Art in the Park Display at Cass Art, Colebrooke Row, Islington N1 Thursday 27 September - Sunday 30 September

Art in the Park are holding our first exhibition!   Seven regular Art in the Park attendees have made up some A1 mountboards of their work, either originals or prints, and put up a display in the exhibition space at Cass Art, 66-67 Colebrooke Row, Islington, N1 8AB.   Some of the images are from our Art in the Park outings (certain locations are repeated by different people), some are from other plein air days or life drawing sessions.   One or two are prints developed from onsite sketches.  Our pictures will be viewable during Cass opening hours until Sunday 30 September (Cass is open till early evening, Sundays noon till 6pm.   A few are actually for sale!

Please come and have a look, as these photos are too small to do the artists any justice.   In their different ways, all the artworks show the zest and energy which plein air activity gives to an artist's output - all our Art in the Park participants, both those in the exhibition and those who are not showing work on this occasion, find themselves energised by going out with others and a sketchbook.   Maybe we should go out twice a month!

Ann Kowlowski-Hunt's board

Janet Perkins' board

Mark Hodge's boards

Tricia Sharpe's boards

Janet Payne's boards

Priscilla Worley's board

Sue Lees' board

Tuesday 25 September: St Dunstan in the East, St Dunstan's Hill, London EC3R 5DD

On Tuesday 25 September we have decided to go to the ruined church of St Dunstan in the East, in the City, which has been turned into a public garden within the walls of this bombed church.  The City of London's City-Gardens department has very kindly given us permission to sketch there as a group.    (They have also expressed interest in seeing our results!)  This is the opportunity to release your inner gothic leanings, with beautiful arched tracery windows beset about by trailing greenery.    More details, images, and map are here:

We will meet as usual at 11 o'clock inside the church walls.   Please bring your sketching stools (and possibly umbrellas), as although there are benches they may not be where your art requires them to be, also other members of the public may wish to use them.   We will need to go out at lunchtime to find a cafe and a loo.   There are no loos available in the garden.   We can then return in the afternoon and continue sketching.   If it is wet, and we cannot find any cover we will go up to the Leadenhall market (Gracechurch St, EC3V 1LT),  which is in any case a proposed winter destination for Art in the Park.    Details are here:


The nearest tube stations are Monument and Tower Hill you can enter at Idol Lane or St Dunstan’s Hill.   Additional details are here:

We look forward to seeing everyone.  Sue's telephone number for the day is: 07975 864142

Visit to Walthamstow Village, 14 August 2018

Twelve artists came on our sketch day in Walthamstow Village, when we enjoyed very pleasant weather. We were spoilt for choice of subjects in the area immediately around St Mary's Church. Most of us established ourselves in the extensive and attractive churchyard for the morning, and tackled the gravestones, the trees, and the church itself, but several people sketched Walthamstow's "Ancient House", a fifteenth century timber-framed hall house. In the afternoon some of us went into the Church, by kind permission of the Vicar, and admired the interior, which is rather lovely, with elegant and restful arrays of pews, panelled galleries, and some splendid Tudor and Stuart sculptural memorials. One of us drew Lady Mary Merry's monument (see below).

We had a very good lunch in the beer garden of The Village Pub, which also has an interesting interior. Some of our minds were already moving towards thoughts of revisiting Walthamstow, as there were other areas of interest in some of the charming (traffic-free streets) which we did not have time to paint, and the Church interior offers many worthy subjects.

Finally, one of us carried on drawing through lunch and produced some expressive faces:

<p>Twelve artists came on our sketch day in Walthamstow Village, when we enjoyed very pleasant weather.   We were spoilt for choice of subjects in the area immediately around St Mary's Church. While most of us established ourselves in the extensive and attractive churchyard for the morning, several people sketched Walthamstow's "Ancient House", a fifteenth century timber-framed hall house.  In the afternoon some of us went into the Church, by kind permission of the Vicar, and admired the interior, which is rather lovely, with elegant and restful arrays of pews, panelled galleries, and some splendid Tudor and Stuart sculptural memorials. </p>

<p>We had a very good lunch in the beer garden of The Village Pub, which also has an interesting interior.   Some of our minds were already moving towards thoughts of revisiting Walthamstow, as there were other areas of interest in some of the charming (traffic-free streets) which we did not have time to paint, and the Church interior offers many worthy subjects.

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Tuesday 14 August Walthamstow Church and Old Village

Meet at the Gate of St Mary's Church on CHURCH LANE,  E17 9NH at 11 o'clock


On this sketch date we have another new venue, Walthamstow Village.  Our chosen centrepiece is  St Mary's Church, a handsome building, with a lovely old graveyard of 3 acres, big old trees, some paintable memorials, and charming rows of cottages alongside, a village green  with an enormous (but truncated) ionic column, a timbered house, etc.   When last seen the churchyard was largely laid to long grass and cowparsley, so good for the wildlife, but it may be cut now, and brown, but nevertheless will have a rural feel.

We have an agent on the ground who is kindly enquiring if the Church (with loo) can be opened for us in case of rain.   If not, the 'Village Pub' at 31 Orford Road has facilities, they are open from 11am. It's a big old fashioned pub and has a largish beer garden at the rear. It's about 4 mins from the churchyard so good for loos/lunch.    If we cannot get into the Church, and it rains (this seems unlikely) we can sketch in the pub or find another sheltered nook.

There is a map of the Conservation Area around the Church:
here

Getting there.   Walthamstow Village is (probably) a five minute walk from Walthamstow Central (Victoria Line) , (linked by footpath to Walthamstow Queens Road on the Overground).  When last visited bits of this area were being rebuilt and so confusing.  If you come in on the Overground, we suggest that you get yourself to the tube station.   You may need to cross the tube line in the station (quite easy) , and then you can more or less see the vast road (the A112/Hoe Street) which has got to be crossed.    See map here
Once you are on St Mary's Road, after the major road crossing, the Village is at the end of St Mary's Road straight along, although this turns into a path towards the church.

Bring your sketching stools!

Sue's mobile number for the day is 07975 864142.   We look forward to seeing everyone.

  

Visit to Victoria Park, Bow, East London on 17 July

Thirteen committed sketchers made their way to East London's Victoria Park on Tuesday 17 July. We had a great day. There was plenty to paint and the weather was lightly sunny, so we did not boil. Also there were a lot of handily placed trees and benches, especially around the Western Lake and the Pavilion Cafe where we mostly remained.

The area around the park is also interesting artistically, and some of us started sketching before making it into the park:

For everyone else, the Chinese Pagoda on its own island in the lake was an unmissable attraction:

The Pavilion Cafe (as well as producing very nice homemade lunches) is a fascinating subject in its own right, and one after-lunch picture has made it to the editorial desk. During the day we enjoyed seeing all the beautiful waterfowl, and we were particularly charmed by the coot nest, six feet away from the Cafe, where several adult birds seemed to be attending to three baby coots - with red fluff on their heads, all under the noses of the cafe's customers.

Victoria Park turned out to be a great place for painters, so will go on the list for a revisit in the future, when hopefully the 277 bus will have made it back onto its route all the way to Highbury and Islington.

For regular Art in the Parkers, we have a slot in the Cass Art building near the Angel in late September where we could have an exhibition/showing of some work done or worked up from our days out together. Ann K-H has the vision for this, so we suggest that you contact her or speak to her when you see her.