On Tuesday 21 February a select group of five artists assembled at the
Wellcome Collection's premises on the Euston Road. Visitors
are only allowed to use dry materials for sketching the Collection, and
so we got out our pencils, oil pastels, pens, watercolour crayons, and
licked fingers, and got on very well. Nobody seemed to miss paint or
water, though this could be added later at home if required.
There
were all sorts of interesting human biology-type displays, and some of
us got involved with these, as can be seen in the photographs. There
were also some three dimensional artwork pieces with a health angle. One of us was captivated by a series of ethnic masks (possibly belonging
to medicine men?). Others sat down on the comfortable sofa in the
Reading Room and sketched the rather dazzling deco-cum-Hollywood
staircase, complete with red carpet. These stairs are now intended to
be a sitting area, and made comfortable by vast cushions, and students
seem to love sitting on them. We were surprised to notice that everyone
in the Reading Room held their poses amazingly well, going into
interesting positions, and thereby becoming excellent youthful models
for the artist.
We discovered a quiet café on the second
floor, where we could spread ourselves out, which was a bonus, as the
eatery near the front door was very crowded. Taking everything
together, this is a good winter venue and very suitable for a return
visit.
