Mary Miers, Country Life, 7 March 2002
Amhuinnsuidhe's residential courses are run by no less distinguished a group of artists - Tim Fargher, Hugh Buchanan and Caroline MacAdam Clark - but the atmosphere is more painting holiday than school, as befits its setting in a baronial shooting lodge, built in 1867 for the Earl of Dunmore. The laird today is Jonathan Bulmer, who has refurnished much of the interior with a connoisseur's eye. He has introduced good paintings and porcelain, stocked the cellars with the finest vintages, and put the famous chef Rosemary Shrager in command of the kitchens. The atmosphere is that of an industrious house party, with the attraction of one of Scotland's finest sporting estates on the doorstep.
The leading Scottish watercolourist Hugh Buchanan was in residence the week I visited, a seasoned tutor with a wealth of invaluable advice. Mornings started in the rod room (which doubles as a studio) with a practical demonstration and critique of the previous day's work. Glorious spring weather soon lured us outdoors, where we practiced plein air techniques on hills and beaches, or sat beside a sheltered anchorage studying boats and their reflections on water.
What better subject for the artist than this blue-rimmed landscape, with its bewitching extremes of wind-scoured rock and flower-strewn machair? Tim Fargher's landscape masterclasses flourish on this colourist's palette, while Hugh Buchanan's medium is ideally suited to the lucid Hebridean light. When it rains, the castle interior provides endless inspiration, with its changing scale and sculptural detail. Long windows overlooking the Sound of Taransay admit sudden, unexpected shafts of light.
'If you get bored of painting, you've always got seared scallops with scallop and prawn tortellini drizzled with a red pepper and spicy sauce to look forward to', declared our teacher. Anywhere else I might have doubted his priorities, but at Amhuinnsuidhe there is no getting away from it, the cuisine eclipses all.
There is quite simply no finer food in Scotland. This is not just because venison, lamb and shellfish abound locally, and fresh garlic, morels and fennel are flown in regularly from abroad. The key to Amhuinnsuidhe's reputation is its irrepressible resident 'Castle Cook', and her highly successful cookery school. This runs concurrently with the painting courses, providing a brilliant solution to the catering. Extravagant feasts cooked under her energetic supervision make their way from the castle's nerve centre to the panelled dining room at least twice a day.
