Art in the Park: October 2023

Sunday 29 October 2023

Visit to Gillespie Park, Highbury, on Tuesday 24 October

A dozen artists held their faith in the weather forecast, despite rain overnight and in the early morning, and arrived at Gillespie Park just as the sun was breaking through the clouds. We had a glorious morning in one of Islington's immaculate nature reserves followed by a cosy lunch in Fink's cafe round the corner in Gillespie Road.

We were looking for autumn colour, and there was some, but due to the unseasonable warmth during September and October the Gillespie rus in urbe was not a blaze of dazzling reds and oranges. Most people (but not everyone) tackled the woodlands because there are a lot in the Park, and much of the spirit of the Park resides in the green tree canopy. The wonderful thing about Gillespie Park is that it appears to be in the depths of the countryside, surrounding buildings and even the Emirates Stadium are out of sight once inside the gates. A great place to visit to forget about London.

Enjoy our images!

Our next day out will be Tuesday 21 November when we will be going to Brixton Market, an indoor venue, details to follow.

Images above by Priscilla Worley

Image above by Tricia Sharpe

Image above by Peter Colley

Image above by Avis Dennis

Image above by Janet Perkins

Image above by Diane Umemoto

Image above by Janet Payne

Image above by Gill Steiner

Two images above by Penny Spelling

Image above by Diana Marshall

Image above by Sue Lees

Wednesday 11 October 2023

Gillespie Park, Tuesday 24nd October

Our next outing is to Gillespie Park, 10 Tannington Terrace, Gillespie Rd, London N5 1LE on Tuesday 24th October.

Meet at 11am at the Gillespie Road entrance. Gillespie Park is a public park and Islington's largest open space. The Ecology Centre is in Gillespie Park and is by the Gillespie Road entrance.

From Gillespie Park's website:

2.8 hectare nature reserve which is home to a wealth of wildlife, including 244 species of plants, 94 species of birds and 24 types of butterflies.
Ponds, woodland and meadow areas.

There are loos at the Ecology Centre which we can use. However the Ecology Centre is busy on Tuesdays so we can't expect to use any other of their facilities. So fingers crossed for good weather.

We are hoping for some good Autumn colour.

Bring a packed lunch and a sketching stool. There are cafes on Blackstock Road, but they are a bit of a distance from the park.

The 4, 19 and 236 buses run along Blackstock Road. The nearest undergrounds are Finsbury Park and Arsenal and there is an overground station at Drayton Park.

And some more pics from the "Not The Post Building" outing

Diana Marshall

Do Burgess

Monday 9 October 2023

The Post Building or rather somewhere else

It was a really nice October Autumn day, perfect for drawing outside, when we set off for the Post Building, which has a roof terrace open to the public. We were at least a dozen artists. The public terrace was closed for maintenance. There was no way of confirming opening times in advance from the website, no email or telephone number and of course there was no advance notification of closure.

Sue and Janet have both emailed Camden Council to protest, as under the Section 106 agreement the terrace is supposed to be open to the public. So, we suspect that closing the terrace with no notice is a ploy to reduce the numbers of visitors so that the developers can tell Camden Council that there are not many visitors and get the Section 106 Agreement renegotiated.

However in the best traditions of Art in the Park we carried on. Some people went to the British Museum, some to Russell Square and some found Pied Bull Yard, where the Cordon Bleu cookery school is. This sells excellent cakes which cheered up some people for missing the public terrace on the Post Building.