An August visit to Abney Park cemetery

The last Tuesday in August saw nine artists, IAS members and friends, sketching in Abney Park cemetery. We had a lovely sunny day with plenty of deep shadows, luxuriant undergrowth and mature trees, where Victorian monuments lurked. There were plenty of angels and even a lion. The disused chapel was being renovated and was unfortunately covered in hoardings and scaffold but there were plenty of other subjects to grab our attention. The quiet of the cemetery was disturbed for a bit by a persistent overhead helicopter, but it was fortunately not looking for artists.

We had lunch in a trendy new café on Stoke Newington Church Street where we compared work and encouraged each other. And very importantly no-one got lost in this maze of a cemetery. Watch this blog spot for details of the next outing in September.

Next meet up is on Tuesday 30 August

Our next sketching outing is on Tuesday 30 August at 11am at Abney Park, Stoke Newington High Street, London N16 0LH. We are meeting at the main entrance with the Egyptian gates.

Abney Park in Stoke Newington, one of the ‘magnificent seven’ garden cemeteries of London, is a woodland memorial park and Local Nature Reserve. There are many interesting memorials, especially some featuring angels, and there is an atmospheric, ruined chapel in the centre. General Booth of Salvation Army fame is probably the most famous person buried there.

At this time of year the cemetery is particularly bosky and overgrown, so if you can't find us call my mobile on: 07815 772857, for use on the day only please. Buses serving Abney Park include the 67, 76, 106, 149, 476, 393 and 243. The 106 goes from Finsbury Park Station. Stoke Newington overground is very close. 

The informative website can be found here. There are plenty of cafés in Stoke Newington Church Street and even some on the High Street. There are not many benches in the cemetery so we advise you to bring a sketching stool.

Sketching on the hottest day of summer

The July outing for Art in the Park took us to Newington Green on a very hot day. Four artists, two Islington Art Society members plus two guests found a shady place under the huge plane trees and worked away. Unfortunately the café in the park had suffered a power cut, nothing to do with us, but we found a very pleasant alternative nearby for lunch where we sat in the garden.

Newington Green has a distinguished past with links to the Dissenters and Mary Wollstonecraft, and also boasts the oldest surviving terraced housing in London. It is currently a pleasant square with ample seating, a children's play area and of course plenty to draw.

Our next outing will be to Abney Park Cemetery in Stoke Newington. Watch this blog for the next date.

Our July outing is to Newington Green on Tuesday 19th

The next Art in the Park outing will be to Newington Green on Tuesday 19 July. We are meeting there from 11am in the café on the Green itself. Newington Green has a fascinating history, several Listed Buildings, a Unitarian chapel, the old facade of the China Inland Mission and also London's oldest surviving brick terrace.

The Green itself was revitalised a few years ago and is a pleasant area with seats, a café and paying loo, planting and a children's playground. There are many cafés and pubs nearby.

Newington Green is served by the 73, 476, 21, 141 and 341 buses. The 236 runs from Finsbury Park station but is not the fastest bus that London Transport runs. Canonbury Station on the overground is close by.

Hope to see as many of you as possible there.

The New River Path: a tranquil haven in the middle of Islington

Six IAS members and their guests decided that it was going to be outdoors sketching weather despite all appearances to the contrary, and met up at the New River Path in Islington. Fortunately the weather was kind to us and we were rewarded with excellent reflections in the water from the greenery surrounding the New River, a turtle and ducks' nests on straw bales watched closely by a frustrated fox cub who didn't want to get his feet wet.

There was bosky planting, Georgian cottages and of course the Marquess Tavern, where we could sit outside for coffee and lunch. We finally located the bird bath shown in the photo montage above dedicated to two members of the Islington Art Circle, the forerunner of IAS. So we were keeping up a great tradition of Islington artists!

The next outing will be to Newington Green, with its Dissenting history and links to Mary Wollstonecraft. The date will be posted on the blog shortly.

Our midsummer sketching outing is on Monday 27 June

Our next outing is to the New River Walk in Islington. Meet outside the Marquess Tavern, 32 Canonbury Street N1 2TB on Monday 27 June at 11am. There are tables outside. 

The Marquess is an ideal starting place for the New River as it is centrally placed. In the summer the New River Walk should be wonderfully bosky with some rather large ducklings. More information on the New River walk can be found on Section 6 of the Thames Water booklet. We are meeting in Section 6.

You can get to the New River (or rather our meeting place, the Marquess Tavern) from Highbury and Islington Station, from Essex Road or Upper Street buses, or Essex Road Station. The 271 bus is particularly helpful as it goes along Archway Road from Highgate with a stop in Canonbury Road, a very short walk away from the Marquess.

Bring sketching stools as seating is limited. The Marquess does serve food but can be expensive as it is a gastro pub, though it does do drinks, coffee and toilets and is still a 'local'. There are other options a short walk away, but bringing sandwiches could be useful. The Marquess opens at 12 noon. Arrive prepared.

An anecdote from Virginia Jackson

"The New River Walk is a most appropriate venue for a sketching outing for members of the Islington Art Society. On 1 June 2003 members attended the installation of the Bunting memorial birdbath placed by the river's edge beside a weeping willow. The memorial carved by John Nash was inscribed "In memory of George and Debbie Bunting, Islington Art Circle 1946-2000". Apparently when the weather changed members retired to The Marquis Tavern to reminisce. There is a black and white photograph taken by Graham Thomas of the memorial on the front of the IAS July 2003 newsletter edited by Lucy Rickards but the area was considerably more overgrown when I last saw it and that was well over a decade ago."

Spring time in a secret garden

On a sunny morning in late May 11 artists met up in Culpeper Community Garden to spend time sketching. This proved a very popular outing for IAS members and their guests. Culpeper Community Garden is near the Angel and Chapel Market, so this is a very easy location to get to and the weather was ideal.

The Garden is lovingly maintained by volunteers and was looking lovely and lush in contrast to the nearby densely urban landscape of inner London. There is a good variety of plants, some vegetables and a lawn where workers from nearby offices were eating their lunchtime sandwiches. We hope to go back later in the year  to capture  a different season in the Gardens. A big thank you to Culpeper.