Date/Time
Date(s) - 18/05/2019
11:00 am - 12:30 pm

Location
Paddington Recreation Ground

Part of London’s 2019 Urban Tree Festival, made possible with support from Trees for Cities, the only UK charity working at a national and international scale to improve lives through planting trees in cities.

We are delighted to welcome artist Gail Astbury, who is taking up residence in our Urban Tree Festival Outdoor Studio.

Urban Tree Festival Outdoor Studio

Novice or expert when wielding a paintbrush or sketching pencil why not visit the Outdoor Studio and try your hand at capturing trees in our urban neighbourhoods on paper.

Gail Astbury has chosen her local park as her Outdoor Studio: Paddington Recreation Ground.   Where 4-minute miler Sir Rodger Bannister and Tour de France cyclist Sir Bradley Wiggins both trained. “There are some lovely spreading chestnuts by the running tracks with tower blocks in the frame. Ties in with the fab chestnut tree in flower by Vincent Van Gogh at the Tate show until August.”

You will find Gail in Paddington Recreation Ground between 11.00am-12.30pm on Saturday 18 May – she will have supplies of watercolours, brushes, paper and pencils with which you can use but please if you have your own, please bring these as Gail’s supplies are limited.  Meet in the cafe in the middle by the play park – the Outdoor Studio with Gail will start at 11.15am by the running track and she will be there until 12.30pm – so you can join in at any time during these times.  Bring a blanket or cushion to sit on and dress for the weather.  If it is raining, shelter can be found in the cricket pavilion.

Please note that art supplies are being lent to the Urban Tree Festival, we have only a limited supply, so Gail will collect a £5 cash deposit from you and redeem this on return of the art resources you borrow.

We would dearly love you to share your drawings, paintings or sketches on social media use the hashtag #urbantreefestival and #outdoorstudio

This is a free event  – no booking required – suitable for young and old and those of us in between – take a stroll and join in. 

We have borrowed this idea from Sheffield where as part of ‘soft campaigning’ against the unnecessary felling of hundreds of street trees, local residents came together to draw and paint the street trees.  Check out STARTS here.  What more encouragement do you need than what “Bracken” Tweeted?

More about Gail – including an insight to her art practice:  www.gailastbury.wordpress.com