sketching @ the eden project, cornwall
Immerse Yourself in Nature, Art & Stillness
Date: Fri 8th - Sun 10th May 2026
Step away from the busy hum of daily life and into a weekend of creativity and calm, nestled in the Cornish countryside. This retreat is designed to help you connect deeply with nature and yourself through sketching.
Using a mindful, nature-led approach, we’ll explore the unique beauty of the Eden Project and the surrounding Cornwall landscape. Expect gentle teaching, relaxing exercises, and space to experiment with a range of creative materials. Whether you’re a seasoned sketcher or picking up a pencil for the first time in years, this retreat offers inspiration, guidance, and community.
You’ll leave refreshed, fulfilled, and full of ideas — and with a sketchbook full of memories.
08 - 10 May 2026
Discover the wonder of the Eden project
The Eden Project in Cornwall used to be a barren landscape – a former clay mine with no soil or plants. This huge crater has now been transformed into a beautiful global garden, full of plants and flowers from across the world. This amazing space sets the stage for the highlight of this retreat - a full day trip to The Eden Project including a guided tour.
Explore massive covered Biomes to trek through one of the world’s largest indoor rainforests and immerse yourself in the calm fragrance of the Mediterranean Biome. Enjoy extensive Outdoor Gardens, contemporary artworks and time with your sketchbook in this truly magical space.
what people are saying...
Unleash Your Creativity and Connect with Nature
What to Expect
This Sketching Eden retreat is designed for those seeking to rediscover their creative selves in a peaceful, inspiring environment.
Starting on the Friday afternoon, we will spend a relaxed few hours getting to know each other and our materials @ The Cornwall Hotel and Spa.
Then on the Saturday we take a full day trip to the Eden Project for sketching, including a guided tour of one of the biomes. Guided by the flowers and plants of the Eden Project, this retreat offers a unique opportunity to explore this beautiful site in your sketchbook through various media, including pen, pencil, ink, paint, and crayons.
On the Sunday we will further develop our sketches and work on additional projects from our day of research and location sketching.
"There's a part of me that comes to life when I make art, and it's my favourite part of me. These retreats allow me to indulge and nurture that part - and it feels wonderful." Jenny Bacon, May 2025
sketching with confidence
But that's not all
Over the weekend, you'll develop the confidence to sketch outdoors and cultivate a fulfilling sketchbook practice that emphasizes self-expression, mindfulness, and joyful exploration.
Each session, whether at The Eden Project or at our home for the weekend at The Cornwall Hotel and Spa, will encourage you to see nature’s details with fresh eyes and to approach your sketchbook with freedom and confidence.
After the retreat you will come away inspired and creatively full, with plenty of completed sketches and ideas for what to continue sketching after the retreat is over. Not to mention the happy memories of sharing this experience with other keen creatives.
Date and Time
Fri 8th May 2026, 3pm - Sun 10th May 2026, 5pm
a peaceful stay
the cornwall Hotel and spa
I am delighted to host this retreat in The Cornwall Hotel and Spa in St Austell, Cornwall.
Accommodation at the hotel is an optional extra and you can either stay locally, or enjoy the hotel and spa facilities for the duration of the retreat. The B&B accommodation will enable you to relax and enjoy your stay. No chores to worry about, you can focus on your creativity, sketching and relaxing.
This truly is a sketching experience with a difference.
Accommodation is flexible and optional to give retreat guests the option to travel in each days to stay two nights, three nights or take a whole week away! (More details below)
Venue Address
Pentewan Road, St Austell, Cornwall, PL26 7AB
Tel: 01726 874051
Sketching Eden
pricing
£600 per person
Includes all materials, tuition, Eden Project entry and tour, meals as described, and refreshments.
💡 Inspire Members save £50 – just £550
Deposit: £50 to secure your spot
Balance: £250 by 01 Nov 2025, then final £300 by 01 Feb 2026
(£250 for Inspire Members)
20% discount on hotel accommodation when booking through our group.
Accommodation is an optional extra as some people may choose to stay elsewhere, drive over each day from home OR stay for 2 nights or more.
To book accommodation at the hotel call 01726 874051 and mention you are coming for the Susan Yeates Sketching Retreat, this will give you 20% discount on the Superior Double rooms being held for our group. Currently the discounted rate for a single occupancy Superior room for 2 nights is £336 and double occupancy for those bringing a partner or sharing is £372. If you want to book additional nights or have any varying requirements speak to the reservation team and they will find the best rates for you.
take time to sketch
Immerse yourself in your creativity
What to Expect
Creative sessions that include guidance from me (Susan Yeates) in sketching on location at The Eden Project plus in the studio.
Learn to observe and appreciate the small details in nature, shapes and forms often overlooked in the rush of daily life.
Play with mixing materials in a relaxed way. This isn’t a ‘realistic’ botanical weekend but will show you that you can make your sketchbook your own!
Understand how to trust your intuition and fall in love with sketching again.
RETREAT INCLUDES
🖼️ 3 days of creative teaching and inspiration
🪴 A guided sketching tour at the Eden Project (entry + tour included)
🧘♀️ Mindful warm-ups and observational sketching techniques
🎨 Use of a range of materials (provided)
👩🎨 Tuition and guidance from Susan Yeates, artist and author
🍽️ Two-course dinners on Friday and Saturday
☕ Teas, coffees, and Sunday lunch
💬 Connection with like-minded sketchers
NOT INCLUDED IN RETREAT
Accomodation is not included in the retreat price. This is separately quoted so that guests can select how many nights they want to stay or travel in each day. It also gives flexibility to bring a partner or friend to stay at the hotel. Accomodation is B&B
Additional excursions
Insurance
Alcoholic drinks
Items of a personal nature/souvenirs
A glorious weekend of Sketching
Embrace nature and creativity
This sketching retreat is located in a beautiful environment in Cornwall, at the very south of the UK. The accommodation will enable you to relax and enjoy your stay - did we mention there's a spa!!
No chores to worry about, you can focus on your creativity, sketching and relaxing. This truly is a sketching experience with a difference.
Meet like-minded people who also enjoy sketching and painting. Share in a creative experience, immersing yourself in your sketchbook. You’ll be in a small group, creating together and enjoying downtime - many people make wonderful new friends, share art tips and geek-out on new materials. Many retreat attendees book on their own but instantly connect with the group
Artist, author and online educator
Meet your host - Susan Yeates
I teach aspiring sketchers, doodlers and dabblers how to live more creatively, re-discover their inner artist, and build confidence in their sketchbooks. I am especially excited by this sketching retreat and the ability to take a group to one of my favourite places in the UK - Cornwall and The Eden Project.
For the past year, my own personal sketching practice has focussed on sketching plants and flowers in a mindful manner and I have even been studying a horticulture course with the Eden Project team. To share this love of plants throughout this retreat will be a real joy!
I’ve worked as a successful professional artist for over 15 years, authored 6 art books including Sketchbook Challenge: 100 Prompts for Daily Drawing, spoken at TedX Woking, been featured on HobbyMaker TV, created over 35 online courses, and taught thousands of aspiring artists sketching and drawing techniques through my membership, retreats and online courses.
Like a deep breath of fresh air, sketching for fun and creative play, offers a moment of calm in a hectic world.
" Thank you susan for providing a thoroughly enjoyable weekend away from 'normality' - a bit of dedicated 'me-time.'" - Sarah Lewis, 2025
What we get up to
Previous retreats
Here are some examples of previous retreats I have hosted.
Sketching the New Forest - Sept 2023
For three days this group explored the beauty of the New Forest landscape in their sketchbook, based at the Forest Park Hotel in Brockenhurst. We played with acrylic paints, studied the tallest redwoods in the forest, sketched the local ponies, looked at colour mixing and even a spot of leaf printing from local ferns. All meals, accommodation and materials were provided. This was a beautiful weekend full of landscape sketching, connection and friendship (and a smattering of the good old Britsh rain!)
Sketching the everyday - Surrey, March 2024
This sketching retreat was hosted in leafy Surrey in the gorgeous Gorse Hill Hotel. We explored sketching warm-ups to understand our materials, sketched small objects, used viewfinders and generally had a giggle whilst sketching in our special studio space. Participants came away with pages of their sketchbooks full and plenty of techniques and inspiration for daily sketching going forwards. The lunch was fabulous and some even stayed for dinner and a spot of pottery painting at Fired Frog Pottery cafe the next day.
Expressive Botanicals - worcs, may 2025
This weekend sketching retreat was hosted i the beautiful WoodNorton Hotel in Evesham in Worcestershire. Throughout the weekend we spent time sketching locally sourced flowers and leaves in a variety of mediums. From line drawings in pencil to oil pastels, leaf printing and watercolour leaf shapes, we experimented and tried it all! We even managed a spot of outdoor sketching in the hotel grounds. This was a really uplifting weekend of expressive sketching, laughter and plenty of good food!
Terms and conditions
Terms and Conditions – Sketching Eden
In these Booking Conditions references to “we” “us” and “our” is the company Susan Yeates Artist, references to "you" and "your" include the first named person on the booking and all persons on whose behalf a booking is
made or any other person to whom a booking is added or transferred.
Susan Yeates Artist operates in accordance with the laws of England and Wales and the
courts of England and Wales, excluding all jurisdiction from other territories / countries.
1. Contract
These terms and conditions, the booking form, along with our privacy policy (found here https://susanyeates.co.uk/policies/privacy-policy) form the retreat contract.
2. Booking and Payment
To book your place on the retreat you must book online and pay the deposit cost of £100 to secure your booking. Arrival date on this retreat is Friday 8th May 2026. Costs for the retreat are listed above and this price does not include accommodation.
£600 per person for the long weekend retreat including materials, tuition, lunch on Sunday, tea and coffee plus two course dinners on the Friday and Saturday evening (alcoholic drinks are extra).
£50 discount for Inspire Members
Deposit: £100 due on booking. This will be refunded in full should the retreat not run due to the minimum numbers not be met. All other T&Cs apply.
Balance: £250 by 01 Nov 2025, then final £300 by 01 Feb 2026 (£250 for Inspire Members). If you book via the website after this date and pay your £100 deposit I will then send an invoice for the balance.
Accommodation is an optional extra as some people may choose to stay elsewhere, drive over each day from home OR stay for a number of nights.
3. Cancellations
You must contact us in writing at hello@susanyeates.com to cancel your booking. A cancellation will take effect from the date that written notice is received at our office. Should you need to cancel your space, all payments become non-refundable if we cannot fill your spot.
If we can fill your spot with a replacement, you will receive all payments back, less £100.
4. If we cancel your booking
We will do our best to fulfil the obligations of this contract. If we do need to cancel, we will offer an alternative date or a full refund.
5. Child policy
Guests must be 18 or over to attend our sketching retreats.
6. Participation
On our sketching retreat the activities require an appropriate level of fitness. We reserve the right not to accept participants on our retreats and activities if, in the reasonable opinion of the leader, this would compromise the safety or enjoyment of an individual or the group as a whole.
If you or any member of your party has any medical problem or disability which may affect your booking, please provide us with full details before you make your booking so that we can try to advise you as to the suitability of your chosen arrangements. We may require you to produce a doctor’s certificate certifying that you are fit to participate. Acting reasonably, if we are unable to properly accommodate the needs of the person(s) concerned, we will not confirm your booking or if you did not give us full details at the time of booking, we will cancel it and impose applicable cancellation charges when we become aware of these details.
7. Sketching / Painting
Tools and materials suitable for the activities of the retreat will be provided (e.g. sketchbook, pens, pencils and paints). You are welcome to bring your own materials and you will be responsible for these. In the event of unsuitable weather conditions for “plein-air” painting and/or sketching and/or drawing, the group will sketch or paint indoors (accommodation, cafés or studio if applicable). You are advised to wear appropriate clothing and footwear for outdoor sessions.
8. Behaviour
We cannot be held responsible for the actions or behaviour of other guests or individuals who have no connection with your booking arrangements or with us.
9. Food and Drinks
Each guest will be responsible for what he or she consumes and can or cannot consume while on our holidays. You agree not to hold us responsible for allergic reactions, intolerance to any foods or drinks, or for any foods or drinks consumed which had any negative consequences on your health or well-being or resulting in death.
10. Illness or absence
If you must withdraw from a holiday after commencement for any reason, you will need to contact your personal holiday insurance company. Unfortunately, no refunds can be made for absences from a holiday, including missed tutoring, missed meals, nights at the accommodation, or any activities you may have missed, or partially missed.
11. Responsibility
We hold no responsibility if you become ill, are personally injured
(fall, road accident, or any other injury) or decease during the holiday period. You are responsible for your personal and travel insurance. You are responsible for complying with our Terms and Conditions. We hold no responsibility for any staining on your clothing caused by you or any member of the group by our materials. For safety reasons, adequate footwear is advisable when walking to sites with the group, or anywhere outside of the accommodation.
By making a booking for the Sketching Eden Retreat listed above you are agreeing to these terms and conditions.
If you have any queries regarding the contents of these terms and conditions or would like a PDF version emailed to you, please email hello@susanyeates.co.uk and we will be happy to help.
