable urban environment, we cannot understand why there are aren't more places like Bonnington Square (please advise if you know of any, Art in the Park will go there!).   We were able to have a very comfortable lunch and sketching gathering around large cafe tables in the shade unbothered by traffic.  

Enjoy our artwork.  You will see that our sketchers concentrated on either the strong rus aspect of the urbe, or the fascinating alfresco cafe scene with people enjoying prolonged coffee sessions.

Art in the Park's next sketching date will be Tuesday 23 September, venue tba.   Tricia Sharpe has kindly volunteered to do some of the blog posting, and has asked if artists when sending in their images could make sure that they put in their full names for ease of attribution as not all email addresses are identifiable.  Many thanks.

Image above by Ruijun Hu

 

Image above by Avis Dennis

 

 

 

Image above by Tricia Sharpe

 

 

 

Image above by Gill Steiner

 

 

Image above by Janet Perkins

 

 

Image above by Peter Colley

 

Image above by Diane Umemoto
 

 

Image above by Janet Payne

 

 

Image above by Sue Loder

 

 

 

Image above by Sara Meidan

 

Image above by Betty Wang

 

Image above by Diane Umemoto

 

Image above by Gafung Wong

 

 

Image above by Sue Lees

 

Image above by Steve Betts

 

 

Image above by Sue Lees

Image above by Daniel Lloyd-Morgan

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday 12 August: Back to Bonnington Square, Vauxhall, London SW8 ITF

On Tuesday 12 August we will revisit the lovely Bonnington Square, Vauxhall.   We do not seem to have been back since 2019, before the chasm of the pandemic.   Old hands will remember that this is a most beautiful garden square, more or less, with a small community garden at one end of the central part of the square, and the rest of the square is taken up with  Victorian housing, and effectively a pavement forest, planted by the residents. (Continuing the exotic tree theme from our last expedition, the forest includes palm trees and banana trees.).  The whole place is a triumph of community action against the might of corporate interests.  

We will meet outside the Italo cafe at 11.   The cafe has a loo.  From previous experience, we should order, but not eat, our lunch early in case they run out. 

The nearest tube station is Vauxhall, on the Victoria Line, and Bonnington Sq is about 3 mins walk from the station. You have to cross some of the vast roads around the station. Bonnington Sq can either be reached via the South Lambeth Road and Langley Lane or Harleyford Road, cut through the Harleyford Road Gardens.

The full flavour of Bonnington Square can be viewed on the blog from our previous visit (and what gorgeous work we did that day!), here     (Please note the charming arrangement of the artwork, the blog no longer allows us to do this.)

We are going to pray for a dry day, as there is no cover.  If light drizzle forecast, please bring an umbrella and bring materials which can cope with damp better than watercolours.  If a downpour is expected, we will rush out a relocation suggestion.   Please remember to bring sketching stools so that you can get your best composition.  Looking forward to seeing many of you then.

Sue's tel number for the day is: 07975 864 142.

Our Visit to the Natural History Evolution Garden

We had a good turnout for the Evolution Garden at the Natural History Museum. At least 15 people. It was a very hot day but we did manage to find some shady spots away from the many parties of school children who were having end of summer term outings to see the Museum.

The Diplodocus proved a popular subject as did the rocks and plants. The garden is sunken and thus avoids most of the traffic noise from the Cromwell Road.

We took a packed lunch along with some Pret offerings and ate on the benches by the rocks. The work we produced is below. Very well done everybody.

Our next outing is to Bonnington Square Pleasure Gardens SW8 1TE and surroundings on Tuesday 12 August. 

Sue Loder

Steve Betts

Ruijun Hu

Peter Colley

Janet Payne

Janet Perkins

Gill Steiner

Gafung Wong

Diane Umemoto

Betty Wang

Audrey Rapier

  

Ann Funston

Alison Gardiner

 

Sue Lees

Priscilla Worley

Tuesday 8 July: Visit to the Evolution Garden, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD

 On Tuesday 8 July we will visit the new dinosaur (Evolution) Garden in front of the Natural History Museum at South Ken.  This Garden replaces the ice rink, a decision taken for sustainability, ecological, and no doubt educational, reasons, and was opened last summer.  The attractions of this, for artists, are the views of the amazing facade of the Natural History Museum itself, and, looking the other way, of the architecture of the V and A, seen arising from prehistoric palm trees.   There are good compositions to be found involving trees and parts of the Museums.  

 

There are also at least two dinosaur skeletons, including a bronze copy of the huge diplodocus which used to stand inside the Museum, and arrangements of rocks and ancient plants.  The dinosaurs do not necessarily have to be included in your artwork.   Examples of homo sapiens will also be found moving around in the landscape.   We suggest you bring sketching stools as the benches may not be where you would like them to be.  There are big trees to provide shade and the area off the main drag is not likely to be crowded.  

An alternative sketching area is the covered street outside South Ken tube station itself.

We will meet at 11 o'clock at the main entrance to the Museum which is at the junction of Cromwell and Exhibition Roads.   The Nat Hist Cafe is likely to be packed, and the V and A cafes also, so we suggest that you bring a picnic and eat it (with the Natural History Museum's blessing!) in the Evolution Garden.  If you forget to bring something, there is a Pret close to the South Ken tube.

The nearest tube station is, of course, South Ken, and it is nicer to walk to the Museum via the streets rather than the very dreary Museums underpass.  Various buses go along the Cromwell Road, but a through route will involve changes.

Sue's telephone number for the day is 07975 864 142. 

 

 

Tuesday 24 June 2025: Visit to Canada Water, South London

Twelve of us turned up at the newly redeveloped and revamped Canada Water south of the river in the Rotherhithe loop, right beside the Canada Water tube station, very convenient when we had extracted ourselves from the state of the art tube and overground station.   It was quite a windy day, always exciting when trying to paint, but not hot!  Most of us got involved with the colour to be found on one side of the Canada Water dock, but not everyone.  There were City views to be found from the upper floors of the extraordinarily-shaped public Library.  We were all charmed by the water and reedbeds around the red walkway, where we saw coots, moorhens, assorted ducks, and even a heron.   This is a lovely place for local residents to go and chill out in nature. We were also impressed with the glorious planting to one side of the dock and the reedbeds, which used a yellow/orange/red palette, featuring yellow red-hot pokers. 

Enjoy our images.

The next sketching day will be Tuesday 8 July, details to follow. 

 

Image above by Janet Payne

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image above by Maureen Bocking

 

 

Image above by Michelle Cowen

 

 

Image above by Steve Betts

 

Image above by Sue Loder

 

 

Image above by Tricia Sharpe

 

 

 

Image above by Diane Umemoto

 

Image above by Betty Wang

 

Image above by Priscilla Worley

 

 

 

Two images above by Sue Lees