Art in the Park outing on 23 October

The weather was quite good for our latest Art in the Park session in the Crouch End Open Space, with sunshine, and light cloud. Four sketchers gathered, including one from Hackney who had used her satnav to navigate into the off-the-A-to-Z area of CREOS! We were greeted by the Chair of CREOS, who kindly offered us the use of the facilities in her home, which was not far away. Our own Islington Art Society Chair, Virginia Jackson, also visited us in between her activities connected with the IAS's forthcoming exhibition.

We found plenty of subjects to sketch and had a very pleasant time in the sylvan surroundings of the Hanley Tennis Club. At the end of the morning, we went to the Royal Palace Cafe in Park Road for lunch and art talk, including a discussion of future Art in the Park locations.

Art in the Park 23 October: Update

Stop Press News for Art in the Park sketching day on Thursday 23 October:   unfortunately we will not be able to use the facilities (for shelter if it is wet, lavatories, kettle and coffee mugs) in the Hanley Club House, due to illness.

We are still meeting in the car park (council-owned so free and accessible) beside the Hanley Tennis Club at 10.30 tomorrow, but the nearest lavatory and hot drinks will be at Royal Palace Café a five minute walk northwards along Park Road at 298 Park Road (at the junction with Cranley Gardens). So please bear this in mind!

Our October sketching outing is on the 23rd in Crouch End Open Space

The October Art in the Park sketching outing will be in the Crouch End Open Space/Shepherds Cot. This is an area of woodland, playing fields, tennis courts, clubhouses, and old trees. It is an opportunity to do tree studies – there are a number of very old oak trees and pollarded limes – and autumn colour work. The leaf colour is more muted Gainsborough than New England at present, but very pretty, especially in sunshine. It is also a good opportunity to paint skyscapes seen above the trees. Please bring your sketching stools.

We will assemble at about 10.30am in the lane outside the HanleyTennis Club where we will be based. They have kindly agreed that we can use their lavatory, and their kettle and mugs, and the Clubhouse will be open from 11 am for the morning, and possibly longer if there are Club members playing tennis. Please bring such tea/coffee/sugar and milk as you require.

If you plan to arrive by car via Park Road, Crouch End, the entrance is a small tarmac lane situated off Park Road (A1201) opposite Park Avenue South. This takes you into the Shepherd's Cot Trust grounds (the whole area of Metropolitan Open Land). Follow the lane and do not branch left at Georgian's tennis club. Keep going straight until you can go no further and reach a small car park. Entrance to Hanley is on your left via a small gate. Parking is free. and the map is here.

Alternatively, there is a car park accessible from Montenotte Road N8, (go down the lane beside Highgate Wood School) off Shepherds Hill, you will then have to walk past the Highgate Tennis Club and turn left at the T junction in the lane. If coming by bus, the W7 is the only bus which goes down Park Road, but there are other access points to the area, and the full range of bus services from Highgate Tube Station can be seen on the CREOS website here.

We suggest that you bring your own sandwich lunch, although lunches are available at the Victoria Stakes pub a short walk northwards along Park Road, and there are one or two cafés on the opposite side of Park Road.

The weather forecast is reasonably warm (17C) and cloudy, but not rainy.

See you there!

September's visit to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

September's Art in the Park sketching trip was based in the third floor viewing gallery at the John Lewis store at Stratford Westfield overlooking the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Only two artists made it to this venue and we wondered if the logistics of getting there had put other people off from joining us.

The view from the panoramic picture window of the London Aquatic Centre and the stadium in the foreground with Canary Wharf in the background presented some interesting visual challenges. The enormous red ArcelorMittal Orbit sculpture posed the question 'Put it in or leave it out?' which we answered by putting it in.

The staff at John Lewis were charming and helpful and even moved a meeting they were having to another place so we could get on with our sketching. There were benches to sit on so we didn't need our sketching stools that we had taken with us and we were very close to those two important requirements: public lavatories and a café where we enjoyed a snack.

All in all we had a stimulating outing and were pleased to have produced work we wouldn't normally have done.

Next sketching date: Tuesday 23 September

We have decided to take an aerial view of the Olympic Park, Stratford for our next day out. As funds do not stretch to hiring a plane we are going to go to the third floor of John Lewis, Westfield Stratford store where they have a large viewing area and some big windows overlooking the site.

I am not sure what the view currently consists of as they have been rebuilding since the Olympic games but it will be interesting to draw a landscape/cityscape from above.

John Lewis are happy for us to sketch, including using watercolours, in this part of the store. Please bring your sketching stools. It will be relatively secluded, since the viewing platform is behind various shopping areas. The café is on the same floor – on the other side of the building – and we will be able to nip off easily to have lunch. Take the escalator to the top, walk forward through the children's clothes department and the windows are visible.

The address is: 101 The Arcade, Westfield Stratford City, London, E20 1EL. Hopefully, John Lewis  will be completely unmissable as one emerges from Stratford Regional Station, which includes the London Overground System as well as the tube. You can find further details here.

Start Time: 11am (the store opens at 10am). Sue's mobile number is: 079758 641 42.

Happy Painting!
 

Sketching outing to Kingsland Basin

On Friday 22 August six Islington Art Society members assembled at The Proud Archivist café on the Regent's Canal beside the Kingsland Basin. The day, which started cloudy, improved while we were having coffee and we enjoyed a beautiful day which fully justified that stretch of towpath's trendy name the Haggerston Riviera. We also took full advantage of the facilities offered by the decorative Towpath café a little way westwards.

There were an assortment of nice barges and bridges to assemble into compositions and designs, and we had a stimulating day getting to grips with the possibilities these offered.

Next sketching date: Friday 22 August

We are planning to meet at Kingsland Basin at 11am on Friday 22 August. This is just off Kingsland Road and very near Haggerston station. There are lots of cafés in the area with views of the canal and the basin which means that we can draw inside if it is cold. They have large windows and there are many tables.

For example, The Proud Archivist sells coffee and lunches for under £5 plus it has lavatories. It is also an Arts and community building with all sorts of activities going on. Haggerston station is on the overground and accessible from Highbury and Islington but it is a bit of a journey for those travelling from Crouch End.