Wednesday 23 May 2018

Revisit to theHorniman Museum and Gardens on Tuesday 12 June

We are going to go back to the Horniman Museum and Gardens, 100 London Rd, Forest Hill, London SE23 3PQ, as we were so dazzled by the park on our last outing. The grounds were lovely, with views, there were animals, butterfly house, prehistoric garden, somewhere a sunken garden, and we felt that we did not explore anything like all the possibilities in the time available. Most of us did not even go into the Museum, which is our fall-back position if wet, although the cafe has large sunshades, there is a covered bandstand with views of London, etc.


We also now understand the somewhat confusing circular geography of the park, and we can now say that we will meet at the park cafe, at 11 o'clock.  This is the only cafe, and it is straight up the hill from the London Road entrance, more or less in the centre of the park. See map here:


We found the London overground train ride very satisfactory going from Highbury and Islington and other stops along its journey to Croydon. The train stop is Forest Hill. The Horniman is a five to ten minute walk from Forest Hill station. Alternatively, there is a route from Waterloo, take the Jubilee line to Canada Water, then Overground to Forest Hill Station. When you get off the train you use the footbridge over the tracks to get to the correct road (London Road) and it is an easy and short walk to the Museum.(At Canada Water make sure you get on the train with the correct destination, Crystal Palace as there is more than one route.)


Entrance to the main Museum is free, there is a charge for the aquarium, butterfly house, special exhibitions.


We look forward to seeing you on this sketchdate. Sue's number for the day is 07975 864142.

Sunday 20 May 2018

Trip on 15 May to the Horniman Museum and Park

Another new destination for Art in the Park on Tuesday, 15 May, the Horniman Museum and Park in South London. We were blest with fabulous weather, and we were delighted with the many artistic possibilities of the Park, which contained a beautiful Victorian conservatory, in elegance a rival to those in Kew Gardens, a Bandstand with views to London, animals (alive, as well as the Museum specimens), a butterfly house, a prehistoric garden with its own Velociraptor (in sculptural form), the Museum buildings themselves, children with their parents, etc. etc. We rushed ahead with our work, but we did not really explore either the park or the Museum. Most people sketched outside, but one person went inside to inspect the exhibits, and produced a series of drawings of musical instruments. Eleven artists made the trip, which was surprisingly easy once onto the London Overground.





We are very tempted to go back next time to the Horniman, as we feel that we have barely scratched the surface of subjects to paint, also there is a very good cafe with both indoor and outdoor space. Info will follow on the next blog posting.