Artist

World Enough and Time

Creativity and Slowing down on the Summer Isles

Tanera Mòr, the only Summer Isle that is inhabited, is a magical setting for this most unusual summer course. You will spend a week far away from everyday concerns - there are no roads, shops or television on the island - immersing yourself in the creative process.   By way of a series of linked writing and art sessions, interspersed with private time for contemplation, you will express your experience of spending time in this beautiful landscape through the art work, stories, poems, memories and reflections that emerge as the week progresses.

Christian McEwen will act as writing guide each morning in a series of 6 linked sessions through which we will explore our relationship with time. The emphasis throughout will be on slowing down and paying attention, allowing time to explore both inner and outer landscapes. All participants are welcome, at any level of skill, and there will be plenty of time for sharing and discussion. The meeting room where these sessions will take place will also hold a generous library of nature writing and poetry, for you to explore at your leisure.

Jan Kilpatrick will act as artist-in-residence, helping you to make little books to house your writings, drawings and photographs. She will also introduce you to other media, including environmental art, as a way of developing each of the themes explored during the morning writing sessions.

We will take advantage of the natural surroundings by incorporating the plant life and beach-findings to our work and, whenever the weather favours us, hold our art work and writing sessions out of doors. The island Post Office/café, situated on the shore, will double as our studio space for at least some of the time and this studio will always be open to allow you to use the bank of art materials and books during your own private time.

Christian McEwen is a freelance writer, teacher and workshop leader. She grew up in the Borders of Scotland and attended King's College, Cambridge and the University of California, Berkeley, from which she graduated with a Master's degree in English and Creative Writing. In addition to her own writings, she has edited four anthologies, including "Jo's Girls: Tomboy Tales of High Adventure" and "The Alphabet of The Trees: A Guide to Nature Writing". She lives in Northampton, Massachusetts.

 Her recent book, "World Enough & Time: On Creativity and Slowing Down", provides the inspiration for this week of retreat. To purchase a copy of the book, click Amazon UK or Bauhan Publishing USA. To find out more about Christian, go to her website www.christianmcewen.com

Christian has written an essay about her experience of time on Tanera. To read this, visit The Scottish Review of Books. To read an interview with Christian about her book 'World Enough & Time' see www.storycirclebookreviews.org/interviews/mcewen.shtml

Jan Kilpatrick is a practicing artist and lives in Assynt, in the north west Highlands, just a short distance from the Summer Isles. She has been teaching to a variety of audiences over the past 20 years and draws upon a broad range of materials and skills as she helps to seek out the natural creativity in each one of her students. She is particularly interested in using text and image together in order to express the connection between human experience and the natural world. To find out more about Jan, visit her at www.jankilpatrick.co.uk.

This will be the fifth time that Christian and Jan will have taught together on the Summer Isles and they look forward to another week of shared experience and inspiration.

To read about an innovative community partnership approach to preserving and improving this landscape for the benefit of all, have a look at Coigach and Assynt Living Landscapes. To find out about the fascinating geology of this area go to North West Highland Geopark.