This art cruise combines a daily plein air drawing and painting workshop with spotting and learning about the rich wildlife in the Hebridean isles. It’s like a creative nature retreat on a boat! Departing from Mallaig where we meet for our welcome night, we will sail across to the Isle of Skye and the nearby Small Isles of Canna, Rum, Eigg, Ornsay and Muck. While cruising the Small Isles, the dramatic backdrop of the Cuillins on the Isle of Skye is ever present. Capture the stunning beauty of the Hebridean seascapes with your paints and guidance from artist Nicky Sanderson, whilst learning about the island locations, their history and their wildlife from the knowledgable crew. If wild swimming is your thing you’ll get plenty of opportunities to live your passion!
On this amazing trip we will search for whales and dolphins from special viewing decks, travel with migrating seabirds, watch patiently for otters and seals, scan for golden and white-tailed eagles and learn about the ecology of Scottish islands. This cruise will be a catalogue of iconic species! With a chance of seeing minke whale, orca, basking shark and up to 4 dolphin species we will be kept busy admiring them and every day will take us through different island landscapes.
The guides aboard the Monadhliath (our cruise ship) are highly experienced ecologists and both crew and guides are very familiar with the area we cruise, known as the Minch. During this cruise they will be collecting cetacean data for Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust via their Whale Track app. They will also teach us how to use the app and take part in data collection.
This adventure is created for artists by artists. We will go ashore and explore islands and beaches, with plenty opportunities to get painting boards and sketchbooks out and spend a bit longer at one location each day for creating artwork. You’ll get a wealth of ideas and techniques to enhance your creative work with guidance from our art tutor Nicky Sanderson.
You will feel a connection to nature as you explore these seascapes, and landscapes formed 3,400 million years ago, still sculpted today by wind and rain and human hand. Each day will have a different theme and artistic focus. Your sketchbook will form a record of the sights you see and by the end of the trip will contain a wealth of inspirations tucked away inside. Drawing with mixed media, using graphite, charcoal and ink, along with quick washes of colour from your paints will provide the basis of your work. You will have the opportunity to experiment with using the local environment as your tool – have you tried drawing a bird with a feather? Or a crab with a claw? Or painting the sea with seawater? Your own preferred paints (water colours or acrylics) should provide the colour you need for working on paper. Other materials are available for you to try.
You need to bring your own paints and brushes, but we’ll provide equipment such as painting boards, water containers, masking tape and a sturdy canvas bag for carrying materials.
Monadhliath is a fully converted former fishing boat, specifically designed for wildlife observation and coastal live-aboard cruising and charter. This makes her perfect for comfortable cruising around the Hebridean islands. Monadhliath has 2 strategically constructed bespoke viewing platforms above her stern giving an unrivalled viewing experience 6 metres above sea level. Six secure and comfortable bucket seats are mounted on the upper platform allowing extended viewing time, which allows you to sit in comfort whilst spotting the abundance and varied wildlife around the Outer Hebrides.
We only have up to 6 guest spaces on this cruise, so places are very limited. There are two cabins available for single use, and two cabins for sharing. The boat has 2 showers, 2 passenger toilets, a drying room, fully equipped galley and a comfortable saloon, which we can also use as out indoor studio in case of wet and windy weather.
