The Art of Mud: Clay and Lime Plaster Intensive

Protopia community, Costa Rica

23rd - 30th May 2025

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.

- 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

Meet the Facilitators

A little about who will be guiding you through this experience...

Becky Gilling (England)

Becky is a craftswoman and artist dedicated to celebrating the harmony between nature and creativity. Her passion for working with natural materials shines through her sculptural and decorative plasterwork, where she weaves clay and lime into beautiful, soulful expressions. Her field of work ranges from creating artisanal wall finishes in homes and conserving historic buildings to producing pargetting and giant sculptures. She is also a certified yoga instructor and loves river swimming, hiking in mountains and salsa dancing. Becky is an advocate for 'if you can draw, you can sculpt' and for this reason is very exited to incorporate life drawing into this workshop for the first time.

Cat Odell (USA)

Cat is a natural builder and an artist with a deep commitment to evolving our relationship with each other and our shared home. Her work centers natural materials and good energy in the construction of beautiful and safe spaces. She loves to sculpt plant and animal friends, as much as she loves to play with the way light enters a room and how it moves across a surface. This year, her passion for building small straw homes is landing her in San Diego for her first project as a General Contractor. She’s grateful for the ability to take some time to share some sculptural adventures!

Erika Lomelin (Mexico)

Erika originally trained as an Architectural Designer before realising that she has a passion for the practical, hands-on side of Natural Building. She is particulary knowledgeable on earthship design and building but has a wide array of experience in many aspects of earthen creation. Erika co-lead the build for the existing new cob building at Protopia, supported the Daughters of the Earth women's gathering there in January, and will be returning to support the Art of Mud.

About the location

Protopia is a permaculture farm and social innovation project aiming at empowering people to redesign societal paradigms towards an equitable world.

We are surrounded by lush green scenery and Volcano Tenorio, Protopia features 14 hectares of secondary rainforest, mature fruit trees, fertile farmland, and rivers with waterfalls.

Protopia is a space meant for trans-personal growth, in which the self unites and blends with the collective; by co-exploring different ways of living, sharing, improving and healing respectively

Pricing

Super Earlybird and Earlybird discounts of up to $300 available when paying in full before March 15th / 31st.

The Art of Mud - Costa Rica

Opportunities

We love working with earth and value others who do too! We hope that everyone that wants to join us is able to, and have some options that could make the experience more accessible/ affordable for those that may otherwise not be able to come.

Scholarships for Costa Rican Nationals available

We are offering two scholarship places for Costa Rican nationals at $160 each. This will include the complete workshop curriculum, all meals, and a space in dorm accommodation.

Local Scholarship

Photographer / Videographer work trade

We are looking for somebody to capture the essence of our workshop through visual storytelling. The exchange will depend on your experience but we can offer a contribution towards your travel costs.

Photogapher Opportunity

Got another skill to offer?

Maybe you are a movement facilitator, a whizz in the kitchen or an expert in something we haven't thought of yet which you think could contribute to co-creating an amazing workshop. We'd love to hear your ideas for collaboration and can offer discounts for part work traders.

Work trade