February 2019 at the Royal Opera House

Ten dedicated artists sketched in the foyers of the Royal Opera House on a brilliantly sunny February day. The foyers are now open to the public every day from 10 am and so we were able to enjoy the amazing spaces. 
The Paul Hamlyn Hall is the old Floral Hall, raised up a level and shortened. It is now an incredible foyer space with a huge mirror, escalators  and of course posh dining facilities and a bar for opera goers. It is also possible to go out onto the balcony overlooking the front of the opera house.
The artists took full advantage of the opportunity to draw the spaces and the results are displayed below. The opera house had no objections to water colour so some people took full advantage of this to great success.
The original tutu worn by Margot Fonteyn for Swan Lake in the fifties was also on show and there is a water colour of this displayed on the blog. She found this a very demanding role.
We had lunch in the downstairs cafe near the entrance to the opera house from Covent Garden market, and there were plenty of tables for displaying work although the sandwiches were Central London prices!!

Our next outing will be to Brixton market in late March. More details will be published on the blog.

Royal Opera House 26 February

The next outing is set for Tuesday 26 February 2019 to the Royal Opera House. The public spaces for the Opera House are now open from 10 am and there are of course loos and cafes. We will meet just inside the entrance from Covent Garden itself, on the North East corner of the market square. I suggest we meet inside as it will still probably be cold. There is a cafe just inside the entrance, which can be our lunch venue. The public spaces in the Opera House including the old Floral Hall are very impressive and there is a roof terrace with a view over the market roof tops for the hardy as the terrace is not enclosed. We meet at 11 am, my mobile for the day is 07815 772857. 

The nearest tube is Covent Garden but this should be an easy venue to find.

29 January: sketching at the Temple Church

Thirteen artists braved the freezing cold to go to the Temple Church to draw. It was lovely and warm as well as being very historic with its connections to the Knights Templar and the tombs of the Marshall family, who were Earls of Pembroke and very influential in the reigns of Kings Richard II and John.

The church was full of atmosphere. Parts of the original Norman round church still remain though there have been several enlargements and rebuilding. The tall windows have splendidly colourful stained glass, though this was Victorian as English stained glass tends to be. We had a refreshing lunch in Zest, a vegetarian restaurant and then back to work.

There was an amazing selection of Art produced by Art in the Parkers. My apologies for my photography which does not do the work justice. I am also working on improving the layout for the pictures.

The next outing will be to Covent Garden opera house where there are accessible public spaces and a good view over the market rooftops. The date will be published on this blog.

Tuesday 29 January: Sketch Day in the Temple Church, Middle Temple Lane, London EC4Y 7BB

We are going to make our first visit to the historic Temple Church, between Fleet Street and the River Thames. Built by the Knights Templar in the late twelfth century as their English headquarters, the building has a rare circular nave (possibly unique to the Templars in England, this has not been checked by your Ed) and effigies of various knights on the floor. Also other examples of ancient sculpture work, faces in vignette, etc. Hopefully all gorgeous for our art, with both indoor and outdoor sketching potential. A real treat. Further details and photos here: https://www.britainexpress.com/London/Temple_Church.htm

As usual, we will gather at 11, sketch, and go outside somewhere for lunch. If nowhere better presents itself, there is Zest, (vegetarian restaurant)  24 Fleet St, London EC4Y 1AA.  We can come back and continue until the Church closes at 4. There is a loo in the Church.

The Verger kindly said that there would be no charge for us to come, but it would be nice if everyone could put something in the donation box. More info and directions  here 


The nearest underground station is Temple on the District and Circles lines, it seems easiest to go along the Embankment, and cut in northwards to the Church.

There are seats in the Church, but as always we suggest you bring your sketching stools so that you can position yourself in exactly the right place for your composition.

We look forward to seeing many of you on the 29th. Sue’s telephone number for the day is: 07975 864142

11 December 2018: Sketching at the Imperial War Museum

There were ten of us at the Imperial War Museum on 11 December. Surprisingly accessible from North London, and quite a contrast to our normal locations. The building is very impressive externally, and some of us tackled this. Others had a go at the curved glasswork on the top floor. Most people, however, got to grips with the complicated wartime machines, the dramatic suspended planes in particular.   We familiarised ourselves with the Spitfire, the German V2 flying bomb, and the Harrier jet (a contemporary item).  One of us produced an aluminium foil three-dimensional interpretation of a crushed tank, highly imaginative, and the product of a preliminary recce. Someone else was interested in the minutiae of wartime impedimenta, tried out some of the items in person, and took a selfie as a blitz-lit ARP warden.

As it was mid-week, the Museum was not crowded, a great blessing. We understand that it is going to be rearranged to feature the second world war more strongly, as next year is the anniversary of the outbreak of that ghastly business, so new sketching opportunities will present themselves before long.