About…
Given the success of our 2021 & 2022 retreats, Travel Matters has been working tirelessly to bring you an alternative holiday experience. During 2023, we invite guests to participate in a bespoke Wild Swimming & Painting retreat amongst the stunning setting of Loch Tay, Scotland - Saturday 7th to Wednesday 11th October 2023.
Your home for during the retreat is one of our favourite Edwardian Lodges in the UK. Perched upon the banks of Loch Tay, this outstanding new retreat runs for four nights and five days. It will be facilitated by Plein Air Artist, Susanna MacInnes, who is known as the Pindroppainter.
Morning swims in Loch Tay with invaluable information on safely swimming in cold water and the health benefits therein, will be followed by a painting workshop until lunchtime, then the afternoons are yours! We invite guests to immerse themselves in nature and roam throughout the spectacular countryside surrounding the lodge, ancient woodlands, cascading burns and the nearby mythical Waterfalls of Archan, all looked over by the brooding Ben Lawers mountain range. You are cordially invited to take a step into the great unknown, and emerge rejuvenated, creative and powerful.
The Morning Dip
We will swim in Loch Tay each morning, and learn how to safely swim in cold water with breathing techniques, how to heat up your core and understand what happens to our bodies during and after immersion. You will experience the transforming benefits of cold water to the system, from improved circulation, muscle relief from pain and mental health. We will encourage you to feel the full benefits of cold water to body and mind by not wearing a wetsuit! Whether you just put a toe in, or swim for several minutes, we go at your pace.
The Painting Workshop
Over three mornings between 10am and 1pm, this course will be led by Susanna, the Pindrop Painter. Susanna is passionate about painting from, and in nature. These workshops are therefore themed about people and their environment. Susanna will give you the skills so that you can take your new found expertise into your every day. Travel with your paints and enjoy painting in situ, as Loch Tay and the surrounding estate are bursting with inspiring subjects as well as an ever changing landscape exuding atmosphere.
On this course Susanna will explore different aspects of outdoor painting from the practicalities of painting outside, choosing a composition, capturing light, water and reflections and working in oils. An opportunity to share work and benefit from each other’s ideas will be encouraged at the end of each day. Susanna will enable you to "bring home the honest truths that she discovers, conveying real life situations, as well as taking in the scenes she has witnessed from life”.
Where does the cold water fit into all of this? Well, the invigorating exercise of cold water immersion will assist with the flow of creativity and painting. The water unblocks our lack of creativity and just being outside can break that chain of uninventiveness. This in turn unlocks us, and helps us make sense of the world. Some participants may share their work at the end if that feels beneficial and you are free to decide what you want to paint during the course of these mornings. Susanna has a BA (HONS) degree in Fine Art from Manchester Metropolitan University with an Erasmus exchange to L'Ecole des Beaux Arts, Rennes, so we urge you to make the most of one-to-one like-sessions. Here you can discuss technique and the use of colours with a distinguished and renowned professional.
The Daily Programme
At the beginning of your stay, you will receive a sketchbook and we encourage you to be creative each day. We prefer you not to have your phones on you except for taking pictures at swim and walk times, and check it only when you are in your rooms. The only screens will be the landscapes that you seek inspiration from. We will be surrounded by immense natural beauty, so please feel free to roam around the grounds and the immediate area. It’s a wonderland! Your menus will have been created by a proud Scottish chef who enjoys using seasonal and local produce (we’ll ask for your dietary requests before the departure date), so be prepared to be well fed.
Sample Itinerary
•8am. Swim in Loch Tay
•9am. Breakfast
•10am. Painting Demonstration
•10.30am. Painting Session
•1.15pm. Lunch & Free Afternoon*
•4pm. A final dip before sunset for the brave at heart!
•6pm relax and reading/sketching time
•7.30 pm. Drinks in the “Snug”, sharing of the day
•8pm. Dinner
(*The afternoons are optional to paint or walk (there will be group walks if required) meditate & reflect.)
The Accommodation
Within the grand Estate, guests will be able to enjoy beautifully styled bedrooms, with comfortable and plush furnishings. Each bedroom has its own unique style, ranging from more traditional chambers to contemporary fashioned bedrooms. Depending on your booking preferences, you will either be hosted in a Triple Bedroom or Double Bedroom, all of which have a private en-suite bathrooms. All bedrooms have outstanding views of rolling hills, the countryside and Loch Tay. (All rooms in the lodge are with Super King Beds, with one twin room and three rooms offer a Super King Bed and additional single bed for three people sharing.)
Within the estate there are plenty of places to make yourself comfortable (inside and outside).For instance, there is a large stone built ‘Snug’ with a significant open fire and Library, also with open fire, television, baby grand piano and media and entertainment room if required. For instance, take times around the fire pit outside and inside around the fire to chat and reflect on your day.
Your Hosts
Susanna MacInnes, aka the Pindrop Painter! Susanna specialises in oil painting outdoors in all weathers and lights, having completed her studies at Manchester Metropolitan University. Since then she has enjoyed over twenty years as working as a professional Artisit and has exhibited some of her pieces at the Chelsea Art Society Exhibition 2005, 2006, 2007, 2018 and 2019 (to whom she is a member of). She was the winner of the ‘Wedlake Bell Award 2021 Chelsea Art Society’ & featured as a contestant on ‘Skyarts Landscape Artist of the Year’ and continues working hard within the Fine Arts community.
Karen Simmonds is the Founder & CEO of Travel Matters. Karen has been providing tailor made holidays & experiences for 23 years. Her hunger for adventure has symbiotically merged with her sense of Sustainability, which inherently paved the way for the Make Travel Matter™ Campaign – aimed to ensure economic prosperity, social equality and environmental & cultural protection. Karen is an avid open-water swimmer and is well known amongst the SW swimming community.
What’s Included...
• Breakfasts, Lunches & Evening Meals will be catered for by a private chef giving you time to enjoy the majestic views over Loch Tay.
• All Activities are included.
• A donation to our partners Trees for Cities (who will plant some trees and help us keep tabs on our overall Carbon Footprint.)
• A contribution to a Bursary Fund, enabling an anonymous individual, who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford such an experience.
• Supervision from an experienced Open Water Lifeguard/OWL.
£1,100 to £1,400 pp
