The Place de l'Europe at Kirchberg, Luxemburg

Since 22 years I have been working on the Plateau de Kirchberg in Luxemburg, the first 11 years on the 21st floor of a building nicknamed le radiateur and the next 11 years on the 13th floor of one of the tower buildings of the Porte de l'Europe.

When I first came to work here, our building was at the edge of the Kirchberg quarter: behind the piscine olympique you could see meadows, cows and forests...

Since then the area has developed swiftly to a very busy quarter, home to European institutions, banks, businesses, a big shopping centre, a cinema complex and last but not least the Philharmonie, the prima donna of the Place de l'Europe.

Although not the most romantic or picturesque location, the Kirchberg offers great challenges for painters and sketchers, with state of the art architecture and all its reflective glass and steel. For years I 've been trying to capture its mood; after all it is the daily backdrop to my working life. As soon as the weather allows it I take every opportunity to go sketching during lunch breaks.

And they still have not finished building....

Leen Van Bogaert

Luxemburg

See more Kirchberg sketches? https://www.flickr.com/photos/67040949@N02/albums/72157634339688734

November Sketchcrawl

Hello dear sketchers,

It looks like the gray weather is here to stay, so we will look for shelter at the cathedral in Luxembourg city for our November outing.

If the sun decides to show itself, we can sketch the building from outside, if not, we can sketch the cathedral's interior.

Given that the first Sunday of the month is a holiday, this time we are meeting on the 8 November at 2 pm at the entrance of the cathedral.

See you next week!

KNUEDLER bis

Depuis environ une année, je participe régulièrement au "gekritzels" de notre groupe d'urban sketching.

Déjà la première fois, j'avais l'impression de m'y trouver entre amis et cette impression s'est confirmée chaque fois que nous nous sommes rencontrés.

Je ne peux qu'inviter tout et chacun à nous rejoindre car l'accueil au sein de notre groupe est très cordial et chaleureux, et chacun de nous est loin de réussir tout ce qu'il tente de "sketcher". Prenez donc votre courage en deux mains et venez vous amuser avec nous.

Ce petit article est ma première intervention sur ce blog et c'est Béliza, la bonne âme des urban sketchers Luxembourg, qui ma fourni les explications nécessaires. Merci beaucoup Béliza!! Merci aussi à tous les autres qui m'ont conseillé sur le traitement des photos et images.

A very busy Knuedler

Last Sunday's Sketchcrawl at the garage sale on Place Guillaume II (Knuedler) was a great occasion to practice sketching a busy scene.

It is always daunting, but I felt encouraged by my fellow sketcher's enthusiasm and here is the result. I might colour it at some point, but I'm happy with it as it is for now.

I love the lion overlooking the place

We then went to Kaale Kaffi to warm up and sketch each other / the café / the people. Delicious ginger lemon tea and good company, that's all you need on a grey Sunday afternoon.

Marisol, Christine, Carlo, Denis and Nancy ; our merry group

So there was a garage sale at Knuedler

Yesterday, we met at Place Guillaume II in Luxembourg to participate in this year's last vide-grenier (a sort of garage sale) in our own way, sketching.

It was a great occasion to see the Knuedler in a different light and draw people, unusual objects or just the whole place.

Our group of regulars was joined by Marisol, a Canadian sketching enthusiast who has recently arrived to Luxembourg.

Most participants decided to tackle the task of sketching the whole scene, with quite some success, as can be seen below.

Unfortunately, as October weather goes, it started getting a bit chilly after a while, so we took refuge at Kaale Kaffi, always a great place to end the day.

Next month, we'll have to find a place indoor. The location is yet to be determined, but the date is already fixed: see you on 8th November!

Across the ruins of the Mansfeld Castle in Clausen

This Saturday, during the "Journées du Patrimoine", we had the chance to access the protected site of the "Mansfeldschlass" in Luxembourg-Clausen.
We have been sketching while visitors were guided across the site by volunteers of the Service des Sites et Monuments Nationaux.
A very few stones remain, lots have been modified in the time by the common people who lived there afterward. Hard to imagine how famous this place was at the time... with fountains, gardens and foreign animals.

After that, as usual, we took a glass, this time at the "Café Deieregaard" nearby, and other subjects to sketch...
Funny time!

Arnaud De Meyer
blog : sketching the place

October Sketchcrawl

Hello dear sketchers,

For our October sketchcrawl, let's visit the last vide-grenier of the year in Luxembourg city.

Weather permitting, we will be able to sketch visitors and exhibitors on the Guillaume II square. We can always take refuge on one of the surrounding cafés if needed.

Let's meet in front of Cercle Cité on the Place d'Armes on Sunday 4th October at 14:00.

See you soon and don't forget your pencils! :)

About USk Luxembourg and LUCA

First of all I am very happy to reach the blog for this first post!
Thank you Beliza ;-)

Since some years, on the initiative of Jean-Paul Carvalho, LUCA, the luxembourgish Center for Architecture, proposed urban sketching sessions taking place once a month, in Luxembourg City or somewhere else in Luxembourg.

As Jean-Paul met Beliza Mendes a few months ago, we decided to join together under the label of Urban Sketchers Luxembourg.
From now, LUCA will organise one sketching session per month that will be integrated in the USk-Lux program. LUCA will try to give to the sketchers exceptional access to particular places of interest.

We are organizing a common calendar for all the events about sketching.
We will keep you informed soon!
For more information about LUCA, visit www.luca.lu

session at the Fort des Trois Glands / Drei Eechëlen

with Andrea Rumpf, director of LUCA, Jean-Paul Carvalho and the participants to the session in Diekirch, April 2015

session in Belval, July 2015

Arnaud De Meyer
blog : sketching the place

MOBILITÉIT.LU

Public transport and busses are the same everywhere: they offer great possibilities for sketchers. One has a lot of time for observation when there is a lot of traffic.

Luxemburg has a well organised public transport network. Busses tend to be not too crowded so that you can easily get out your sketching gear and make good use of the traffic jams.

 

 

Luxemburg means "banks"! So chances are big that if you take a bus going over Kirchberg you can get a good model of a typical banker…

For more bus sketches: see https://www.flickr.com/photos/67040949@N02/albums/72157655881038762

 

Leen Van Bogaert

 



September Sketchcrawl

Hello dear sketchers,

For our September sketchcrawl, how about visiting the beautiful Jardin des Papillons (www.papillons.lu) in Grevenmacher?

This butterfly house located in the wine region is the perfect place to discover and learn more about those winged beauties.

Let's meet at the entrance on Sunday 6th September at 2 pm. The entrance fee is 7€.

We can arrange for car pooling if needed. Just contact us for more information.

 

See you there!

Sketching where the artists are

"Konscht am Gronn" (Art in the Grund) is an event taking place every first Sunday of the month between May and October where artists from Luxembourg and the Greater Region come to sell their art in what is basically an art market.

It has been taking place for a few years now, but I have to admit that it was the first time I actually went there.

Last Sunday, met at Scott's pub and had a pre-sketching drink on the sunny terrace. I was happy to see a couple of new faces and some that I hadn't seen for a while. It is particularly great to see the usual suspects who are slowly becoming friends.

We dispersed in search of our desired sketching subjects, but we didn't have to go far. For my part I actually only went 10 meters before settling down in front of a street musician playing an old music box.

This gentleman told me he would be back in October

It was lovely to sketch to the sound of songs from Mary Poppins and witness people coming and going. "A spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down" and a bit of music with a few sunrays make the sketching even more fun.

We quickly became the focus of interest of some of the passers-by. Some of them probably thought we were part of the artists exhibiting there.

After putting our first drawings together we headed to a different location in the direction of Abbaye Neumünster.

The view from there on the corniche above is absolutely beautiful and I never get tired of sketching it. We only had 30 minutes, though, because we had very serious business to attend to, namely gathering for another drink to sketch and chat.

A view of Luxembourg-city without a crane would be incomplete, haha

I managed to add new faces to my sketchbook. None shall escape my portrait attempts (*evil laughter*)!

Nancy, Anneke and Christine

August Sketchcrawl

Hello everyone spending the summer in Luxemburg,

This month, let's sketch the sketchers (and other artists)!

This time we are going to visit the Grund, where we can admire "Konscht am ronn", the open air gallery that is organized every first Sunday of the month between May and October (http://www.konschtamgronn.com/).

Let's meet at Scott's pub on Sunday 2^nd August at 2 pm  (http://www.scotts.lu/).

See you on Sunday!

Sketching in a heatwave

For last Sunday's sketchcrawl, we met in Niederanven with the aim to go sketch the Aarnescht region.

However, with the intense heat wave going through Luxembourg and the weather forecast announcing storms, we decided that hiking was not the best option for the day and we stayed in Niederanven instead.

We started with a sketch in the park of the Kulturhaus, where we were sheltered from the sun by beautiful trees.

I spy a few sketchers

However, in spite of the lovely cool shade, my brain seemed to be completely fried, so I was glad when Leen offered to go sit in her garden, sip an early apéritif and eat delicious watermelon.

The usual suspects were there and we drank wine and drew each other.

Leen, Carlo, Denis, Zeta and Rosemarie

Sometimes, when your brain is fried by the heat, all you need is a quiet sketching session around a drink with a few friends.

July Sketchcrawl

Hello sketchers,

This month, we are going on a walk by the Aarnescht region and Oberanven.

Leen will be our guide and show us the most interesting places there are.

As an additional treat, she is also inviting us for drinks at her place after our sketchcrawl.

So let's meet on Sunday 5th July at 2 pm in front of the apothecary's in Niederanven.

As public transport is limited on Sundays, we can try to arrange for car pooling. Just contact us for more information.

Sketching in Limpertsberg

For our meeting at the Grand Théâtre de la Ville de Luxembourg last Sunday a couple of new faces showed up, which is always a great surprise.

As we were by the Grand Théâtre, we decided to sketch it, too. I find the building a bit tricky with all its slanted windows, but it was fun to try and I also found an interesting looking fire hydrant which served as a nice break from the building.

There was a party the previous day

All fire hydrants should be this original

It turned out the cycling Tour de Luxembourg was passing through Limpertsberg, so we had time to see a few cyclists rushing by before we headed out in search of a nice café or pub.

We found a nice Lebanese restaurant (L-Bey) that only served drinks and sweets at that time. Perfect for a short drink & draw break.

The people there were very friendly and even offered us some cakes. I definitely recommend this place.

Old and new sketchers :)

Time flies and we only had time for one more stop after this. Leen took us to a small park at the top of Limpertsberg where I saw these interesting trees (I think they were birches) through which cars and houses were peeking.

Levels are still tricky...

Our little group is getting bigger and more regular, which I'm very happy about. Plus, we are soon going to become the national USk chapter for Luxembourg. Stay tuned for that!

June Sketchcrawl

Dear sketchers,

How about exploring the Limpertsberg area this time?

There are plenty of interesting places sketch and pubs to visit for our next sketchcrawl.

Let's meet on Sunday 7 June 2015 at 2 pm in front of the Grand Théâtre near the Glacis.

See you next week! :)

Sketching at Kaale Kaffi

Last Sunday's sketchcrawl meeting was thwarted by the rain, so we did the next best thing: we went to Kaale Kaffi.

Kaale Kaffi is a peculiar and very interesting place I first discovered during a sketchcrawl with Leen. It is a mixture between a coffee shop, a second-hand shop and an antiques shop.

From outside it looks like a regular second-hand shop, but when you look closely you discover that you can go in and spend time surrounded by a variety of old objects and clothes.

Most items can be purchased, which is why the inside setup changes on a regular basis.

So the rain pushed us to go in and we ended up spending over 2 hours there with Leen, Carlo and Aniela.

Carlo and Leen busy sketching. Aniela was on my left side

There are so many interesting things that the most difficult part is to choose what to sketch. I think I could fill a whole sketchbook with this place alone.

As an example of the variety of objects you can find there, I was sitting next to a mannequin set up in a running motion, standing by a table with an old candelabra and picture frame (complete with the old sepia picture) on it.

Run, Forest, run!

Next time I will try to make a sketch of the place as a whole. I think it will take me at least 2 hours, but it would definitely be fun.

Despite our small numbers, we were quite productive, as you can see below. Thank you, Leen, for this great picture!

May sketchcrawl

Hello dear sketchers,

This month, let's meet Sunday 3 May at 2 pm in front of the Musée d'Histoire et d'Art and go a bit on the Vauban trail, if the weather permits.

There will be plenty of beautiful views to sketch and tourists to caricature ;)

This Sunday Konscht am Grond takes place as well, so we could also go check that out, too.

Hope to see many of you there!

April sketchcrawl at the Grund

Spring is here and with it the hope that the weather will be nice for our monthly sketchcrawl.

This time, let's take our pencils, brushes and sketchbooks to the Grund.

In case of April showers we can find refuge at the Abbaye Neumünster or at the Naturmusee, and in any case we can finish the afternoon at one of the local pubs.

We are meeting on Sunday, 12th April, at 14.00 on the bridge near the elevator.

Here is the map of where to find it:

click to enlarge

 See you on Sunday! :)

Sketchcrawl in Esch-Belval

For our sketchcrawl in Esch-Belval, we were lucky to have Olga with us as our guide.

I was pleasantly surprised to see about 10 people turn up at our meeting point. Our group is getting bigger and bigger!

Our first stop was around les Hauts Fourneaux, the blast furnace, in Belval. This structure represents Belval's industrial heritage and is now open to the public.

Just a tiny part of the ancient blast furnace

Today, the Belval site is constantly expanding and its regeneration programme's ambition is to turn the ancient industrial site into a large scientific and cultural centre, with new offices, appartments, a busy music venue (Rockhal), a university and many public administrations moving there.

Olga took us to the high school from where we had a great view on the whole site. It is a perfect place to grasp the magnitude of the works being undertaken there.

I am very curious to see how Belval develops in the future.

Cranes everywhere

With LUCA at Villa Vauban

An elegant lady and Jean-Paul Carvalho 

Three weeks ago at Villa Vauban, I had the opportunity to meet the Luxembourg Sketchcrawlers and Jean-Paul Carvalho, architect and member of LUCA.

Sketchcrawl with LUCA at Villa Vauban

I'm a bit late posting my sketches from our outing with LUCA at Villa Vauban last month.

We were blessed with great weather and many people turned up. It was a lot of fun.

This time I felt a bit less daunted about drawing the building. After last time's sketching session with Leen there, I guess I'm starting to know the building a bit better.

Playing with contrasts

It was a great opportunity to meet new sketching enthusiasts, increase our small group of usual sketchers.

Zeta and another sketcher

We finished the afternoon with a nice drink & draw, one of my favourite parts of any sketchcrawl.

@ Weschtesgaart

I think we'll be collaborating more with LUCA in the future, which is a very exciting prospect.

Sketchcrawling at Belval

Sketchbook entry of Michèle Graedel

Great fun with rusty old blast furnaces at the steel plant in Esch-Belval yesterday.. this is by far my new favorite place to sketch!