Where does my love of islands come from? Is it inate, from being born and raised on a large one of sorts, albeit encompassing several countries? Or from my more recent past, living on Tanera Mhor (one of the Summer Isles), during four extraordinarily happy years?
When I had the chance to visit the Isle of Man for the first time, nothing was further from my mind than yet another painting holiday destination. I was there to visit, with my oldest friend, the beach where she’d scattered her parents’ ashes; I’d missed the occasion, and her father’s funeral, due to Covid. As much as this, though, I’d had a life-long curiosity about the place, fuelled by childhood postcards from her family holidays, along with the fact it’s practically independent, and unique, yet nestles neatly between all four countries that (currently) make up the UK. And it’s an island, a distinctive one, and thus had to be ticked off a rather long list!
It might have been half way through the first day that it dawned on me I should have brought along my sketchbook. It sounds like an absurd error, right? But we had just three full days, four nights to explore every corner, and Helen was in charge; we wanted to walk, see family and to do typical Isle of Man visitor things, such as horse-drawn tram rides and ice cream on the beach.
Now I realise I shall have to return, with a painter’s hat on. The island is an artist’s dream: deep, wooded glens; flower-filled hedgerows; hidden waterfalls tumbling into dark fairy pools; rocky headlands and sandy coves; rolling hills and heather-clad mountains, and quiet, quaint villages with picture-perfect cottage gardens.
There’s the faded grandeur of the Douglas promenade, lined with seaside hotels from the Victorian era, where the Clydesdale and Shire horses pull the tram and pose for photographs. This is where the ferry comes in, and the obvious place to base oneself. Yet other villages offer tranquility and perfect sunsets, and with nowhere on the island very far from anywhere else, I shall research all accommodation options carefully before going into full planning mode.
Any sketching holiday to the Isle of Man would take place in 2026 at the earliest. But in the meantime, if you think you would be interested in this as a holiday destination, or if you want to raise any points I might not have considered, do drop me a message and let me know.
