Farm in the city

One fine Saturday in spring, I stumbled across horse-drawn carriages in the middle of the streets of the capital. Luxembourg is not like some cities where you can find this type of transportation mainly for the benefit of tourists, so my surprise was complete.

 

Until I remembered that part of the city had been taken over by farmers that weekend for an event they called Bauerenhaff an der Stad (farm in the city), the perfect occasion to whip out sketchbook and pen for a few quick sketches before heading to an appointment. 

The event was taking place under the watchful eye of the Gëlle Fra (golden lady), and gathered farmers and cooperatives from all over the country who were there to show their work and products to consumers and city folk in particular.

The children's response was enthusiastic to say the least and in some cases I wondered if it was their first time seeing real life animals. 

The cows were a big hit and many children were trying to feed them, but I guessed that they had already gotten enough hay from previous little hands.

I heard many amusing comments around me and a lot of questions to which parents didn't necessarily have answers (neither did I for that matter).

"Look! That goose is taking a bath!"

 
"What are these rabbits called?" - "Those are bunnies, not rabbits."

It must be a real treat for farmers to see such positive reactions. All in all, it looked like this first edition was a pretty successful event, which I hope will be repeated in the future. How else can a city dweller like me get to sketch a few animals?

Between Metz and Paris

After last week's international sketchcrawl weekend, I was not sure many local sketchers would be interested in participating to the usual monthly outing.

However, we ended up being a group of five hardcore sketchers to explore the area between Place de Metz and Place de Paris through our drawings.

Explore might be a big word. After sketching at the Rousegärtchen on one of the very convenient benches, the grey weather and looming rain chased us to a bar nearby.

 

The Paname, the unofficial name Parisians give to the French capital, is very aptly named, as it is located on Place de Paris. A trendy and cozy place, many people were enjoying their Sunday afternoon there. Plus a handful of curious sketchers.

 

USk Luxembourg's 1st international sketchcrawl - Day 2

Sunday felt much more relaxed. Maybe it was because we had nothing to take care of, except being at one or two meeting points in time.

When I arrived at the morning gathering point at Abbaye Neumünster there were already a few people busy at work. No need for any kind of speech or explanations, people just started sketching away as they arrived and I just joined the fun. 

 

The place was made even more interesting by the fact that there were preparations for Labour Day and the Urban Trail was happening at the same time. I know some of the sketchers tried to draw the runners passing us by, but I was more focused on our own event. How could I miss a chance to sketch Lolo sitting on the ground, sketching the beautiful abbey?

 I also had time to have a proper lunch this time, with my friend Tessy, Julien, Isabelle and Angel, a sketcher who had come all the way from the UK to sketch with us! 

Oscar's has some of the best burgers in town and a very sketchable interior decoration. What else could we need?

My last sketch, and one of the highlights of the weekend, is a portrait of Rolf Schöter, one of my favourite sketchers. I really admire his style, so watching him sketch and get some tips from him was a really great experience.

The whole weekend I kept marveling at the fact that so many people came, some from quite far away. And seeing sketchers again that I had met before at other USk events in my own city felt amazing!

It was such a thrill to see that people were happy and loved the city. We were even asked to make it an annual event. I say: "Why not?" It's well worth the effort after all.

USk Luxembourg's 1st international sketchcrawl - Day 1

Our regional group of Urban Sketchers has been very busy this past month, preparing for our first international sketchcrawl taking place on 29th and 30th April.

This last weekend we hosted around 100 sketchers, both locals and from neighbouring countries. We even had a guest who came all the way from Norway to participate in our event!

Saturday I had to find a balance between looking out for people, a short interview for the local news network, answering phone calls and sketching throughout the weekend. I have to admit that I did a lot of running around that day, including a quick stop at the Duck Race that was taking place in the Patrusse valley with a few sketchers.

Many families had gathered to see 16,000 plastic ducks being dumped in the water and "race" for charity. Unfortunately there was a shortage of water, so it was less spectacular than I expected, and there were so many people that I didn't get to see much racing. I was told the view from on top of the bridge was better though, so I might try that instead next year.

Coming back up for air, in a way, I settled with some of my fellow sketchers near the Musée Nationale d'Histoire et d'Art. Much more relaxing after the big crowds around the Duck Race.

In the evening we headed for Rives de Clausen, where we would take the traditional group photo and have dinner.

The whole day couldn't have been better. Between the wonderful weather and the amazing participants, I had a lot of fun and looked forward to spending a lovely Sunday in good company again.