A Life in colour - Ellis O’Connor

Where wind and waves meet Skye’s south coast, a small building borders a white stone cottage. It used to store wood. Now, inside, there’s a sea of colour.

An easel. A palette thick with paint, the shades of this place: blue, green, browns and blacks. Today the doors are open and whoever’s inside can see past the trees to the mountains beyond. 

This is the home studio of multi-award-winning landscape artist Ellis O’Connor. Maybe you’ve come across her work on social media. It’s expressive, elemental, engaging — like Ellis herself. 

As a child, Ellis says, she was drawn to art. “I can remember drawing from a very young age. My mum tells me I used to be engrossed in mark-making even as a toddler.” The support of her family gave her confidence to pursue an artistic path. “I’m grateful I grew up in a household where my creativity was nurtured and never shut down. After high school, the only answer was art school.” 

Ellis studied at the renowned Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design in Dundee. But even then it was landscapes of blue and green that kindled her creativity. “I’d leave the city whenever I could. My art school experience was incredible, but it was obvious I was deeply inspired by nature.”

Since graduating in 2016, Ellis has been selfemployed, her practice growing as she has. What’s clear on the canvas is that being outdoors remains as vital to Ellis’s work now as it was then. 

“I spend long periods of time outdoors: hiking, at bothies, travelling the islands. I take my sketchbook and a small box of materials with me so I can respond in real time to what’s around me.” And something that’s shaped the development of her art — that she’s “obsessed with” — is art residencies. 

The Faroes, Orkney, Svalbard, Shetland. A handful of the wild, littoral places Ellis has stayed over the years. 

“Residencies are my way of carving out time to solely focus on my art. I develop new ideas and take deep time to reflect without any distractions,” Ellis explains.

These retreats could be informal, like “a secluded spot somewhere in my van for a night or two to recharge, write, sit with my sketchbook”. Or they could be formal, funded art residencies. Either gives Ellis the opportunity to reground herself in our crowded, connected world. “Rest and restoration is as valid as when I’m working. I need rest to have output for creating.” 

One residency that remains close to Ellis’s heart is Sweeney’s Bothy on the Isle of Eigg. Built by Bothy Project on croft land overlooking the Rum hills, it’s a cosy off-grid and purpose-built space for creatives to escape to and be inspired by. There are several like it across Scotland. 

“I have such fond memories of my time there in 2015,” Ellis reflects. “It was one of the last places I went with my dad before he passed away. I’ll always look back on Sweeney’s Bothy as being so special for that time together.”

Moments and memories — like time at the artist’s retreat on Eigg — mingle into colour on the canvas. Ellis’s aim is not to mirror a scene, but instead evoke her personal response to that environment. This is something, she says, people may not realise about her work. 

“My art has been the most healing outlet for me to navigate through grief. It’s emotional and vulnerable. People may think my art is solely about the landscape but it goes a lot deeper. When I think back to losing my dad, it was my art that allowed me the space to navigate through it. I used my painting at the time as a tool to help me with anxiety, loss, sadness. It was and still is my form of therapy.” 

Ellis also shares this powerful, personal approach with others as a tutor. She’s led art sessions for retreat attendees in many beautiful places around Scotland. “I love nurturing other people’s creative expression. It’s a joy to see the change in people over the course of a few days. They allow themselves to be vulnerable, creating for creating’s sake, without any judgement.” Whether on the rugged Knoydart Peninsula, or near home on Skye, Ellis enjoys the sense of togetherness these retreats bring.

But Ellis is also building a place of her own, among a growing community of creatives. In 2022, she bought her first home here on the island, informally christened the Skye Artist’s Cottage. 

Step inside on Instagram, and you’ll find life in technicolour. Kitchen cupboards in olive green. A peach-pink upstairs bookcase nook, warm with prints and plants. And a coral living room where gold and green hues glow around a window framing slopes beyond. 

“Crafting a home has been so fun,” Ellis says. “It’s such a different creative process to painting. It involves much more time and patience. I had no idea what my interior style was before. But it feels eclectic, cosy, full of joy and colour — what an artist’s home should be.” 

If you’ve followed Ellis for a while, seeing her journey over the last decade — whether on canvas or creating a home — is inspiring. From her rustic home studio, Ellis considers what might be the next chapter in a life bright with colour. 

“I’m wanting to enjoy this, be present in the beauty of it all, and not think too much about the future. I’m making space for adventures, spending time on Skye, and in the company of those I love.” 

Sharing new hues of deep green, black, and luminous grey, her artist’s palette looks fearless too. “I want to continue to allow my art to grow and not box myself in. Seek out new experiences that will inform my work. Life is far too short to be dimming your inner expression and not allowing yourself to do what you truly need to do. We need art more than ever in this world.”

AN ARTIST’S IDEAL DAY ON SKYE 

Morning: I wake up early and take my coffee out into the glass lean-to that joins my cottage. In the summer it’s warm and full of plants. Then I walk down to the little loch nearby and have a dip to wake myself up properly. 

Afternoon: I spend a couple of hours painting away in my workshop, carving out time for creativity. Then I meet up with friends at one of my favourite coffee shops. Lean To Coffee is my favourite as it’s not far from where I live. 

Evening: I drive to Torrin, another favourite place of mine. I sit by the pools and sketch. I love it there – it always quietens my mind and gives me so much inspiration.

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ellisoconnor.com
@ellisoconnor
@skyeartistcottage
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