Art courses

Art Days @ Inishowen Artists' Retreat and Studio

All art courses (we call them Art Days) are designed to enable participants to build confidence and identify individual process and style, which can be reflected on and developed as you progress on your creative journey as a beginner or as a professional. 

There is a huge fun element and an opportunity to reflect and explore colour, form, texture and space in your work.

Each course will have a maximum of 6 participants. This ensures quality time with our experienced resident tutor (or guest artist) and a more intimate, relaxed experience all round.

Pricing

Teas and coffees provided on arrival and at breaks. A light lunch of vegetable soups and breads will be provided.

Course fees are €90 per person or €170 for a two-day course

Gift vouchers

Gift vouchers are also available for birthdays, Christmas etc. or just to spoil someone special.

What's shall I bring?

Please bring your own materials if possible. We can supply materials at a reasonable price, but you would need to let us know in advance. A suggested materials list is available on request.

There are brushes available for your use and remember you can share your paints with artist friends to reduce your load for transport.

A small selection of papers/canvases and paints will be available at the cottage for those in a rush…please let us now if you have a preference of paper/canvas size in advance and we can arrange this for you at an additional cost.

What to expect

Our Art Days run from 10am-4.30pm, breaking for lunch (40 mins) at an agreed time with participants, and a few tea breaks in morning and afternoon as we work.

A light lunch of vegetable soups and breads will be provided.  We can cater for vegan, gluten and dairy free needs. For other specific diets or allergens, please bring your own lunch as we cannot ensure all allergens can be catered for. Please let us know on booking if you have specific dietary requirements.

Coronavirus

Keeping everyone safe is our priority. If you have any questions about our courses and coronavirus, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Additional information

Suggested paints to include in your palette: burnt umber, burnt sienna, cadmium red, cadmium yellow (mid hue), cadmium yellow (deep hue), Prussian blue, titanium white.

A range of flat brushes would be useful. We advise you to bring 4 canvases of comfortable size (the size you are happy to use). Compositions can be started for you to take away and complete in your own time, as projects throughout the winter months.

Your own photographs and/or prints may also be useful, depending on weather, so don’t forget to bring some reference materials with you.

We ask artists to use an environmentally-friendly solution for diluting their paints and cleaning brushes. There are several orange-based solvents widely available online.

Please bring 2 screw top glass jars for transporting any solvents and linseed (or similar) oils and a notebook is always useful!

We are in the hills of Donegal so suitable footwear and clothing are recommended.

Hint - if you use water-based oils, which can be quite sticky, walnut oil can be a useful diluting agent… you can experiment and see what you think.

Staying over

Overnight self-catering accommodation is available in the cottage for a maximum of 4 people in 2 twin bedrooms. The basics of milk, tea/coffee, homemade jam etc will be provided for resident artists and we are happy to share the extra produce from our organic vegetable garden, depending on the time of year.

We have Rowan our dog, who is a bit nervous of people but adorable when she gets to know you, and two cats, Bella and Luna who are very friendly. 

Please let us know on booking if you have any dietary requirements. All bedding and towels, etc are provided. Please remember our cottage is old, cosy and intimate, with a sense of luxury.

Other high quality accommodations are available locally and recommendations can be requested by email.