Art in the Time of Coronavirus

As you will have seen from the previous post we are postponing all Art in the Park outings for the foreseeable future. The next meeting would have been on 24 March. Meanwhile to keep up the excellent momentum that Art in the Park has achieved we can still carry on producing Art. On 24 March anyone who wants to be included can be, by sending a photo of their work to me, janetat48ock@hotmail.com and I will post in on the blog. The subject for 24 March is something that we can see from our 'social isolation', the interior of the house, the garden, the view outside, the other household members.

We did have a plan for an outing on 6 April, which is of course cancelled. But self portraits to me on or around that date for publication on the blog.

Keep well and carrying on with the Art

CANCELLED: Tuesday 24th March: Return visit to the Crossrail Roof Garden at Canary Wharf

Sadly, we have decided that we cannot proceed with our sketching expedition to the Crossrail Roof Garden on Tuesday 24 March, next Tuesday, in fact.

It would be completely irresponsible to encourage you all onto public transport in this dreadful situation with the horrible coronavirus and then pass the virus around at lunchtime. We are sure that you have all now come to this view in any case.  Also, the government has now woken up to the scale of the problem, and has told everyone to avoid unnecessary social contact.

So that is that for Art in the Park for the foreseeable future.  We will gather ourselves together when it is safe to do so.

We are wondering if people might like to send in any artwork you might be doing while cooped up at home.   Art in the time of Coronavirus?   A further bulletin will follow when we have thought about this a bit more.

In the meantime, please do everything the experts say - lots of handwashing, avoid social contact that is not essential, don't kiss anybody!   Look after yourselves and stay safe.

Best wishes, Sue

Tuesday 24th March: Return visit to the Crossrail Roof Garden at Canary Wharf

We have decided to have a second outing at the end of March, as we did not go out last month, and we have chosen to revisit the Crossrail Place Roof Garden, as it is a different time of year from our last visit which was in the autumn. Hopefully there will be some spring blossom to challenge us, and those who have been before can consider their work from our previous session when deciding what approach/media, and so on, to take this time. We are assuming/hoping that the coronavirus continues at its present low level, if circumstances change we will cancel.

We will meet at 11 o’clock in the garden. Our previous notes say that the Roof Garden is a new public space above the Crossrail Station at Canary Wharf, and it is an exotic garden park several stories above the new railway, mainly enclosed by a deeply contemporary glass roof. Entrance is free. Lots to draw in the roof structure which is a sort of longitudinal geodesic dome, and the plant material which includes big tree ferns. The garden is divided into two sections, one containing plants from Australasia, and the other plants from China and Japan. An opportunity for plant studies if you do not want to go for the garden in the sky picture. Please have a look at this website to get an idea of the set-up: https://landezine-award.com/crossrail-place-roof-garden/

For the geography of Canary Wharf, there is a map down the page here: http://www.londontown.com/LondonInformation//Crossrail-Place-Roof-Garden/4f93a/

Access: From Canary Wharf tube station (Jubilee Line) Take the large escalator up from the ticket hall. Turn right out of the main exit and walk through Reuters Plaza past the clocks. Walk straight ahead through the set of glass doors underneath the steps, and continue straight through until you come back outside. Walk through Adam’s Plaza and the entrance to Crossrail Place is in front of you. Go up the escalators to the Roof Garden.

From Canary Wharf DLR Take the exit on to the North Colonnade. Opposite One Canada Square there is a bridge leading you into the first floor of Crossrail Place. Continue up the escalators to the Roof Garden.

Lunch: Last time we had lunch in the Giant Robot next door which offers street food of various types https://canarywharf.com/eating-drinking/directory/giant-robot/   The Robot's building is cavernous and uncrowded, last time it was practically empty, so good for virus avoidance.  There are loos close by.

We suggest that you wrap up warmly, as there are gaps in the roof, so it may be draughty and a bit chilly. There are benches, but you may want to bring a sketching stool. If it turns out to be too cold, the Giant Robot offers good urban sketching opportunities amongst the various stalls selling food, the customers, and the industrial-style decor.

Sue's telephone number for the day is: 07975 864142. Happy Sketching!

Southwark Cathedral. March 2020

On a bright but cold March morning 16 sketchers met in historic Southwark Cathedral and found it a great venue with lots of monuments and history. Next to London Bridge Southwark Cathedral is situated at what was originally the only river crossing point between South and North London. There are a variety of tombs, including that of the poet John Gower, and also a screen rich in statues which was partially covered for Lent.

The Cathedral was very welcoming and we were mentioned by the Chaplin as one of the visiting groups of the day, together with two enthusiastic schools groups.

16 is an all time high for numbers of Art in the Park attendees, so well done everybody and keep coming.

We had lunch in the Cathedral cafe where most of us even managed to sit at the same table and enjoyed the home cooked food!

There was some great work produced in a variety of styles but I am afraid that once again my photos do not do the work justice.

Tuesday 3rd March: Southwark Cathedral, London Bridge, SE1 9DA

On Tuesday 3rd March we are going to make our first visit to Southwark Cathedral, that well-known landmark close to London Bridge Station. Southwark Cathedral is of mixed ages, from 1100 onwards, but everything hangs together in a gothic style. There are forests of pillars, various carved screens and porticos, assorted funerary statuary and monuments, and stained glass. We will find that there are all sorts of unexpected treasures to sketch. The Cathedral, despite being incredibly close to a railway viaduct, has a small herb garden and some outside space and people might want to sketch outside. More details here:https://www.britainexpress.com/attractions.htm?attraction=133

We will meet at 11 o'clock as usual, we suggest that people go into the main body of the cathedral where we should all be visible at the start. The Cathedral Office have asked us to be mindful of and work around a couple of school groups which are booked in throughout the day, and also of private worship in the Harvard Chapel and midday prayer and Communion (not sure where this takes place). We have said that we are happy to put contributions into the donations box, as there is no entry charge, so please would you remember to bring something appropriate.

There is a cafe where we will have lunch, and it also appears that on Tuesdays in the afternoon they have a free concert(with retiring collection), so we may also get some music and musicians.

Directions can be found here: https://cathedral.southwark.anglican.org/visiting/planning-your-journey

As usual, we suggest that you bring your sketching stools so that you have every choice for your composition. We look forward to a happy and successful day of art in the Cathedral. Sue's telephone number for the day is:07975 864142.

January Outing to the Wallace Collection

January's outing was to the Wallace Collection in Manchester Square.
12 people attended in total, although one forgot her glasses and another was distracted by the church (Spanish Place) on the way there and arrived at lunchtime.
The collection is of course superb and our artists benefitted from this by sketching from the pictures and of course the armour.

Some people managed to go to the special exhibition of water colours commissioned by the East India company, again a magnificent display.

The cafe in the courtyard was rather crowded, not helped by a block booking for a later cream tea, but some of us managed to get tables, where we were able to exchange gossip and of course sketching tips.

Altogether a good winter outing.

The next outing is to Southwark Cathedral on Tuesday 3 March. More details to follow.