Visit to the V&A, Tuesday 8th April 2025

 

On Tuesday 8 April we will visit the Victoria and Albert Museum, and more particularly, the Cast Courts.   These are filled with wonderful and accurate plaster casts of gorgeous historic sculptures and fragments (large, in some cases) of carved architecture.   The red Cast Court has a nice combination of dark statuary against light sculpture, and the pinky red walls are very pleasing.   There are a number of large parts of carvings from European cathedrals, and one would never get so close up with the real thing. The Green Cast Court has smaller items, including Michelangelo’s David  (who is not small).  There are many opportunities for artists to practise their nudes and the models will not move.   The Cast Courts are relatively unvisited, so do provide a peaceful drawing opportunity.   Many of the exhibits may not be known to everyone, and it is a fabulous experience to sit so close to very beautiful sculpture work.   More details here: https://www.vam.ac.uk/collections/cast-collection?srsltid=AfmBOooRDPaJnxScIT6XjwzMHVzkEr2xkoLxN2ZKwfIC0JfnAqG5uGsj

 

The V and A only permit dry materials to be used.   Crayons, charcoal, conte (sanguine is nice), dry pens, markers, there are a lot of possibilities.  You may want to bring pre-prepared paper, or coloured paper.   Stools are available, but need to be looked for and then hung onto, as there is much demand for them. 

Meet at 11am actually in the red Cast Court. The nearest underground is South Kensington, Piccadilly and District and Circle lines.

Meanwhile the market manager for Brixton Village has asked that we allow them to share our images on their social media. If you don't want your picture included please let me (janetat48ock@hotmail.com) know by next Sunday 6th April, otherwise we will respond positively to Brixton Village. How nice that they liked the images.

Our Outing to Brixton Market

We thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Brixton market, now known as Brixton Village. What a cornucopia of delight we found in this covered market. There are many independent shops with goods from all over the world. Such lovely displays and so much to see and draw. There were wonderful coloured paper lanterns hanging from the roof, which several artists included in their pictures. A lovely day and we didn't get too cold.

We had lunch in a delightful Nepalese (or was it?) restaurant with fiery dumplings.

Our next outing is to the V&A on Tuesday 8th April. More to follow.

Below are some of our efforts from Brixton.

From Tricia Sharpe

From Peter Colley

From Janet Perkins

From Gill Steiner

From Do Burgess

From Sue Lees

From Phoenix Wong

From Priscilla Worley

From Janet Payne

Visit to Brixton Market on Tuesday 18th March

Meet at the exit to Brixton Underground Station at 11am. Brixton Station is on the Victoria line and is accessible from Finsbury Park and Highbury and Islington. Brixton Market, which has reinvented itself as Brixton Village, is a lively and diverse venue full of small stalls selling exciting merchandise. Not the usual High Street chains.

The bit of that enormous market area which is prettiest calls itself Brixton Village Market. 

The market itself is under cover so will be rain proof and a bit warmer than outside! There are plenty of eateries and coffee shops. Bring a sketching stool and a warm jacket.

The market is very old established and Electric Avenue is the adjacent street with its coloured Victorian arches and canopies.

We last went there in the autumn of 2023.   

Below is Sue Lees's picture from our last visit

Below is a picture that Christine Khwaja did at the Queen's in Crouch End on our last visit.

Visit to The Queens, Crouch End, on Tuesday 11 February 2025

 20 artists, plus some supporters, arrived at The Queens on Tuesday 11 February.   Yet another cold and grey day, but some intrepid souls sketched outside before opening time, and some from comfortable cafes across the road.   The interior is magnificent, as befits its original conception as a smart hotel by its builder and developer, John Cathles Hill (1858-1915).   It has a sister building on Green Lanes, The Salisbury Hotel, which we must investigate in future.  On the ground floor, most of the decor is original, miraculously, as The Queens narrowly avoided bomb damage in the Second World War.  It is now grade II* listed.  The crowning glory is the stained glass, which leans towards the art nouveau, but the wood panelling is also very architectural.   We were able to spread ourselves around the ground floor, and then sampled the very nice menu - and some of us enjoyed sketching the chefs.  We had a great welcome from the staff,  and look forward to going back again in the future.  

Enjoy looking at our artwork.    Our next sketch date will be Tuesday 18 March, details to follow.  

Image above by Gafung Wong

Image above by Vanessa Whinney

Image above by Steve Betts

Image above by Janet Payne

Image above by Alison Gardiner

Image above by Vanessa Whinney

 

Image above by Gill Steiner

Image above by Sue Loder

Image above by Betty Wang

Image above by Diana Marshall

Image above by Peter Colley

Image above by Do Burgess

Image above by Sue Lees

Image above by Janet Perkins

Image above by Gafung Wong

Image above by Janet Payne

Three images above by Audrey Rapier

Two images above by Cathy Burkinshaw

Image above by Ann Kozlowski-Hunt

Three images above by Alison Sandifer

Image above by Ruijun Hu

Two images above by Sue Lees

Our Visit to the Haydn Orchestra

 On 25 th January a dozen artists arrived at St Michael's Highgate to sketch the Haydn Orchestra in rehearsal.

As usual we throughly enjoyed ourselves. Thank you to the orchestra and the facilitators. The whole atmosphere of the church with the stained glass windows and the fading winter daylight is always amazing. Really exciting and thank you conductor George Jackson and cello soloist Guy Johnston.

People drew quickly and produced a vast quantity of work, so I have had to edit down the number of pictures that I have posted. No more than two per person. Apologies if your favourite picture is not posted here.

From Lindsay Topping

From David Gilbert

 From Do Burgess

From Sue Lees

From Janet Payne

From Cathy Burkinshaw

From Ruijin Hu

From Maureen Bocking

From Christian Cook