Hi again-

I just want to let you know that there are still openings in the 2-week Natural Plasters workshop at Wanosh Forest Gardens in Willits, CA. In order to make the workshop more accessible to people who are not able to commit for the 2 full weeks, we have divided it into two one-week segments. You can sign up for either week, or for both.

Week 1 – September 18-23, 2023

Taught primarily by Athena Steen and myself

Topics: wall preparation; straw-clay base plaster; clay and lime finish plasters; Sgraffito (layered plaster carving); proper selection and use of trowels; choosing appropriate finishes for any situation; clay soil harvesting and analysis; plaster recipe development and testing; building design for plaster durability.

Week 2 – September 24-29, 2023

Taught by Viva Hansen and Blair Phillips

Topics: straw-clay base plaster; clay and lime finish plasters; clay and natural paints; lime fresco (pigmented lime mural); relief sculpture; retrofits, maintenance and remodels; earthen floor installation.

If anyone doesn’t know Athena Steen, you should! She is one of the most accomplished and celebrated pioneers of the natural building revival. (See her website at caneloproject.org). I have had the privelege of teaching with her several times in recent years. Not only is she an amazing artist and a remarkable person to spend time with, she is also the most skilled plastering instructor I have ever seen. She has a remarkable ability to give personalized technical instruction to every student in a class, coaching each one on how to improve their trowel handling and application technique. It’s impressive to watch her turn a group of novices into a skilled plastering team in just a few days.

Register at https://wanosh.org/arts-of-natural-plasters. You can get a 5% price break by using the code Michael5 during checkout. Hope to see you there!

Michael G. Smith