Seeing Differently

Look closer. Get present. Discover more.

Creative mornings and private retreats with award-winning artist Skye Holland, in a beautiful working studio in the Wiltshire countryside.

Step away from the ordinary and discover new ways of seeing and making, with Skye’s warm and encouraging guidance. No previous art experience is needed. Everyone is welcome.

Skye Holland drawing with oil pastels on a large circular painting in her Wiltshire studio.

photo of Skye Holland by Gemma Brunton

A fresh way of looking

Set aside time for yourself in my welcoming working studio at Sutton Mandeville, settled next to stunning Cranborne Chase, near Tisbury in Wiltshire.

Through playful drawing and observation exercises, you explore shape, colour and space. You become absorbed in looking, find new ways to use materials and develop your own ideas, without pressure to produce a polished picture.

No previous art experience needed. You don’t need to know where to begin. I offer practical demonstrations, encouragement and time to ask questions, share discoveries and pause for coffee and conversation.

Choose how you would like to come

Creative Morning
9.30am to 1.30pm - £130 per person
Four hours of guided creative exploration in my studio, with all materials, welcome refreshments, and tea, coffee and cake included. A small group of up to 8. Lunch is optional at The Stalls Cafe & Farm Shop next door.
Next dates Saturday November 28th (winter seasonal still life), December 11th 2026 (winter seasonal still-life).

Private Group
Four hours in the studio - from £1,100 for up to 8
Friends, family or colleagues, at the studio on a day that suits you. A good way to give a group something to remember, or to mark a celebration.

Studio Day
£295 per person - 6 to 10 people - by arrangement
Four hours in the studio, then lunch next door. For owners, directors and senior people who want to step out of the pace for a day. Please give two weeks’ notice.

Private Retreat for One or Two
A day, or two, just for you. I collect you from the station or your accommodation. You draw or paint and make in the studio, have lunch next door, walk in Cranborne Chase National Landscape, and I drive you back.
One day - founding guest price £700 for one person, £950 for two
Two days - founding guest price £1,300 for one person, £1,800 for two
Founding guests are asked for photographs and a short testimonial.

Gift vouchers
A creative morning or a day in the studio, given as a voucher. [Valid for 6 months).

We come to you

Individually quoted. For teams, from £2,500 plus VAT and travel, up to 20 people. Offices, homes and venues.

participants at an autumn drawing workshop at Sketch, Mayfair

An autumn workshop at Sketch, Mayfair (faces altered for privacy)

A group Seeing Differently drawing workshop in Brooklyn, NYC

A recent workshop in Brooklyn, US

How a session works

1. Interrupt habit. Music, mark-making and exercises that quiet the inner critic.

2. Learn to observe and really see. Drawing becomes a tool for noticing relationships, patterns and possibilities.

3. Discover new perspectives. Reflection and discussion reveal new ways of looking and fresh approaches to your own questions.

4. Move into mark-making and painting. Using mixed media, shaped to the time available and to each group or individual.

Hands working with inks and brushes at a family creative workshop in Skye Holland’s studio.

A family group enjoying an afternoon creating together

Charcoal drawing of a ranunculus beside a bunch of orange flowers on the table at a creative morning in Skye Holland’s studio.

A group enjoying seeing and drawing in a morning workshop

Practical details

Around the studio

The studio sits on the edge of Cranborne Chase National Landscape, in some of the most beautiful countryside in the south of England. Many guests make a day or a weekend of it. Opening times and prices change, so please check each website before you go.

Getting here

Tisbury is on the South Western Railway line from London Waterloo, about an hour and three quarters by train. The studio is a 10-minute drive from the station, and for private retreats I collect you.

Come down for the day, or make a weekend of it.

Things to see

Old Wardour Castle - a 14th-century lakeside ruin near Tisbury, with a Gothic grotto. Run by English Heritage.

Dinton Park and Philipps House - parkland, woodland walks and a lake, looked after by the National Trust.

Cranborne Chase National Landscape - chalk downland and long views, and an International Dark Sky Reserve, so the stars are very good on a clear night.

Salisbury Cathedral - the tallest spire in England, and one of four original 1215 copies of Magna Carta.

Stonehenge - tickets and parking must be booked in advance.

Historic pubs near here

The Compasses Inn, Chicksgrove - a 14th-century thatched pub with an open fire and real ale.

The Beckford Arms, Fonthill Gifford - a Georgian country-house inn with a lovely garden, good food and rooms.

The Royal Oak (owned by James May!) in Swallowcliffe.

A little further afield

Hauser & Wirth Somerset, Bruton - a contemporary art gallery with gardens, about 40 minutes by car.

The Newt in Somerset - a country hotel with gardens, about 43 minutes by car.

Where to stay

The South Western, beside Tisbury Station - a pub with rooms, ideal if you are arriving by train. The studio is about 10 minutes away by car.

The Beckford Arms has rooms, and there are holiday lets in and around Tisbury and Salisbury.

The studio address is: The Cart Shed, Strang Manor Farm, Sutton Mandeville, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP3 5NL (use this as a search for nearby AirBnB units or cottages to rent).

Other local hotspots to visit

The Cranborne Chase viewed from the Stalls Café next to my studio

Enquire or book

To book or ask a question, use the form below or write to skyeholland@me.com.