Skoon Gallery, Isle of Harris, Hebrides
The light and landscapes of the Hebrides have long been a huge draw for artists, and there are several small galleries dotted around the white sand bays, crags and bogs of beautiful Harris. Skoon deserves special consideration for its matchless views and darn good Dundee marmalade cake, brownies and hot smoked South Uist salmon on oatcakes. All work shown and sold here is by resident artist Andrew John Craig: the prime subjects for his oils are sweeping Harris beaches, and smeary sunsets.
• Free, skoon.com
Hestercombe, Taunton, Somerset
Hestercombe is set in immaculate Georgian and Edwardian gardens with waterfalls, lakes, Victorian shrubbery and formal beds – but unlike most galleries on old English estates, where dark, gilt-framed oil paintings sit between suits of armour, this one is daringly innovative. Works by Marc Quinn, Tracey Emin, Peter Doig and Richard Long have featured in exhibitions here, and until 9 February 2020 Ben Rivers’ Urthworks explores themes of sci-fi, dystopian futures and climate change, connecting Urth, the Norse goddess of fate, and the novel Earthworks by Brian Aldiss, about the world after ecological breakdown. Surreal, geological images are accompanied by films shot in Somerset.
• Adult £12.50, child £6.25, hestercombe.com
Goldmark Gallery, Uppingham, Rutland
Musicians including Ralph McTell, Eliza Carthy and Richard Thompson have played this brilliant little gallery’s 60-seat Front Room gig space. There are occasional jazz concerts, film screenings and talks with lunch. On other days, there’s free coffee, tea or water for visitors. The art is scattergun, vast and great: its 50,000 stock items include works by Le Corbusier and Henri Matisse, and bronzes by Elisabeth Frink. An exhibition of John Farrington oil paintings is scheduled for February. Ceramics are huge here, with four exhibitions a year, while greats including Eduardo Paolozzi and Paula Rego have used the print workshop. The gallery is a very good reason to visit this attractive market town.
• Free, goldmarkart.com
The Secret Garden Gallery, Lochranza, Isle of Arran
Lochranza, the most northerly village on the glorious isle of Arran, is a work of art in itself, spread around the ruins of a 13th-century castle, home to a herd of red deer, and nudging against a sea loch with a backdrop of spectacular peaks. Here, a converted church, Castlekirk Arthouse, houses the Secret Garden Gallery and three bed and breakfast guest rooms. The gallery walls are hung with work by local and visiting artists, there are occasional gigs and workshops, and guests are encouraged to make their own art while staying here, or bring an instrument and play a tune.
• Free entry, doubles from £70 B&B, castlekirk.co.uk
Harley Gallery, Welbeck, Nottinghamshire
On the great Welbeck estate in Sherwood Forest, the Harley is an acclaimed modern building on the ruins of a Victorian gasworks. It hosts five contemporary exhibitions a year, of photography, art and ceramics. Next door is the Portland Collection of treasures belonging to the Dukes of Portland, whose seat this has been since 1607, in a building that won the Riba National Award in 2016. The site also has a School of Artisan Food, artists’ studios, a craft shop and a cafe using local veggies and the estate’s meat. Coming up are Brick by Brick, featuring 18 international artists working with Lego, and,in June, the Earth and Fire ceramics fair.
• Free entry, harleygallery.co.uk
MoMa, Machynlleth, Powys
In a little Welsh town famous for its natural environment, Centre for Alternative Technology and comedy festival, the Museum of Modern Art Machynlleth packs a punch with its programme by exciting Welsh artists. Seven exhibition spaces are attached to an old Wesleyan chapel, now a centre for performing arts, where an auditorium with pews hosts music, drama and lectures. A current exhibition of “fauxidermy” by Helly Powell has mounted fabric animal heads made from Welsh blanket material inspired by a collection of early Welsh folk tales called the Beasts of Mabinogion. Flat whites, toasties and soups feature on the simple menu in its cosy Cafe Glas.
• Free, moma.machynlleth.org.uk
Watts Gallery Artists’ Village, Surrey
Painter and sculptor George Frederic Watts was considered one of the finest Victorian artists, and his wife Mary – whom he married when he was 69 – was a famous designer, and both became philanthropists. Limnerslease, their Arts and Crafts home in Compton, is a gorgeous half-timbered building surrounded by pretty woodlands that visitors can tour. The contemporary gallery shows groundbreaking work (currently In Print: Capturing Light, about printmaking, until 5 Jan). The Welsh rarebit and the chocolate cake in the tea shop are almost as highly praised as the art.
• Adults £11.50, children free, wattsgallery.org.uk
Gallery at Home, Usk, Monmouthshire
This converted cow barn is styled like an interiors magazine shoot, with wooden floors, black walls, exposed bulbs and Jieldé lights. The work is tasteful and edgy, currently photography and work relating to social issues. Making art more accessible to all while remaining thought-provoking is the ethos here, and artists often hold open sessions, workshops and talks. Green fields and mountains are yours for the stomping after a nice fat cake and coffee at a candlelit table in the cafe.
• Free entry, galleryathome.co.uk
Thornthwaite Galleries, Keswick, Cumbria
Cumbria’s bank barns were where Scottish farmers once housed their cattle to fatten them up over winter before selling them in spring. Now, in one that houses Thornthwaite Galleries and Teashop, it’s ramblers and sightseers who are fattened up, on toasted slabs of plum bread and puffy cheese scones. Work by more than 140 artists, mainly from Cumbria and the north-west of England, fills the 200-year-old stone space amid handsome lakeland countryside just north of Keswick. Find landscape paintings, sculpture, jewellery and furniture range from the naff (ceramic squirrels) to the sublime (portraits of the nearby fell, Blencathra).
• Free, thornthwaitegallery.co.uk
Farfield Mill, Sedbergh, Cumbria
An old woollen mill on the edge of the Cumbrian town of Sedbergh, south of the Howgills and east of the Lake District, is now a thriving arts and crafts hub. Weavers, quilters, fibre artists and lacemakers welcome the curious into their studios and sell their wares in the airy gallery space. Visitors learn about how textile production and the wool-making process have changed since the mill’s foundation in 1836, watching two old looms in action, then enjoy fruit cakes in the jolly tea room.
• Adult £4, children free, farfieldmill.org
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