Rotunda Garden, Smithfield

Seven enthusiastic Art in the Park sketchers turned up on a dry, warm, and ultimately sunny day at the Rotunda Garden, West Smithfield. We were astonished to be greeted by a multi-coloured neon art installation completely covering the resident statue, but soon realised its sketching possibilities. We discovered that this is a new temporary installation entitled Peace by artists Morag Myerscough and Luke Morgan. We were also rather dismayed by the local building projects which fortunately were not in the park, nor in the parts of Smithfield Market which we could see, but the upside was that lots of off-duty builders were available as hunky models, sitting on the installation and around on the benches, having their breakfasts and lunches in the garden. We also got stuck into capturing the Victorian architecture of Smithfield Market, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves in this undiscovered corner of London. Another visit when the renovations are over, and more of the Victoriana is uncovered, would be worthwhile.

Art in the Park: Next Sketching Day: Tuesday 26 September at the West Smithfield Rotunda Garden, EC1A 9BD

A new venue for Art in the Park, the West Smithfield Rotunda Garden is at the mid-point of West Smithfield, down the road from the Barbican tube station, and is a circular garden with trees and a central statue, and views of the Victorian Smithfield Market to the north.  

We will meet in the Garden at 11 o'clock, and can either sketch within it, or wander outside and do parts of the long Smithfield Market, which has arches and towers, or the various other Victorian buildings around.   A day for getting to grips with architecture, although the statue is also good visually.  The area is quiet, spacious, and has very little traffic.  If it is wet, we can go into St Bartholemew the Great and sketch in there, as we did in January.   It seems that St Bartholemew's cafe is shut while they do building works outside the church, but there are a number of pubs and cafes in West Smithfield.

Further details and travel notes can be found here: here

We look forward to seeing fellow artists, both newcomers and regulars.  Sue's telephone number for the day is: 07975 864142.