overview

A bespoke retreat on the beautiful Isle of Harris for creatives and photographers during the most beautiful time of year on the Hebrides. Switch off and take time to replenish and focus on your creativity.

This retreat will help you focus on your own creativity in the best way for you individually. We will be facilitating photography trips and teaching creative techniques such as smart phone photography, ICM and long exposures. We will also be looking at extending the photography into journalling and sketching from your images.

But equally, you can spend the trips to locations sketching or writing if you wish. We will also have the opportunity to wild swim in the clear water if you choose. 

We have comfortable self-catering accommodation by the water’s edge, with plenty of walks and views from just outside the accommodation. Every room has en-suite facilities, and we will share home-cooked dinners and simple self-serve breakfasts and lunches.

6 participants, led by Margaret Soraya and Lesley Lintott

INCLUDED:

Complimentary pick up from Stornoway or Tarbert,

6 nights single occupancy in large double bedrooms with your own private bathroom

Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner 

Some materials and art supplies

Outdoor led trips &  inspirational sessions

EXCLUDED:

Travel to Harris  

Travel Insurance

Alcohol

Your leaders

Lesley Lintott

Lesley is an artist and educator. Specialising in creating impressionistic and abstract work using her smartphone or mixed-media sketching. She has a special talent for artistic flower photography and a love of translating her images into artwork.

Having previously worked as a vet and then a person-centred counsellor she is now enjoying sharing her love for nature and being creative in a way that supports and inspires others.

                     A taste of what’s on offer

A retreat based around the time of year when the Machir is in bloom. Hugging the coastline of Harris Machir is one of the island’s most unique features. Small wildflowers producing carpets or color with turquoise seas as their backdrop. Machair is a Gaelic word meaning fertile low lying grassy plain. The name given to one of the rarest habitats in Europe which only occurs on exposed western coasts of Scotland and Ireland. We will be taking trips to the best places for these wildflowers and photographing and walking sensitively amongst them. These areas are a delight to photograph and can be photographed using several techniques. From ICM ( intentional camera movement ) macro, long lenese with shallow depth of field to capturing the whole scene. The flowers are found close the beaches of Harris, known for their clear turquoise colour which has to be seen to be believed. Photography during the summer months is a delight on the Isle of Harris, with colours all around. 

This will be a relaxed retreat where you will have plenty of time to make the most of your time on this beautiful, wild island. Our accommodation is on the water’s edge with seals, birds, and sheep for neighbours. You will be immersed in nature and creative inspiration from dawn to dusk. Plenty of outdoor trips will be available, all completely optional and gentle in their nature. From long stretches of beautiful beaches to the rocky shoreline of the Bays, seals, birdlife and flowers, the opportunities are fabulous in September. You can choose to photograph, sketch, read, walk or simply be. 

There will also be options for wild dipping if you choose! A great time for calm, beautiful clear waters.

There will be no rushing around from place to place and plenty of downtime between trips out. Margaret and Lesley believe that everyone has creative potential and will gently encourage you to find your own creative voice. There is also the option to simply retreat and find your own quiet space to be creative and rest. 

accommodation

Accommodation for this Isle of Harris creative machir and sea photography workshop is within a self catered lodge on the shoreline with 3 bedrooms. You will have your own bedroom and bathroom within your lodge. One bedroom is en suite, one has its own family bathroom and one has a bathroom with a sauna. 

Breakfast will help yourself in your lodge each morning and we will cater for this. Lunch will be homecooked within the lodge or out at a cafe. Dinner will be homecooked in the lodge, allowing for flexible time out and dinners together. It is possible to walk into the landscape or by the sea from your doorstep and watch the wildlife from your windows. Self-catering allows us to spend more time in a flexible way and to work with the weather.