Hand Building - Form & Sculpture

18-24 OCTOBER 2026

Shape clay without limits. Explore what becomes possible when form, scale and your hands take over.

Hand building is one of the most direct ways to work with clay. Pinching, coiling, slab building and joining can take you from a simple vessel to large and complex sculptural forms.

Spend five days learning the fundamentals or pushing your existing skills further, with daily guidance and plenty of time to build, experiment with form and scale, and develop your own ideas.

Eight people. One ceramicist. One week. All levels welcome. Secure your place with a €300 deposit. Ceramicist announced in October.

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.

€1,350.00

This course is for you.

01.

IF YOU WANT TO GET OUT OF YOUR HEAD, WORK WITH YOUR HANDS AND SPEND FIVE DAYS ABSORBED IN MAKING AWAY FROM HOME.

02.

IF YOU WANT TO MEET OTHER CREATIVE MINDS, SHARE IDEAS, AND CONTINUE CONVERSATIONS OVER DINNER OR A LONG WALK IN NATURE.

03.

IF YOU WANT TIME TO DISCOVER THE WILD BEACHES, BUZZING TOWNS AND MEET THE MAKERS OF THE SOUTHWEST ALGARVE.

Hand building is the oldest and most direct way to work with clay.

Whether you want to make a small cup, a large sculpture, something that sits somewhere in between, hand building starts with the same few techniques people have used for thousands of years.

If you’re new to clay, you’ll build the skills to start making independently. If you already have a practice, use the week to work bigger, try unfamiliar forms, solve construction challenges or finally give an idea the time it needs.

Long before the potter’s wheel, people were shaping clay by hand. Some of the oldest known ceramic objects are more than 25,000 years old, yet the same simple techniques still give makers enormous freedom today.

Included

  • Six-day get-away. Sunday afternoon - Saturday morning.

  • Five-day course led by a practising ceramicist

  • Small group of up to eight participants

  • All clay, glazes, tools and firing - Firing/glazing up to 3 kg. After that 25€/kg

  • 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 AND REGENERATIVE PROJECTS FINDING NEW WAYS TO WORK WITH THE LAND AND PRESERVE HERITAGE CRAFTS.

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Hands off

During the week, we step outside the studio and off the land to discover more of the region. 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.

If it’s not enough

If you want to explore further, we can advice where to go for surf classes, mountain biking, a visit to the springs of Monchique, or other activities around the region.

Meet your guide

YOUR GUIDE WILL BE ANNOUNCED AS THE 2027 PROGRAMME UNFOLDS. SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER TO BE THE FIRST TO HEAR ABOUT ANNOUNCEMENTS AND NEW RETREATS.

Ricardo Lopes

Masha Bezuglaya

Chiara Caselli

Meet the circle

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.