Luxury Painting Holidays

Eat, Sleep, Paint, Retreat is our Painting Holiday motto!

You’ll arrive to champagne and canapes and a hearty meal before a peaceful night ahead of the first day in the studio! Each painting holiday is designed with the perfect balance of hard work and relaxation in mind! All your meals and materials are provided, so just bring your painting pinny and your slippers!

Details of our 2024 Painting Holiday coming soon!

Half Day Drawing & Painting

Dominic McIvor

Intro to Drawing & Painting

Esther Donaldson

Landscape Course

Jemma Derbyshire

Mixed Media Course

Robin Wu

Drawing Course

Jane Couroussopoulos

"​An inspiring workshop yesterday in the lovely wild garden at Cockenzie House. Starting with an illustrated talk on artists who have painted gardens, Jemma followed with a demonstration on the use of mixed media. The rain didn't hinder our efforts in making initial sketches, we just looked out of the large windows! After a delicious lunch, we went out into brilliant warm sunshine to each create (based on our initial sketches) a large finished painting. An exciting day, where I learnt how to layer up acrylic paint over coats of household water based varnish, over which I added details using oil pastels and monoprints (very useful for tree trunks and branches). A truly enjoyable day which I hope Jemma and Lynsey might repeat in order to capture the Autumn colours. Thank you both!"

Sue Welsh

"I have now been on three residential courses. Two at Durham Kirkpatrick and one at Ettrick Valley- Over Kirkhope Farm. I have absolutely loved them. The accommodation at both has been outstanding, so comfortable and set in beautiful countryside. Jemma is a wonderful teacher so patient and encouraging and Lynsey makes it feel like staying in a 5 star hotel with her tempting home baking and superb meals. I really have loved my time on the courses, meeting interesting people and making new friends. I can't wait for the next one."

Anne Ward

"It was an absolute pleasure to spend 3 days with you at Cockenzie; I enjoyed every minute of being part of the course. I really liked the structure that begin with a specific focus on the first day and then moved on to more artist led sessions. Jemma’s input was invaluable and I feel extremely fortunate to have benefitted from her expertise. I finished the course feeling much more confident about my work and what I want to achieve. I was able to develop my ideas during the 3 days to the point where I felt very excited that I’d really ‘turned a corner’ and was looking forward to getting started with new work. Since I returned home, I have taken a piece of work to the framers for the first time! Thank you very much for a fabulous course, and I can’t wait to be able to join you again in the near future."

Gill Hopkinson

​"The 3 days proved to be very supportive, full of learning but fun too. I feel I have gained the confidence to experiment and take risks more whilst also being more focussed and aware of where my interests lie. I know I wouldn't have reached this point without Jemma's guidance and patience. Since completing the distance learning course, I had wished I lived near enough to attend the monthly mentoring sessions but logistically this was too difficult. I am really happy therefore to have had the chance to attend your 1st 3 day mentoring course which fit my needs perfectly. I am already looking forward to attending another!! "

Christine Cobb