The Art Of Mud

Excited about Natural building? Enjoy being creative in nature?

Join us for an enriching, hands-on intensive workshop where you'll dive into the wonderful world of natural plasters and earthen building from an art and sculpture perspective. Immerse yourself in the lush jungle of Costa Rica whilst honing your skills and connecting with fellow creatives.

What will you gain?

In this intensive workshop, expect to learn the fundamentals of working with cob, clay plaster and lime plaster in a sculptural and artistic way. We will have 8 days of hands-on immersive learning nestled in beautiful surroundings. We’ll be working together to create a large scale sculptural and functional art piece using earth and fiber as well as applying plaster to the walls of existing structures around Protopia. You will also have the chance to hone your skills autonomously on practice boards and create your own smaller piece of work to take home with you.

You will leave with the knowledge, skills and confidence to design and create your own creative plaster work at home. Our aim is to impart as much practical and useable information as possible in the time we have together, so that you walk away with all of the techniques you need to continue your plaster journey, and a certificate of attendance at the end. 

Workshop Highlights

- Introduction to materials: Exploring earth and fiber as a building material.

- Creating suitable mixes: Learn to formulate sculptural mixes, fine finish plaster mixes, Polished/ shiny plaster, and more for various outcomes. Using clay and lime as binders as well as aggregates, fibres and potential additives.

- Relief sculpture in clay & lime plasters: Selecting and preparing your surface, designing and applying your sculpture, and mastering different sculpting techniques.

- Sculpture technique & practice lab: honing 'ways of seeing' using core techniques and practices such as observational drawing, life drawing and sculpture. Feedback and guidance will be offered.

- Sgraffito: Carving through multiple layers of colored plaster to create vibrant and textured designs.

- Pigments: Discover the sourcing and processing of natural earth pigments to use in your plaster projects.

- Design: Design fundamentals in creative plaster projects. Drawing, scaling and transferring design into reality.

Fully Immersive Experience

 Nature Connection: Stay on-site at Protopia, a community nestled in the lush jungle in the centre of Costa Rica. 8 nights of accommodation in a shared dormitory are included, with private rooms available at additional cost.

- Enjoy optional morning yoga/ movement/ meditation sessions on some of the mornings, plunge into the on-site waterfall, and jungle walks, connect with nature and new friends.

- Evening schedule including presentations and fireside songs.

- 3 communal healthy, nutritious meals will be provided per day beginning with dinner on the 23rd and concluding with brunch on the 30th May. Simple dietary requirements can be accommodated for (e.g. Vegetarian/ Vegan/ Gluten free etc.)

Sample Schedule

Here is an example to give a flavour of the schedule - exact timings may change.

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- 7:45 - 9:00 AM | Optional Morning movement (Yoga/Meditation)  

- 9:00 - 10:15 AM | Breakfast  

- 10:15 AM - 12:30 PM | Theory & Skill Lab

- 12:30 - 2:30 PM | Lunch & Rest  

- 2:30 - 5:30 PM | Practical Project Work  

- 6:30 - 7:30 PM | Dinner  

- 8:00 PM | (example) Presentation: Plastering in Japan 

Arrival to Protopia: 23rd May 3:30pm-5.30pm (before dark) & Leaving Protopia: 30th May 10am-11am

Please contact hello@rebeccagilling.co.uk if you have any questions.