It was so hot today that neither Sue nor I can face Newington Green tomorrow 19th July in spite of the earlier start 10 am. Tuesday is forecast to be even hotter than today Monday, if that is possible. If you do decide to go anyway you can send your pics to me, janetat48ock@hotmail.com and I will post them on the blog. Meanwhile, keep safe.
We will be sitting safely inside with the curtains drawn looking forward to the Omved Garden next week and hoping for cooler weather.
Intrepid artists all, hello from your organisers.
As most of you already know Tuesday 19 July is expected to be a real scorcher with record breaking temperatures. In view of this we have decided to start earlier at 10am before the heat builds up. Do be careful, sun screen, shady hats, plenty of water. We leave it up to you to decide whether you are comfortable going out on Tuesday. But for those who wish to brave the heat, we have decided not cancel.
Remember the trip to Omved on 26th July where hopefully it will be less hot.
Pics to janetat48ock@hotmail.com
We have arranged an outing to the Omved Gardens in Highgate. Meet at 11 am on Tuesday 26 July. The gardens are a delightful space with glorious views across north and east London. This is a week after our outing to Newington Green, but Omved is a special place and it is summer so we thought that two outings in two weeks would be great!
From their website "Until recently a wounded and tarmacked wasteland it (the garden) is being transformed into a diverse eco habitat with a wildflower meadow, an orchard, and a vegetable garden." Truly inspirational. There are also a series of glasshouses which host Art exhibitions and events, as well as dining clubs. They are in partnership with the World Food Programme and Chef's Manifesto.
Their website is omvedgardens.com.
Omved Gardens, Townsend Yard, N6 5JF. Townsends Yard is off Highgate High Street. Get a bus up the Hill, or walk from Archway Station. Townsends Yard is a real yard, it is signed but look carefully and be not deterred.
There are benches but bring a sketching stool if you can. Also a packed lunch would be great, so we can all eat together without disappearing into Highgate High Street, where there are of course many cafes.
Below is a pic Sue Lees did on a recent visit to the Omved Garden with Highgate Watercolour Society
On Tuesday 19 July we are going to revisit Newington Green, on the borders of Islington and Hackney. Artists can have another go at Maggie Hambling's sculpture to Mary Wollstonecraft, which repaid close study on our last visit, a year ago, and there are interesting old terraces and the old chapel across the road, big trees with light and shade, and people to sketch. Also street scenes. You may find it helpful to look up in advance the images from our previous visit and see what other people chose to sketch, the collection can be found in the July 2021 section of the archives.
As usual, we will assemble on the Green near the cafe at 11 o'clock.
Here is the map:
There is a cafe with outdoor seating in the square, and various others around, also loos in the square, and multiple buses running past: 141, 236, 341, 73.
The nearest train station is Canonbury, and then a walk.
There are benches, but it is always good to have your sketching stool with you.
Looking forward to meeting up, Sue's mobile number for the day is: 07975 864142
We have decided that as a special treat we will have another July outing, details will be published shortly.
A dozen artists presented themselves in the new courtyard of Christchurch, Highbury, on a beautiful sunny day. There was a distinctly continental feel to the courtyard beside the church, with its metal cafe tables, shaded by a large tree, and stone chippings on the ground. It was an extremely relaxed and comfortable location, with loos and cafe to hand. And, of course, there was the gothic architecture of Christchurch itself, and the splendid clock tower, a kind of miniature Big Ben, which were what attracted our attention when making our plans for our June sketchday. (The clock tower was put up in 1897 in celebration of Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee, and paid for by a local resident, Mr Alfred Hutchinson. What a splendid gift for the parish! It was restored in its original colours in 1997.) All this is reflected in our artwork, we were mostly scattered around all sides of the church, only one of us went inside to paint the fine assemblage of arches there.
We are very grateful for being kindly allowed to sketch by Christchurch's staff who made us very welcome.
As is often the case with our Art in the Park jaunts, we had a totally unexpected encounter, this time with a free-range parrot! She was visiting with her man, and greatly enjoyed herself moving round the chairs at their table. Many of us talked to her devoted carer, but only one of us, Gafung, was on the ball enough to do a quick painting of the parrot, who was a green winged macau.
Please enjoy our images.
Our next sketchdate will be Tuesday 19th July, venue to be announced, we hope shortly.
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Four images above by Audrey Rapier
Image above by Janet Payne
Two images above by Gafung Wong
Image above by Gill Steiner
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Two images above by Sue Lees
Meet at 11 am on Tuesday 14 June at Christchurch, Highbury outside the Community Room and cafe.
The Community Room is on the side of the church away from Highbury Grove opposite the clocktower, commemorating Queen Victoria's 60th Jubilee.
Pic just in case. The community room is on the right almost out of sight.
The church itself is early Victorian with some later additions. The nearby area is known as Highbury Barn, after an actual barn which became a popular entertainment centre in the nineteenth century. Many of the local shops are independent specialist shops, such as a good butcher, greengrocer and Italian Deli. Highbury Barn Tavern is nearby with an outside terrace.
The address of the church is 155 Highbury Grove N5 1SA. It is about midway between Finsbury Park and Highbury and Islington underground stations and is served by several buses including the 4 and the 19. Highbury Fields is nearby.
The community rooms offer coffee and cakes. There are also loos. They are happy to welcome us whether or not we buy any coffee, as we are a community group (Islington Art Society). They are happy to provide us with extra chairs, but please don't take them out of the grounds. There should be no problem about eating our own sandwiches should we choose to. We hope to be able to get into the Church, but this will be confirmed on the day.
On a rather wet day 14 artists, including an international Urban Sketcher, made their way to the Olden Garden just off Whistler Street. This garden was previously derelict land and has been reclaimed by the community as a garden and woodland. It was made and maintained by dedicated volunteers for community use. It is a very special place and all the better for being unexpected. Entry is through a locked door from the street, a real secret garden!
The summer house was made by a volunteer and does look splendid.
Fortunately the day was not as wet as the following one and the artists managed to get some very commendable work done. The sun came out in the afternoon and the light changed for the better.
Really the pictures say it all and thank you Olden Garden for allowing us to come and sketch.
The date for the next outing is Tuesday 14 June, the venue is to be confirmed.
Below are pictures by:
Gafung Wong
2 pictures
Diane Umemoto
Sue Lees
2 pictures
Gill Steiner
Janet Payne
Ann Funston
two pictures
Cathy Burkinshaw
2 pictures
Janet Perkins
2 pictures
Peter Colley
2 pictures
Eva Sze
Helena Yiu
Elaine Kleinen
