Tag Archives: william blake

Cemetery Gates (Bunhill)

THE DRAWING EXCHANGE at Bunhill Cemetery London
CEMETERY GATES | Sunday 21st March | 1-4 pm
Meet at 1PM at Artillery Arms, 102 Bunhill Row London EC1Y 8ND

“A dreaded sunny day So I meet you at the cemetery gates.”

The Drawing Exchange has been engaged in casual conversation with a
Clerkenwell local historian and has been investigating Bunhill Fields
Burial Ground. Join Drawing Exchange in spring daylight for a series
of exercises around the cemetery where many bones have been to laid to
rest and William Blake, Daniel Defoe, John Bunyan and Susana Wesley are buried.

Exercises

1. The Circle Points of Blake and Defoe
We drew a circle around Blakes and Defoes memorials and with a compass made points at which each of us should draw. When the time came, we left the paper where we had drawn and moved around the circle to the next point, thus creating multiple drawings of the views ofsurrounding the memorials.

2. Throw the Fruit and Nuts to the animals, birds and the other world.
Yesterday Kayle and I encountered a man throwing nuts to the squirrels, something that he said he did most days. We were intruiged by the idea of the wildlife accessing the fenced off areas that were unavailable to us. Throw the morsel to the creature and let them be your guide.

3. Puddles: Trees Up, Skeletons down.
It has been raining and their are puddles running down the pathways, when you look down, you see up. Imagine the trees of skeletons and bones underneath us.

4. John Bailey
Official Clerkenwell Guide and local historian John Bailey came and gave us a short talk about the history of Bunhill and surrounding Clerkenwell.

5. Survey of The Grave of Dame Mary Page
The Grave of Dame Mary Page is almost turning back into the earth, it’s so old. Let us make a drawn document of this place.

6. History in a hat
Timeline facts regarding Bunhill were pulled out of a hat and read aloud for the drawers to respond.

Images