Wheel Throwing
18-24 APRIL 2027
by Ricardo Lopes
Build your skills, find the confidence in your hands and see how far your imagination will take you.
Wheel throwing is learned through repetition. The more you throw, the more your hands begin to understand pressure, movement and clay.
Spend six days away from home, and five days at the wheel learning the fundamentals or pushing your existing skills further, with daily guidance and plenty of time to make, repeat, experiment and improve.
Guiding ceramicist will be announced early 2027.
Eight people. One ceramicist. One week. All levels welcome. Secure your place with a €300 deposit.
With only eight places per retreat, booking early is recommended. We know all too well that plans can change. You can move your booking to another date when arranged well in advance.
Accommodation is booked separately.
€1,350
Book before 31 December 2026 for the launch price of €1,080.
This ceramics course is for you.
IF YOU WANT TO GET OUT OF YOUR HEAD, WORK WITH YOUR HANDS AND SPEND FIVE DAYS ABSORBED IN MAKING AWAY FROM HOME.
01.
IF YOU WANT TO MEET OTHER CREATIVE MINDS, SHARE IDEAS, AND CONTINUE CONVERSATIONS OVER DINNER OR A LONG WALK IN NATURE.
02.
IF YOU WANT TIME TO DISCOVER THE WILD BEACHES, BUZZING TOWNS AND MEET THE MAKERS OF THE WESTERN ALGARVE.
03.
What happens when your hands start knowing what to do before you think about it?
Depending on your experience and what you want to explore, you can work on throwing with more control, refining forms and proportions, improving consistency, trying larger or more complex pieces, or developing ideas of your own.
Chiara Caselli at her wheel. Photo by Zsofia Bodnar
The aim isn't for everyone to leave with the same set of pots. It's to leave with stronger skills, more confidence and a few pieces you're genuinely excited to call your own.
Included
Six-day get-away. Sunday evening - Saturday morning.
Five-days wheel throwing course led by a practising ceramicist
Small group of up to eight participants
Clay, glazes, tools, studio use and firing
Shipping of your finished work up to €50
Breakfast, lunch and dinner throughout the retreat, including two dinners out
Time for activities away from the studio
Making your own olla and planting for the landscape
Two additional activities, such as yoga, breathwork or a visit to a local maker or craftsperson
Not included
Accommodation
Travel to and from the studio
Alcoholic drinks
Optional activities booked separately
Shipping costs above the included €50 allowance
For more information on what’s included and excluded, accommodation, travel, arrival and departure, the weekly schedule, changing dates and our cancellation policy, and more see Plan Your Week & FAQs
Time beyond the studio
THE SOUTHWEST OF PORTUGAL HAS BEEN MAKING WITH CLAY FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS. IT IS ALSO HOME TO FARMERS, CREATIVE MAKERS, SURF CULTURE, AND REGENERATIVE PROJECTS FINDING NEW WAYS TO WORK WITH THE LAND AND PRESERVE HERITAGE CRAFTS.
Hands on / Hands off
During the week, we step outside the studio and off the land to discover more of the area. We will eat out at local places serving seasonal food, visit local makers and craftspeople, and spend time in the Bravura landscape.
You’ll also have the possibility to explore the wild Atlantic coast between the west Algarve and Alentejo.
Two additional activities are part of every retreat, think of yoga and a visit with a local maker, grower or craftsperson.
"Basta esta luz para se ser feliz."
This light alone is enough to be happy.
Raul Brandão, Os Pescadores (1923)
If you’re looking to do more
If you want to explore further, we can advise where to go for surf classes, mountain biking, a visit to the springs of Monchique, or other activities around the region.
Ricardo Lopes
Wheel Throwing | Hand Building | Traditional Techniques
Ricardo Lopes is a ceramist and potter, developing his work in the area of contemporary ceramics using traditional shaping and decoration techniques, with a particular focus on the potter's wheel and glaze composition. He holds a degree in Marine Biology and Fisheries and began his journey in ceramics in 1998, as a self-taught artist, later completing the Creative Ceramics Course at CENCAL in 2004.
Throughout his career, he completed internships in Poland and Cape Verde, and worked with the sculptor Jorge Mealha in Lagos. He participated in several workshops dedicated to special effects glazes and traditional techniques, and was an artist-in-residence in countries such as France, Japan, China, and India, deepening his contact with different ceramic cultures.
With a consolidated exhibition career, Ricardo has participated in several solo and group exhibitions, both in Portugal and abroad. He was also a key figure in the restoration of José João Velhote's old pottery workshop and in the creation of the Oficina do Barro (Clay Workshop).
Alongside his artistic practice, he has developed ongoing work in the field of education. He is a trainer at Loulé Criativo, where he has been teaching pottery courses regularly since 2018.
Clear head. Calm nervous system.
Fired-up creativity.
Leave with stronger skills, work you’re proud of, new friends, and that strange combination of being tired yet feeling rested and reset, wondering how six days somehow feel so much longer.
All that, and an unstoppable urge to keep making.