As the bright colours of the island capital, Tobermory, would suggest, the Isle of Mull has a vibrant arts and crafts scene. Some preserve traditions that date back centuries, like spinning wool from native flocks and weaving tweeds and blankets. Others make use of modern and unusual materials to delight and surprise.

If you’d like to discover some Isle of Mull artists and crafters and perhaps even buy a piece of local artwork to take home with you, make a start with this guide.

Tobermory plays host to many Isle of Mull artists and craftspeople

Painters

With huge open vistas and a varied landscape of mountains, glens, lochs and forest, the island provides inspiration for many Isle of Mull artists. Several are based here, including Graham & Sally Bruce-Richards and Ronnie Leckie, who has a gallery you can visit on Tobermory’s Main Street. Artist Angus Stewart also has a gallery you can visit on Breadalbane Street, just up the hill from the harbour.

Potters

Pay Mull Pottery a visit in their shop on the Main Street to find beautiful, handmade pottery pieces. Their pottery spans all kinds of homewares and each piece has a character of its own. Often decorated in island-inspired hues, each piece makes an excellent keepsake or gift.

Mull Willow run workshops from a charming croft

Willow weavers

Based on a croft beside Loch Scridain at Ardtun, Mull Willow cultivates and crafts this natural product. Learn the craft on your holiday to Mull with one of their willow-weaving workshops. You can make baskets, bird boxes and stools in a workshop warmed by a log burner.

Beachcombers

Nestled into a hill on the island’s west coast is Lip na Cloiche. Best known as an open garden that is beautifully planted and filled with time-worn treasures, gardener Lucy also creates wonderful crafts with beach-combed finds. Mirrors adorned with shells and crafts created from rope and driftwood offer plenty of island charm.

Ardalanish Weavers in the island’s south west

Wool weavers

Not far from Mull Willow is Ardalanish, located on a farm just outside Bunessan. They work with wool from native flocks and use plant dyes to add colour to garments and blankets. You can take a tour of the mill to see the weaving process in action and pick up some warm and cosy woollens from the shop.

Pyrographers

One of the more unusual crafts is pyrography, where wood is burned to create different designs. Chronicle Crafts & Cakes are masters of the art on Mull. They create all kinds of intricate designs, from coasters to cheese boards and even house signs! You’ll often find Chronicle Crafts & Cakes at the producer’s market in Craignure if you’d like to see these first-hand.

Leather workers

Isle of Mull Leather stands just back from Tobermory’s Main Street – spot their wares displayed in the window when you pass by. Practitioners of the craft of leather working, they create belts, wallets and other leather goods from their workshop using traditional techniques.

Calgary Art in Nature

Galleries to visit on Mull

You’ll find lots of inspiration for things to do on Mull here, but if it’s arts and crafts that take your fancy, we recommend starting here.

An Tobar, Tobermory

Tucked up the hill from Tobermory’s Main Street, you can follow a fairly steep path up to reach An Tobar. The reward for the walk is an interesting gallery with inspiring exhibitions, as well as a cosy coffee shop and cafe.

Calgary Arts, Calgary

You may have heard of the Calgary Art in Nature trail. Often crafted from unexpected materials, sculptures line this wonderful woodland path. But Calgary is also home to an excellent Gallery that showcases the talents of Isle of Mull artists, as well as a workshop that is one of the island’s creative hubs.

South West Mull Makers, Fionnphort

At the other end of the island in the village where the ferry departs for Iona, you’ll find South West Mull Makers. This gallery brings together all kinds of arts, crafts and items created by local islanders. Much of it is available to buy.

Skylarks dancing to the heavens. Meadow Pipits parachuting ground wards. Golden-ringed Dragonflies patrolling the burns. Hen Harriers quartering the hillside…

We all stood in amazement as Mull’s moorland teemed with life! My guests and I were immersing ourselves in spectacular upland ecology on a recent Mull Nature Expedition, undertaking a short leisurely walk to delve deeper into the habitat and experience some of the wilder parts of Mull.

Explore Mull’s upland ecosystems

50% of Scotland’s landmass is an upland ecosystem and these habitats are heavily under recorded in terms of species abundance and trends. I am the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) North Argyll Regional Co-ordinator and Nature Scotland is working with the BTO to record all of our avifauna sightings during expeditions on the moors of Mull. On a recent tour, we managed to input data that included 12 male Meadow Pipits on territory, 8 Skylarks in song, 2 occupied Whinchat and Stonechat sites, 8 singing Wrens and 3 separate Hen Harriers.

The invertebrate life that underpins the diverse fauna is also recorded to help provide a greater understanding of the biodiversity on the island. Dragonfly and butterfly sightings along with their co-ordinates are logged manually out in the field. The information is then entered to the online database once I am back in the office. Guests have the option to get involved in the citizen science projects by helping to spot wildlife, write down sightings and take co-ordinate readings using a device provided.

After a lovely morning observing and exploring the moors we travelled to a nearby viewpoint to scan the habitat and have our packed lunch. Whilst enjoying our hot drinks, a distant Golden Eagle was seen in the spotting scope cresting a mountainous skyline. The emblematic species inhabits the wildest parts of the country from high altitude montane to inaccessible coastlines.

From sea to summit: diverse habitats on Mull

One of the most exciting things about Mull is the large mixture of landscapes and habitats to explore. There are over 60 wildlife habitats recognised in the UK and the fabric of Mull possesses over 30 of those! On our Nature Expeditions we aim to cover a mixture of habitats by vehicle and on foot throughout the tour.

After our lunch break we made for the coast to search for water-based wildlife. The Eurasian Otter is a real draw-card species and a very popular predator so we make sure to cover Otter habitat on every expedition. Another easy-going walk was undertaken to enable almost constant pauses to scan the surrounding shoreline for movement.

An adult White-tailed Eagle flew right overhead with Harbour Seals visibly hauled out on nearby skerries. Whilst the otters remained elusive this time, we instead encountered a pod of Bottlenose Dolphins. They were working the coastline, surfacing in small groups and also showing sporadic breaching behaviour! We input any cetacean records into the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust’s ‘Whaletrack’ app.

Nature conservation and education

The fourth national seabird census is being undertaken during 2018/19. We have been given the task of co-ordinating all survey coverage efforts on the Isle of Mull. Some of these efforts will be taken on Nature Scotland expeditions during the next two breeding seasons. During our afternoon excursion along the coast we managed to complete some census counts on breeding Razorbills, Kittiwakes and Fulmar.

Education is at the heart of every Nature Scotland experience. I will aim to provide fascinating information on species ecology and anatomy, along with examples of how an ecosystem functions healthily when in a completed state. I will also raise any current conservation issues and threats to UK species. This helps to increase awareness and encourage direct involvement and engagement.

Words and Images: Ewan Miles

Ewan runs the Mull based, award-winning eco-tourism operator Nature Scotland (www.naturescotland.com) and offers a variety of tours and experiences that can help you unlock some of the wildlife highlights of the Isle of Mull.

Learn more about Mull’s wildlife ‘big five’ here.