Sense of Place ~ Drawing and Painting in Lewis & Harris 2026

Sense of Place ~ drawing & painting holiday in Lewis & Harris, Outer Hebrides

Dates: 21-30 August 2026 (10 days) fully booked*
Location: Lewis and Harris, Outer Hebrides
Tutor: Nicky Sanderson
Cost: from £3880 per person
Suitable for any skills level

*This experience is already fully booked – pending deposit payments – but we’ll be starting a waiting list.

Join us on this unique art vacation on the isle of Lewis and Harris in the Outer Hebrides, led by artist Nicky Sanderson. We bring alive the human and natural history of this unique location to inform our art.

Be inspired by the most ancient landscapes in Europe, the magical stones of Callanish, the colours of the machair, peat and rocks, the dark hills and bright beaches of Harris. The more we look at the sea, the sky and the hills, harbours and villages, the more layers of colour we discover.

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This experience combines travelling with your pencils and paints to discover the roots of a civilisation and the raw beauty of its isolation on the edge of the British Isles, with indoor studio work to develop paintings and sketches further. From two different base locations – Stornoway in Lewis and Tarbert in Harris – we visit different sites, often working in plein air, with indoor alternatives to suit any weather. You will feel a connection to nature as you explore this landscape formed 3,400 million years ago, still sculpted today by wind and rain and human hand.

Drawing with mixed media in your sketchbook, using graphite, charcoal and ink, along with quick washes of colour from your paints provides a record of your experience and the basis of further work. We work with water-based paint – inks and watercolour (or acrylics if you wish) – and add elements of collage if this pleases us. The course is suitable for all skills levels. You can see photos and feedback from past trips here.

Meet tutor Nicky Sanderson in her studio:

Stornoway is our starting location. International travellers are best to include flights to and from Stornoway when booking travel. Alternatively, Caledonian MacBrayne runs a regular ferry service from Ullapool to Stornoway. We will be happy to advise on travel options. You can use our Getting There page as a starting point to plan your journey.

The Scottish weather is very changeable, so we have to be a bit flexible in our itinerary and go with the flow. Sketchbooks, paints and cameras (or iPads) at the ready, we expect to explore:

Day One – Arrival

You arrive in Stornoway in your own time. We meet at our hotel – the Royal Hotel close to the seafront – in the evening for a welcome reception, introduction to the experience and 3-course dinner with wine.

Day Two – Studio day & Lews Castle Museum

Our studio base in Stornoway is at the newly refurbished Lews Castle.Our tutor Nicky will introduce you to the workshop and different art materials. We’ll also visit the fantastic Museum of Island Life to get a sense of what life on these remote islands is like and learn about their people and rich history.

Accommodation is at the Royal Hotel in Stornoway

Day Three – North of Lewis & artist studio visit

In the morning we’ll head right up to Butt of Lewis, the most northerly point of the Isle of Lewis and the Outer Hebrides. The headland, which lies in the North Atlantic, is frequently battered by heavy swells and storms and is marked by dramatic rocks and the Butt of Lewis Lighthouse. Next stop is nearby Port of Ness, an interesting harbour next to a beautiful sandy  beach.- a great place to watch the waves in stormy conditions.

In the afternoon we’ll visit local artist Gill Thompson at her studio. An experienced printmaker, Gill will tell us about her work and give a demonstration of the collagraph process, which is one of her specialities. .

Accommodation is at the Royal Hotel in Stornoway.

Day Four -Callanish, Gearannan & West side of Lewis

Today we’ll visit one of the big highlights of every trip to the Isle of Lewis – the mysterious and iconic Calanais Standing Stones on the west side of the island. The site was erected in the late Neolithic era and it is believed they were a focus for ritual activity during the Bronze Age.

Exploring the west side of Lewis further, we  will visit Gearrannan, the blackhouse village, where until not long ago humans and farm animals shared warmth in traditional blackhouses on the edge of the sea and cliffs.

Accommodation is at the Royal Hotel in Stornoway.

Day Five – Luskentyre Beach & West side of Harris

Experience the machair, the area’s unique wild flowers and grasses, and fabulous white beaches of West Harris at the famous Luskentyre, Seilebost and Scarista. Nature here is both raw and delicate.

Our indoor space is the stunning Talla Na Mara centre. Overlooking the golden sands of Niseaboist beach and the Sound of Taransay, it boasts one of the most photographed locations in the Outer Hebrides if not Scotland.

Accommodation is at the Hotel Hebrides in Tarbert.

Day Six – Hushinish & free afternoon (or studio time)

Today we’ll head to Hushinish on the west side of North Harris for our morning painting session. This remote place at the end of a 12 mile long single track B road has a stunning beach and views to the Atlantic. The afternoon is free, but we have a studio space booked for you should you wish to use it. You  may also want to book at tour at the nearby Harris Distillery or visit the Harris Tweed shop.

Accommodation is at the Hotel Hebrides in Tarbert.

Day seven – Golden Road & South of Harris

In the morning we’ll head to the south end of Harris. Weather conditions allowing, we’ll take a wildlife boat tour to experience the magic of the island’s coastline and marine life from the sea.

After lunch, we’ll stop at the 15th century St Clement’s Church in Rodel before travelling up the Golden Road up the east side of Harris. On the way we’ll visit Clò-Mòr, the Harris Tweed Exhibition, which shows Harris Tweed through the ages.

Accommodation is at the Hotel Hebrides in Tarbert.

Day Eight – Uig area & South west of Lewis

Today we explore the Uig region on the west side of Lewis, where the landscape is hillier, and more dramatic than elsewhere on Lewis, with its combination of myriad islets, wild cliff scenery and patches of pristine golden sand.

Uig beach is famous for being the site where the Lewis Chessmen, 12th century Viking chess pieces, were found. Six of them are on display at Lews Castle Museum in Stornoway.

Accommodation is back in Stornoway at the Royal Hotel.

Day Nine – Free day & review session

A free morning to explore Stornoway some more and do some shopping if you wish. Our studio at the castle will be available all day should you wish to do more in-depth painting. After lunch we meet there for a review session where you can share your work and how the art experience has been for you. In the evening we enjoy the farewell dinner together at the Boatshed Restaurant at our hotel.

Day Ten – Departure

Time to say goodbye after breakfast. You leave inspired and chances are you’ll have fallen in love with the islands :).

Evenings other than the welcome and farewell nights are free and we will provide information on dinner options.

We aim to offer the best balance between touring the islands and working in an indoor studio. Lewis & Harris is a large island so be prepared for some minibus travel between different locations!

The itinerary is based on careful selection of suppliers and is accurate at the time of publication. But should it be necessary, Wild at Art reserves the right to make changes.

Sense of Place, an apt description of this workshop. Nicky added to it with the tales and stories she shared with us as we travelled through Lewis and Harris. And the poems she read added so much to my experience of place. She’s a wonderful artist and teacher and I wish I had had more time to work with her. This was my third trip with Wild at Art. Ute does an amazing job organising it all…supplies, excursions, studio time and wonderful instructors. Thank you Nicky and Ute. I will return! I’m going home inspired! {Tamora, Washington DC, Outer Hebrides, Aug/Sept 2024}

Check out some pictures from previous trips here.

Cost, inclusions and further notes

Cost: £3880 per person when sharing a twin or double room, and additional £300 for a single room. A non-refundable deposit of £600 will secure your place. The balance payment is due 10 weeks before the start date.

The price includes:

– 8 days of workshop tuition in different locations
– 9 nights hotel accommodation (Royal Hotel in Stornoway, Hotel Hebrides  in Tarbert)
– 9 full Scottish breakfasts
– Welcome drink and 3-course welcome dinner with wine on arrival night
– 3-course farewell dinner with wine on the last night
– Minibus transport when travelling as a group while on the island (from and to Stornoway)
– A4 landscape sketchbook
– Some additional art materials
– Canvas bag for carrying art materials
– Studio hire fees
– Entry fee to blackhouse village
– 2h wildlife boat trip (weather conditions allowing)
– And a member of the Wild at Art team will be with the group throughout to ensure guests are well looked after.

Not included: International flights; transportation to and from our meeting venue in Stornoway; meals other than those listed above; alcoholic drinks other than welcome drinks; gratuities.

Accommodation arrangements – please note: Our room allocation at the Royal Hotel in Stornoway (6 nights) consists of a couple of single rooms, plus an allocation of twins and doubles, most of which can me made available for single occupancy. At the Hotel Hebrides in Tarbert (3 nights) we’ve secured a combination of single rooms and suites . Each of the suites has two bedrooms and one bathroom, which has to be shared by the two guests. Single rooms will private bathrooms will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

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To reserve your place, please provide some details using the online registration form (see link above).  We will then send you an email to confirm you’re on the guest list and issue an invoice for the non-refundable GBP600 deposit. Please do let us know as soon as possible should you no longer be able to join, so we can open your place for someone else. 

Balance payments will be due 10 weeks before the trip starts.

Feel free to contact us anytime if you have questions.

Please note that personal travel insurance is required.

This vacation starts in Stornoway – we will be happy to advise on how to get there. For flights to and from Stornoway please visit the Loganair website. 

Since participants tend to prefer their own materials we will send a detailed list of what to bring and what we’ll provide together with pre-holiday information. We will provide some additional materials you may want to try, such as ink, charcoal and PVA glue. These are included in the price.

Optional service: pre-order your materials!
If you don’t want to carry your own art materials on your flight to Scotland you can purchase them online from a UK supplier in advance and have them sent to our address. Your materials will then be waiting for you on arrival in Stornoway. Find out more

Sense of Place – What an excellent description. The wandering over the beauty of Scotland – the history still alive – it’s a very inspiring trip which ignites new ways of expression. All excellently organised to the smallest detail. I’ll be back again. {Lesley, Arizona, Outer Hebrides, Aug/Sept 2024}