Tuesday 25 June: Visit the Victoria Embankment Gardens, Villiers Street, WC2N 6DU

 We are going to make our first visit to the Victoria Embankment Gardens, which features a fine High Renaissance style watergate which was built in 1626 for the Duke of Buckingham, (the Thames has moved since this boating essential was built), and a number of statues to nineteenth century notables: Arthur Sullivan, with mourning nymph, a camel, part of the Imperial Camel Corps, Robert Burns, etc., etc.  There is also a fishpond, part of a Lutyens memorial (the Cheylemore Memorial) and bandstand.  The garden maintenance is supposed to be good.   There should be plenty to sketch, but if people want something grittier, the Embankment tube entrance is interesting, hopefully without roadworks, and over the wall and across the Embankment road is the Thames and Cleopatra's needle with attendant sphinxes. 

Meet at 11 am in the Gardens by the Villiers Street entrance, close to the Embankment tube exit

There is a cafe and loo.    If wet, we could sit in the bandstand, or underneath the railway lines going to Charing Cross.  

There will be many buses going to Charing Cross, Villiers Street is just to the east side of Charing Cross, and the Northern, Bakerloo, Circle and District lines stop at Embankment Station. 

We suggest you bring your sketching stools to help achieve the perfect composition.  There are benches, but they may be already taken or in the wrong place. 

  

 Sue's telephone number for the day is 07975 864 142 (but please note that due to the incompetance of O2, the mobile service provider, it may not be possible to send reply texts, and there is a problem with receiving voicemail also).

Finally, some late images from our day in the St John's Wood Churchyard, a series of line drawings by Alison Sandifer.  Enjoy!

 

 

 

Our Visit to St John's Wood Churchyard

 It was a wet and overcast day when 8 seasoned artists made their way to St John's Wood Churchyard, which was a bit off our usual beat. The weather continued to be damp but there was no actual rain whilst we were sketching. 

Thank you Diane Umemoto for suggesting this great venue. We loved exploring something new. The High Street was fascinating but most of us stayed in the churchyard which is now largely a park. John Sell Cotman's grave is in an area that is being rewilded but all the more intriguing for that.

We retired to a cafe at lunchtime where some us appropriately chose the 'Wild Child' bowl option.

The next outing is on Tuesday 25th June to Embankment Gardens. More to follow.

So images below. Artist's name at the top pf each image:

Diana Marshall

Diane Umemoto

Do Burgess

 

Janet Payne

 

Gill Steiner

Priscilla Worley

Sue Lees

 

Sue Loder

Tuesday 14 May: St John's Wood Church Gardens, 8 Wellington Place, London NW8 9JA

Our next sketching day will be Tuesday 14 May 2024 when we are going to go to the St John's Wood Church Gardens.   This a two-hectare local nature reserve, partly wooded graveyard, (with gravestone of watercolourist John Sell Cotman), and partly ornamental garden.   The St John's Wood Church is alongside, built in the Italianate style, and with one or two (possibly) Italian cypresses in the formal garden we may be able to imagine ourselves in an Italian garden.  More details here:    Outside there is one of those green cabmens' shelters, shadowed attractively by trees, another subject for art. 

If it is wet, we may be able to sit under the Church Portico, or do some cafe sketching.  In any case, we suggest you bring your sketching stool and your umbrella.

There is a public loo at 5 Wellington Place.    Depending on the weather, we can either have lunch at one of the cafes on St John's Wood High Street (The Good Life Eatery which does salads, etc., is just across the road from the Gardens, and if we are a large group, AT Feast might be better and we can probably book ahead that morning), or get take away sandwiches and coffee from one of the cafes which does take-aways (Laurent's  is recommended) and eat lunch together in the Gardens.   The green cab shelter also serves the public.   It does not look as though we will starve. 

The nearest tube station is St John's Wood, on the Jubilee Line.    The 274 bus runs through Camden past the south side of the Church.

Hoping for a warm sunny day!

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

 

Our Visit to Abney Park.

On a variable and chilly day 10 artists arrived in Abney Park to draw the chapel, the trees and the graves.

Fortunately the hale storm held off until just before 1 pm, when most of us hastened to the Green Room, a cafe on Stoke Newington Church Street where we stocked up on hot drinks and smashed avocado on sourdough toast.

One key path in the cemetery was closed for maintenance. Navigation in the cemetery is always a challenge and the path closure didn't help. Fortunately no-one got lost or left behind which would have been a ghoulish experience.

In spite of the weather some great work was produced, see below.

Here is nice picture taken by Audrey Rapier of Sue Lees, determinedly carrying on in difficult weather conditions.

3 pictures below from Audrey Rapier

From Avis Dennis

From Diane Umemoto

From Doreen Burgess

From Gill Steiner

From Janet Perkins

From Janet Payne

2 pictures below from Peter Colley

From Diana Marshall

From Sue Lees

The next date is Tuesday 14th May. Venue to be confirmed.

Abney Park Cemetery on Tuesday 16th April 2024

Our next outing is to Abney Park Cemetery. 

Meet at 11am on Tuesday 16th April at the Stoke Newington Church Street entrance, not the High Street entrance. The 73, 476 and 393 buses all run along Church Street. The main entrance is on the High Street, but this is more difficult for most of us to get to. This entrance is served by the 67, 76, 106, 149, 243, 276 393 and 476 buses and is a short walk through the cemetery to the Church Street entrance. The 106 goes from Finsbury Park and the 393 from Highbury and Islington undergrounds.

The address is Abney Park Cemetery Trust, 215 Stoke Newington High Street, N16 0LH.

More about the cemetery can be found on their website abneypark.org including some very informative videos. The cemetery was originally an arboretum for two big houses and then became one of London's Magnificent Seven Victorian cemeteries. There are some rare trees and a lot of greenery. Stoke Newington has a tradition of non-conformism, which is reflected in the burials. One of the grandest tombs is that of General Booth of the Salvation Army. The lion tomb is that of a circus entertainer.

The cemetery has recently been 'refurbed'. The unkempt and charming undergrowth has been tamed but not obliterated. Unfortunately the chapel is not open to the public but there is often a glimpse of the interior for the determined. But plenty of ornate tombs with angels and trees.

The visitor centre is currently closed, so sorry no loos. There are plenty of cafes and pubs on Church Street.

Janet's phone number for the day is 07815 772857. Pics to janetat48ock@hotmail.com for posting on the blog.

Our great little exhibition at the Roundhouse has now been taken down. Thank you to all who helped and participated. Three artists sold work. They were Sue Lees, Daniel Lloyd Morgan and Audrey Rapier, which is good as there were only 8 of us and also no formal stewarding. 

Visit to St James' Piccadilly on Tuesday 26 March 2024

14 artists came to St James' Piccadilly, a new location for Art in the Park.  We were very taken with Wren's church, and by the unexpected (to many of us) garden at one side, with its wildflower areas and various statues.   We were pleased to see primroses in flower attended by wild bees and a bee-fly, in central London, and various garden birds who somehow make their home in this small patch beset with buildings and roads.  

We have since discovered that the authorities at the church are planning big renovations to the two non-Wren buildings on the site and much reconstructing of the garden, including the insertion of a pavilion in the middle of it.  If anyone wishes to see what is planned, the planning document is  here:     The new garden design is to go first to the Chelsea Flower Show, and a sketch can be seen here:    it is not clear how this will be rearranged into the actual church garden.

It is good to have seen the church and garden before building work starts, and maybe we can go back in a few years' time and find that some of the infelicities of the site have been ironed out.  

On the art side, we focussed most of our attention inside on the altar and its gorgeous Grinling Gibbons carvings and wider surroundings, and outside, we drew some of the buildings as a whole, and painted the rather nice statues which were scattered around.  We were astonished by the busyness of the hot food stalls in the front courtyard and despite the cooking smells, it was good to see such a bustle of activity at a church.  We also had rather nice lunches bought from the stalls.  It will be interesting to see if they survive the reconstructions.   After lunch it started raining, so we felt that we were very lucky with the morning. 

The next Art in the Park outing will be on Tuesday 16 April, venue to be announced shortly.

Enjoy our artwork from St James'! 

Image above by Priscilla Worley

Image above by Janet Payne

Image above by Diane Umemoto

Three images above by Audrey Rapier

Image above by Avis Dennis

 

 

Image above by Vanessa Whinney

Two images above by Tricia Sharpe

 

 

Image above by Ruijun Hu

Image above by Gill Steiner

 

 

Image above by Diana Marshall

Two images above by Vanessa Whinney

Image above by Chris Baker

 

Image above by Peter Colley

 

 

Image above by Janet Perkins

 

 

 

 

 

Image above by Sue Lees

 

St James's Piccadilly Tuesday 26th March

 Our next outing is to St James's Church, 197 Piccadilly, W1J 9LL on Tuesday 26th March. Meet at 11 am.

This is a Christopher Wren designed church with a font and reredos by Grinling Gibbons. So lots of architectural history. The church also has a history of community outreach and social activism.

Their website is sjp.org.uk and it includes a virtual tour of the church.

There is a food market outside in front of the church on Tuesdays, so lots of choice for lunch. Loos in the church.

They are expecting us and we can stay until 4pm if we want.

Please no easels but water colours are fine, but be careful.

26th March is in Holy Week, so please respect the Church and only talk in low voices. We are generally a quiet group any way, so this shouldn't be a challenge!