November's sketching trip to Sutton House

Six artists met at Sutton House on Friday to spend time drawing, and exploring, this fascinating and atmospheric Tudor house that over the centuries has been renovated, added to, divided and fianlly restored to one dwelling. It was built in 1535 by a prominent courtier of Henry VIII, Sir Ralph Sadleir when Hackney was a village outside London. Now Hackney is a large borough in London and lost any rural charm it had a very long time ago.

However if you spend any time in the house or garden you can still feel a sense of peace and quiet and it is easy to feel you have accidentally slipped back in time.

So, while we all withdrew into our individual worlds while sketching variously in the Linenfold Parlour, the Cellar, the Georgian Parlour, the Great Hall and the garden we were able later to come together and chat in the café and admire each other's work and look forward to future sketching outings.