An arty trip to The Hebrides

When I go on a trip anywhere I love to find recommendations from people whose interests I share.

So in that spirit here a few of my favourite places from our trip to some of the Hebridean islands (see previous post)

My favourite yarn shop was the very inspiring Shilasdair yarns – also known as Isle of Skye Natural Dye Company – on Skye.

And as the name suggests everything is coloured with natural dyes gathered from the landscape of Skye.

The whole set up of yoga, b&b, workshops and retreats is very enticing. You can read the evolution of the company here. And yes, I did bring home some sock yarn in a beautiful caramel shade from some Ling Heather.

I also really loved visiting

also on Skye and in particular, liked the work of Julie Whatley (below)

I brought home a lovely cup with an abstract design on in shades of blue and I am enjoying drinking from it and remembering the sky and seascape of Skye.

Also on Skye was Dunvegan Castle which was full of gorgeous colour and pattern.

It’s beautifully kept and from the moment I walked in and saw that super stormy blue colour on the walls, I knew there’d be some treats ahead for the ‘colour-loving designer’.

I find stately homes often provide lovely colour palette references and patterns to inspire.

The old wallpaper in this room was delightful and set off with lovely vintage textiles and paintings.

The staff here were fun and knowledgable too and filled us with stories of the mis-matched marriage that offended the parents and ended up with the daughter down in the dungeon.

Other places on Skye that we loved but didn’t photograph were:

Lenz Ceramics – well worth the wiggly drive to find it,

and

Maggie Zerafa – a beautiful and fascinating process to her ceramics.

*******

On the Isle of Harris we visited Talla na Marra for a night (where we also hooked up in the motorhome) This is some work from Marigold Williams of the Isle of Harris studio.

Talla na Marra which is part cafe, arts center and community enterprise – there is a cluster of artists studios, designer / makers, painters and chocolatiers.

This little studio set up caught my eye – imagine that being your working view.

We also really enjoyed wending our way down the coast and finding clusters of galleries and home studio artists – the road from Goosebay to Rodel was good for this.

Mission House Studio was one of a cluster of nice galleries to pop into. The ceramics were gorgeous but I also loved being able to nosey around in the artist work area.

The Harris Tweed museum was worth the visit to just to look through this beautiful book by Ian Lawson.

His photographs marrying the landscape and nature of the island and how it translates into the colours and patterns of the tweeds was just beyond beautiful.

Holmasaig gallery was a super home studio showing the very varied work of Margarita Williams.

And then further up in Lewis is the wonderful Blue Pig studio – we got such a warm welcome (and coffee and rock buns) that I hardly took a photo. Jane runs a lovely gallery from her workspace and is generous and welcoming so do go.

********

Well if you happen across this and it helps you on your trip, do let me know. But I hope it’s provided some armchair travel for everyone 🙂

I’m currently hard at work producing my own artistic responses to this wonderful trip, so I’ll be back with all that soon.