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| The Palm Court that reminded us of Kew Gardens |
On Monday 10 artists gathered at Alexandra Palace having travelled from different parts of London to enjoy the views over London and to sketch this monument to Victorian architecture. Built during the height of the British Empire Ally Pally opened as the People's Palace in 1873 and it is still used today for exhibitions and events. We pretty much had the place to ourselves the day we were there and there was a lovely relaxed atmosphere which was conducive to working. Quite a few of us were still sketching until late afternoon.
There were a lot of subjects available for drawing. Some artists wrestled with the architecture, others were taken with the palm trees and sphinxes. We didn't realise until late on in the afternoon that some of the sphinxes had masculine features and others had feminine features. For those artists who felt a bit overwhelmed by the structure the outside beckoned with the panoramic view of London in the distance and the terrace, where people were eating and drinking, closer to hand.
At lunchtime we gathered in the Bar & Kitchen to recuperate from our labours, chat about places to exhibit our art and show each other our morning's work. We have agreed that this is another venue that would be well worth revisiting in the future and it has the advantage of offering covered space inside if the weather is too inclement to work outside.
