This Wall Has Artistic Importance – Waithman Street, EC4

If you venture up the stairs at the side of 100 New Bridge Street, EC4 (heading for Carter Lane) turn immdiately right at the top into Waithman Street. Here you will find a wall featuring approx 12 panels (could be more than that, I forgot to count them). 

I took these pics back in August 2021 and completely forgot to do anything with them until now, purely because someone told me that this area is due for regeneration. Indeed, these panels might have been removed by now. I will go and check again soon, but for now here are some of the pics I took three years ago showing some of the pleasing repeat patterns that can be created by a limited range of shapes. 

Along the wall there are occasional small plaques that tell us...

Nice eh? It's the sort of thing I would have been mesmerised and inspired by as a child when one of my favourite hobbies was designing repeat patterns on graph paper. Here are a couple of my efforts from age 8/9.

Actually, having dug out that scrapbook, I now see that I have created more bubble pics than any other type. Hmmm... I'll have a think about how include those as part of a future post. 

Circles of delight in WC2

Last week whilst ambling from Piccadilly to Holborn via Long Acre, admiring the architecture and generally enjoing the sunshine, I happened upon this lovely hexagonal mark in the doorway of one of the businesses opposite Freemasons Hall.

It reads, 20 Great Queen Street, Covent Garden. 

Cool huh?! 

It appeals to me on many levels; geometry, typography and graphic design.

I am not sure who installed it/ how long it's been there.

It is set into the very front of the metal strip that runs across the doorway of No.20, to the left of Walker Slater menswear shop (at No.19) shown here  from Google Streeview:

 

The Amazing World of M. C. Escher at Dulwich Picture Gallery

Most of us had an Escher on our wall when we were in our teens. But we moved on to what we thought were better things.
But now is the time to revisit the work of this mostly underrated yet hugely accomplished 20th Century artist at this exhibition which shows his work in chronological order.
Known for his tessellated animals and birds and impossible buildings, Escher was also mischievous, as can be seen by the clever tricks and meanings in almost every work.
Runs until 17th January.

It's not all black and white... there are colour pieces too!

The drawings for the long piece are even more fascinating than the finished item

Seeing Escher's hexagons in perspective reminded me of a piece I struggled with when doing A-Level art. The title we were given to work with was "The Terrace" and I had an idea for a sunbathing scene with bathers on Giants Causeway-esque rocks. Try as I might I couldn't get the formula/geometry exactly right. Had I studied Escher back then it might have helped.
Bottom right shows a preliminary sketch of the final painting.  

Lubetkin and Bevin Court

Learn about the changes in lower Islington's landscape from boggy fields to a sea of glass and concrete on a fascinating guided walk led by Jiff Bayliss.
The walk finishes with a Lubetkin staircase and mural.

Book the tour here.

Penfold's Victorian post boxes

John Wornham Penfold's distinctive hexagonal letter boxes date back to 1866 and were manufactured by Cochrane Grove & Co in Dudley. Made in three different sizes, the nine different designs featured acanthus leaves on the top and balls/seeds around the edges.
Many originals, as well as a few replicas made by Machan Engineering in the 1980s, still grace our streets today and I love it when I spot another one. So far, I have snapped ten in London and one abroad.
It's interesting to note how five of these are situated really close to each other in an area bounded by Clissold Park, Finsbury Park and Highbury Fields.

Top row: Tower Bridge (the first replica), Walthamstow Village (closed with a black metal plate that makes it look like a highwayman!), Battersea Village and Queens Drive.
Middle row: Highbury New Park, Highbury Grove (missing its finial), Prince Albert Road and St Pancras Way.
Bottom row: Aberdeen Park x2 2008 vs 2014 (the second pic shows it needs a new paint job!), Nevill Road (also missing its finial) and Wellington, NZ.

Find more pictures and information in a Flickr group, here.