OUR SCHOOL
This small, independent art school and studio was established in 1995 by Eleanor White and continues to offer a rich and varied programme of courses in the visual and creative arts. Bridge House Art has two studios; the garden studio and the garage studio, both are located above the fast flowing Ullapool river. These lovely light spaces offer excellent facilities and provide a creative environment for a maximum of 12 students. We are open to all, the beginner or experienced artist alike and aim to develop a greater visual language, increase creativity and encourage new directions of work in all students that attend the school. The ethos behind all of our courses is that we all can think and communicate visually and express, through a variety of media, a genuine response to the environment around.
Bridge House Art primarily offers three types of learning experiences: a unique, sixteen-week Portfolio course, week-long Summer School courses and a selection of pre-recorded On-line courses. All the courses are taught by highly qualified and experienced artist-tutors.
The summer school runs from mid-June until early September. Every year we offer a variety of week-long art courses in a range of disciplines; drawing, painting, printmaking, mixed media landscape painting, artists books and sculpture. Each week has a different theme and focus.
In autumn the Portfolio Course begins. This is a full-time, intensive course consisting of sixteen weeks of study from October until March. The course is designed for those wishing to advance onto studying art at degree level and for students who wish to study art at a deeper level for their own professional development.
For those unable to travel to us, or anyone who wants a taster of our teaching style and ethos, we have put together a number of pre-recorded online courses which are designed to be completed at home in your own time and at your own pace. We invite you to view the selection of courses on offer and hope that you will enjoy our rich and varied programme.
OUR TEACHING ETHOS, OUR TEAM & VISITING TUTORS
If we believe that art is a language, like any language, it has a fundamental structure which must be learned in order to gain a greater fluency. Art provides a means of understanding the world in which we live and enriches our life as we gain a fresh awareness of ourselves in relationship to it. It is the belief at Bridge House Art, that all can learn to think and communicate visually and to express through a variety of media a genuine response to the surrounding environment.
Eleanor White
principal / director
mixed media painting
Eleanor is the founder, course director and principal tutor at Bridge House Art. She Is highly regarded as an inspiring and motivating educator.
Eleanor also works with Rufus Reade Tours as the invited tutor on painting holidays in Europe and the middle east. Her own practice is mixed media drawing and painting. www.eleanorkwhite.com
Jemma Derbyshire
painting, mixed media
Jemma Derbyshire is a painter, orginally from the Highlands, now living and working in Edinburgh. Light, sense of place, atmosphere and experience, are fundamental elements in Jemma's work. Her paintings come from her experience of, and relationship to the landscape. This may be through trying to capture the essence of a moment, weather, illumination, or perhaps colour. www.jemmakderbyshire.com
Kate Boucher
drawing
Kate Boucher is an artist, author and tutor. . Her work has been exhibited with that of David Nash RA, Alice Kettle and Matthew Burrows, and is held in private collections internationally. She recently exhibited with Glyndebourne, The New Art Gallery Walsall, and in November 2022, Petersfield Museum & Gallery, with, ‘Alison Crowther & Kate Boucher: Traces in a Landscape’.
Instagram: misskateboucher
Kenneth le Riche
oil painting, life drawing
Kenneth has taught at the Leith School of Art, Edinburgh College of Art, Amagansett Applied Arts, New York State and The East Harlem School, New York City. Kenneth's art depicts the experience of making a drawing or painting from observation, representing the relationship between motif, materials used and himself. www.kennethleriche.com
Christine Morrison
drawing, painting, printmaking
Christine is a visual artist, printmaker and sailor. When she's not working for Bridge House Art, she can be either found working in her studio or garden on her home island of Lewis, or at sea sailing her small yacht. She makes work in response to journeying over land and sea. Christine is an alumni of the portfolio course.
Karen Prentice
summer school tutor support
Karen is a practicing artist and is an alumni of the portfolio course. She is our summer school girl Friday. Not only does she support the teaching from the tutors, she also looks after the students, providing support and sustenance throughout the day. Karen endeavours to ensure that everyone is having a great time.
Susie Wilson
printmaking, artist's books
Susie trained as a printmaker and for the last twelve years the book form has been central to her work. The discipline of this form enables her to combine printmaking with 3-dimentional structures and to use layers that can interplay one with another.
Lucy May Schofield
Mokuhanga, bookmaking
Lucy May has spent many years studying in Japan with master printmakers and book binders. Her large scale and immersive installations and small scale, intimate books, give an idea of the depths of this inspiring tutor. She lives and works in Northumberland, travelling widely to run workshops and courses.
Lorraine Thomson
Creative writing
Lorraine lives in Ullapool. Her novels include noir thriller Boyle's Law and post-pandemic thriller Each New Morn. Her writing has appeared in a variety of anthologies and literary magazines including Wyldblood, Epoch Press, and Art North. Lorraine is an alumni of the portfolio course.
Claire Benn
mixed media: textiles, raw earth pigments, natural dyes, acrylic paint
Claire's work is born in the land and her love of wild landscapes and how she feels when in these places – the solitude, the stillness, the silence. Using cloth and earth pigments, thread and hand stitch, she makes quiet, reductive, abstract art that attempts to communicate these feelings. Appreciating the tactile qualities of her materials; being hands on and engaging with process is important to her – as is the craft that underpins the making of her art.
Jan Breckenridge
bookings and accounts
Jan is a woman of many facets - meticulous bookings administrator and an accounts wizz. Her creative talents include; bookmaking and printmaking and she's a qualified geologist and herbalist! Not sure how she finds time for Bridge House Art, but we're so thankful that she does or there would be absolute chaos when it comes to sorting the summer school bookings. Jan is an alumni of the portfolio course.
HOW TO FIND US
Bridge House Art is situated on Old Moss Road. Travelling from the south, just follow the main road (A835) through Ullapool heading north. Old Moss road joins the A835 on the left hand side just before you cross the road bridge over the Ullapool river. Once you have turned left Bridge House Art is on your right hand side. If arriving from the north, as you arrive into Ullapool down the hill, past the industrial estate on your left, there is a right hand turning just after the bridge over the Ullapool river. Turn right onto Old Moss Road and the studios are on your right.
What 3 Words: unspoiled.living.master
By Car
Sat Nav: IV26 2TG
Ullapool is easy to reach from the south. It is about I hour 15 minutes drive north west of Inverness on the A835. Edinburgh and Glasgow are approximately 5 hours journey by car.
By Bus
Ullapool has good bus links with Inverness, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Perth and Stirling, chiefly because it is a major ferry port to the Western Isles. The Citylink bus service from Inverness bus station runs in connection with the arrival/departure of the Calmac ferry into Ullapool. Pick up/drop off is at the ferry terminal. Tel Citylink enquiries on: 08705 50 50 50 or check www.citylink.co.uk There is also a summer service from Inverness to Durness that drops off/ picks up from Ullapool. Stagecoach service 61 also connects Ullapool with Inverness.
By Train
Ullapool doesn't have a train station and train passengers must disembark at Inverness to complete their journey by bus. Tel Scotrail enquiries on: 0845 7484950 or website
WHERE TO STAY
Please note that all Bridge House Art courses are non-residential. Ullapool offers a wide selection of accommodation in and around the village, most within walking distance of the studios. Due to the popularity of the NC500 we urge you to arrange your accommodation as soon as you have secured a place on your chosen course.
Internet listings below are just a few of the many websites with up to date details of local accommodation.
Ullapool.com Lots of local information as well as accommodation