Paper and Threads

SWAN IN HYDE PARK, LONDON.  As I type this Hyde Park remains evacuated and Park Lane closed as police use a robot to investigate a suspicious car parked in/near the underground car park (under Hyde Park with entrance on Park Lane).  This follows the discovery of a car bomb on Haymarket at 1AM in Central London.  We spent the afternoon at Westminster Hall and Parliament and the crowds didn't look as if they even knew that there was a huge area closed around Piccadilly Circus. 

I took this swan photo when we were here in December. 

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Hockney on Turner Watercolors at Tate Britain

I met Katherine Tyrrell of Making a Mark yesterday for a day at Tate Britain.  We browsed through the Turner watercolors in the morning, had lunch at the museum Restaurant where we shared sketchbooks and sketched, and then enjoyed another Turner exhibit called "Color and Line"  in the afternoon.  Katherine is really good at reviewing London museum exhibits - and she has an information-packed entry on her blog today with links to his watercolors and other Turner information.

We both did a sketch during lunch.  Katherine has her restaurant sketch posted on her Travels with a Sketchbook blog. Here is my rather hurried sketch in the restaurant:

The Color and Line exhibit covered many of Turner's techniques - and his pigments.  I loved how they dissected so many aspects of his art and had interactive displays.  My favorite part was the drawing stations - set up with a block of paper and some pencils in front of approximately 8-9 of his sketches.  I sat and worked from two of them - here are the results.  Katherine has also linked to this exhibit on her blog today so you can see the originals for both of our "Turner" drawings there.

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We took Henry and Sydney to the Victoria and Albert Museum of Childhood this week.  The interactive displays are wonderful for children their age.  This is 2 1/2 year old Sydney who "dressed up" in a picture hat, one ladies shoe from 1870 and another from the early 1900s - and then clopped back to the fire engine so she could drive it.

The Museum also had an exhibit of Picasso animal drawings and lots of interactive activities for slightly older children.  I love to use his drawings for inspiration - and skill building.

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Chelsea Art Society Show at Chelsea Town Hall.  It is a beautiful building with windows and windowboxes all across the front.  The show was interesting and I found 3 artists who I liked - each of whom had done paintings of our area of Chelsea.

A walk along King's Road in Chelsea - with a local bus, Pizza Express, and Boots Pharmacy.  I will miss our daily walks on King's Road with my daughter and our grandchildren.

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This is the beginning of our last visit to London this year.  Our daughter and her family have completed their assigned year here and we are helping with odd jobs and babysitting while they pack.  We spent our first day wandering around Piccadilly Circus, St. James and Regent Places  - visiting the Summer Show at Chris Beetle's Gallery on Ryder Street.   My husband sat on a step across from St. James Palace while I sketched this in 15 minutes.  I then added watercolor while we sipped coffee at our favorite Caffe Nero on Piccadilly.  We ended by browsing Burlington Arcade and the galleries on Cork Street.

While sitting in front of the window in Caffe Nero, there was a constant flow of buses and I was able to sketch a prototype from bits and pieces of each of them.  We love riding the buses between Chelsea and our London destinations - sitting in the front seat on the top deck as often as possible.!

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