Hello, friends-

There are still several open spots in my upcoming Natural Building workshop that starts on August 18. This will likely be the last workshop I teach for a couple of years, as I am getting ready to build a straw bale house for my family next year. For information or to register: https://www.nm-era.org/2024-natural-building-workshop/

We’re offering a $50 discount – you can use the code “50OFF” when you check out. We also have work trade positions available for anyone who has time to help with preparation before the workshop. Email [email protected] for details.

This will be an excellent workshop and I’d like to have a full group. Please help us spread the word!

Many thanks,
Michael G. Smith

Whoops, we accidentally sent out the wrong flier! Here is the correct information for our upcoming Natural Plasters and Floors workshop at Wanosh Forest Gardens in Willits. It’s coming up soon, so if you’re interested please register right away!

cheers,
Michael

Hello, friends-

There is still space in both of my summer workshops: “Natural Plasters and Floors” at Wanosh Forest Gardens in July and “Natural Building with Clay, Stone and Wood” at Tan Oak Park in August.

This is the 4th year of natural plasters and floors intensives at Wanosh Forest Gardens. There is a lot of great finish work to see from previous years, and we will be adding a lot more beautiful finishes to several of the natural buildings there. My co-teacher Avani Patrick is just back from three months plastering in Japan and is excited to teach some of what she learned there, including the superfine lime Shikkui finish. This 9-day workshop includes a huge range of information and skill-building appropriate for everyone from beginning to experienced plasterers. Register at: https://wanosh.org/arts-of-natural-plasters

We’ve just finalized details with my longtime collaborator Colin Gillespie for our second workshop at Tan Oak Park, which is being developed into a demonstration center for ecological forest management and reciprocal culture building. This is a great first workshop for people new to natural building who want to learn not only healthy construction techniques but how to develop a more healthy relationship with the land. We will be emphasizing how to sustainably harvest building materials on site, with hands-on work focused on cob, stone foundations, round pole harvest and framing, and earthen plasters and floors. Register here: https://nm-era.org

Please share the word about both of these workshops, and I hope to see you at one of them. After this year, I will likely be taking a year or two off from teaching workshops to focus on building a straw bale home for my family.

cheers,
Michael

Join me for another exciting learning opportunity at Wanosh Forest Gardens in Willits, CA. The workshop will be July 13-21st, 2024 and will include 7 full days of hands-on training in clay and lime plasters and earthen floors. This is the 4th year we have been offering this class at this location, and we have figured out how to pack a huge amount of training into a week! Plus you get to see all the beautiful results of previous years’ courses. Check out their other course offerings including 2 weeks of Round Pole Timber Framing in September.

For more information or to register: https://wanosh.org/arts-of-natural-plasters

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

Hi Friends-

I’m excited to be part of an upcoming workshop that combines two of my passions: natural buidling and regenerative forest management. Forests throughout western North America are suffering from a century of fire suppression, which in combination with climate change makes our communities vulnerable to catastrophic fire. What if there were a way to enhance the health and resiliency of the surrounding ecosystem while harvesting useful resources for building healthy, firesafe structures and supportive communities? There is! Come join us to learn natural building techniques while redeveloping a reciprocal place-based culture. Hands-on work will feature cement free gabion and gravel bag foundations, round pole framing and furniture making, cob, redwood bark-and-clay insulation, and earthen floors.

Find out more at: https://nm-era.org

Hope to see you there!

Michael

Hello again!

Over the last few years I have helped teach a number of workshops at Abuela Gardens in Willits, CA. This site is rapidly growing into one of the most active natural building and permaculture learning centers in California. I’m happy to be part of their lineup again this year, at the newly renamed Wanosh Forest Gardens. The workshops I’ll be teaching this year are the 2-week Natural Building Intensive, July 16-29, in which we will be building a cob sauna from foundation to roof (including an introduction to insulative infill wall systems like the regionally appropriate redwood bark and clay) and the Arts of Natural Plasters with Athena Steen, from September 18-29. I’m so looking forward to teaching with Athena again twice this season!

These are only two of a much longer list of practical workshops scheduled at Wanosh this summer, which also include round-pole timber framing, rocket mass heaters, and more. See the complete listing, with descriptions and prices, at https://wanosh.org/2023workshops

For a limited time, I can offer you a 10% early bird discount for any workshop at Wanosh. If you register by May 20 and enter the coupon code “Michael10” during checkout, you will receive 10% off the worshop price. Please spread the word to your friends and family. Children are welcome at these workshops. Get in touch if you have any questions.

Michael G. Smith

[email protected]

July 2-7, 2023 – Tonasket, Washington

with Michael G. Smith, Athena Steen, Robert Kolden and Avani Leitz

Hello, friends-

I’m excited to announce another workshop this summer in Northern Washington. Last summer’s natural wall-building workshop at the same site was a memorable experience: amazing people, beautiful scenery, and that feeling of cohesion, accomplishment and synchronicity that happens in the best workshops. I expect more of the same this summer, especially since natural plaster superstar Athena Steen will be bringing her decades of technical and artistic experience, and Robert Kolden will be teaching the fine art of tadelakt! This will be an extremely comprehensive overview of clay and lime plasters, with lots to learn both for beginning and experienced plasterers. Check out this website for more details and to register: https://tirthworkshop.wixsite.com/build

I hope to see you there!

Michael

September 12-16, 2022

Hello friends-
I greatly enjoyed last year’s workshop series at Abuela Gardens in Willits CA. In case you missed them, we will be offering two more Natural Building workshops there in 2022. There are other great workshops on offer including a Permaculture Design Course and an Herbal Medicine Apprenticeship. See more details here: https://www.abuelagardens.com

I hope to see you at one of these excellent events!
Michael

Instructors:

Michael G. Smith, Sasha Rabin

A great opportunity to develop your skills and understanding of earthen finishes, including:

• straw-clay base coat plasters for sculpting and protection

• endless variations of clay finish plasters for durability and beauty

• durable, water-resistant earthen floors

These techniques are suitable for natural buildings including straw bale and cob, as well for “eco-renovation” of conventional homes, where they can add natural beauty, thermal mass for increased energy efficiency, and health-enhancing moisture modulation. Plus, they are fun, artistic, and inexpensive!

Each day includes many hours of hands-on skill building, with an emphasis on proper tool use, recipe development and testing, and site organization for efficiency and flow. Learn to find, test, and ecologically harvest your own clay; how to choose the most appropriate finish option for your building project; how to prepare various wall surfaces to improve adhesion; and how to design your home to make the plasters last.