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