Antinori Village Weekend Getaway
Friday, May 29 - Sunday, May 31

Escape to the beauty and tranquility of Antinori Village for an unforgettable weekend retreat. This exclusive experience offers the perfect blend of relaxation, nature, and creativity in a peaceful, art-filled setting.

Your stay includes:

• Two nights' accommodations with eight charming guest rooms (queen beds; double occupancy available, up to 16 guests total)
• A delicious, chef-prepared dining experience: dinner on Friday, three meals on Saturday, and breakfast on Sunday
• One guided hike through the surrounding natural landscape
• One hands-on art activity of your choice

Accommodations include:

• Four Dogtrot rooms with private in-room showers
• Four Lodge rooms with en suite half baths and access to two shared full showers
• One of the Dogtrot rooms is ADA-compliant, with accessible main house amenities

Additional details:

• WiFi available, though cell service is limited-perfect for unplugging
• Alcohol not included with meals
• No smoking permitted
• Gather friends or family for a restorative weekend of connection, creativity, and inspiration.

Please note: Dates are fixed (rain or shine) and cannot be changed.

Handbuilt Ceramic Memory Houses with Lydia Thompson

June 11-14, 2026

In this hands-on workshop, participants will create a free-standing clay structure inspired by memory, place, and personal narrative. Using handbuilding techniques such as slab, coil, and pinch construction, students will design and build an imagined house or abode that tells a story.

Through guided demonstrations and group discussion, participants will explore how architecture can serve as metaphor. The structure may reflect lived experiences, places visited, or spaces observed in rural or urban landscapes. Students are encouraged to bring photographs or sketches of structures that inspire them, as well as a small ready-made ceramic object to help inform their narrative.

Surface design will be integrated into the building process. Demonstrations will include carving, texturing, and the application of slips, underglazes, and glazes at the leather-hard stage. Participants will learn how clay walls can suggest a range of materials and architectural details, from shingles and brick to softer, more flexible surfaces.

By the end of the workshop, participants will have completed a personalized sculptural structure and developed strategies for translating memory and story into three-dimensional form. Finished pieces will be dried, glaze-fired to cone 5/6 and available for pickup once firing is complete.

Workshop Spot includes three night Lodge accommodations, all meals, and workshop fee (Thursday Dinner through Sunday Brunch). This is for one participant.

July 16-19 - Creative Surface Design with Keok Lim -

Some experience with handbuilding is required. Basic handbuilding tools and a 25lb bag of clay will be provided. Participants should bring their favorite tools.

In this hands-on workshop, participants will explore creative approaches to altering form and developing dynamic surface treatments. Working from either a personal project or a place of open curiosity, students will investigate how structure and surface can work together to strengthen and clarify an artistic vision.

Through guided morning demonstrations, participants will learn a range of techniques for building and transforming form using handbuilding methods such as pinch and slab construction. Emphasis will be placed on intentional alteration-reshaping, combining, and refining forms to create more expressive and engaging objects.

Afternoons will be dedicated to hands-on studio practice, where participants apply these techniques to their own work. Bisque ware will be provided to support focused exploration of surface design. Demonstrations will include working with slips, monoprinting, drawing with underglaze pens, and sgraffito, offering a range of approaches for layering imagery and developing rich, tactile surfaces.

This workshop encourages experimentation, play, and risk-taking. By the end of the session, participants will have expanded their technical vocabulary, loosened their approach to making, and created ceramic work that reflects a more confident and expressive integration of form and surface.

Workshop Spot includes three night Dogtrot accommodations, all meals, and workshop fee (Thursday Dinner through Sunday Brunch). This is for one participant.

July 23-26 - Indigo Dying with Keisha Cameron
This workshop is intended for Beginner to Intermediate skill levels. No prior dyeing experience necessary.

In this immersive three-day workshop, participants will explore indigo through its many transformations from plant to pigment to vat. Working across multiple processes, students will gain a layered understanding of how indigo shifts in form, behavior, and color over time.

Through guided demonstrations and hands-on practice, the workshop will begin with fresh leaf dyeing, focusing on how to coax vibrant color directly from recently harvested indigo. Participants will then move into small-scale pigment extraction, learning how indigo is processed, developed, and prepared for use. The final portion of the workshop will center on building and maintaining natural dye vats, with attention to reduction, oxidation, and the ongoing care required to sustain a living system.

Throughout the experience, indigo will be situated within broader contexts of agricultural practice, material science, and cultural lineage. Participants will engage with the rhythms and variables that shape the dye process, developing both technical skill and a deeper relationship to the material.

By the end of the workshop, participants will have created a range of dyed samples, gathered practical knowledge for working with indigo at home, and developed the confidence to continue exploring its rich and varied possibilities.

Students should bring a small to medium sized natural fiber item they wish to dye. Examples include: a skein of yarn, a t-shirt, pants or a dress. Avoid large items like towels, tablecloths and blankets.

Workshop Spot includes three night Dogtrot accommodations, all meals, and workshop fee (Thursday Dinner through Sunday Brunch). This is for one participant.

August 9-14 - Hand-Turned Ceramic Pottery with Paul Briggs

In this extended, hands-on workshop, participants will explore how to build tall, wheel-like vessels using only their hands. Working from a single ball of clay, students will learn to "turn" a form through intentional pinching-lifting and shaping the walls in a manner similar to pulling on the wheel, but without the use of any machinery or added material.

Through guided demonstrations and steady practice, participants will examine how clay moves when compressed, supported, and gradually coaxed upward. Emphasis will be placed on patience, rhythm, and touch. Students will learn how to evenly distribute clay, maintain wall integrity, and grow a vessel vertically while preserving strength and balance throughout the form.

Moving beyond the familiar three-inch pinch pot, participants will work with up to five pounds of clay, developing a single, continuous pot without adding or subtracting material at any stage. Instruction will focus on hand positioning, compression techniques, and strategies for sustaining height and volume in larger pinch-formed vessels.

This workshop is best suited for those with prior experience in pinch-forming or other clay processes, as the technique requires sensitivity to moisture, thickness, and structural limits. By the end of the session, participants will have expanded their understanding of handbuilding and completed a substantial, refined vessel shaped entirely by hand.

Experience Level: Intermediate

Clay, tools and materials will be provided.

Workshop Spot includes three night Dogtrot accommodations, all meals, and workshop fee (Thursday Dinner through Sunday Brunch). This is for one participant.

The Practice of Noticing: Developing a Field Guide & Nature Journal
Dates: September 24-27, 2026
Leader: Kay Betts

In this hands-on workshop, participants will explore the nature journal as a deeply personal tool for observation, reflection, and connection to the natural world. Blending time in the field with studio practice, the workshop invites students to develop a journal that serves as both a record of experience and a unique creative expression.

Through guided exercises and demonstrations, participants will learn a range of traditional observational and artistic techniques, including drawing, note-taking, mapping, and descriptive writing. Emphasis will be placed on slowing down, noticing detail, and translating what is seen, felt, and understood into a visual and written record. At the same time, participants will incorporate contemporary tools such as smartphone photography and apps to expand how information is gathered and documented.

Participants will experiment with a variety of approaches to building their journals, including charts and lists, hand-drawn graphs and maps, and layered entries that combine text and image. Observations may include plant life, weather patterns, topography, and other elements of the surrounding environment, encouraging both scientific curiosity and creative interpretation.

This workshop embraces flexibility and individuality-there is no single template or "right" way to keep a field journal. Open to all experience levels, it encourages curiosity, attentiveness, and a willingness to explore new ways of seeing and recording the world. By the end of the session, participants will have developed the foundations of a personalized journal practice and new strategies for engaging more deeply with their environment.

Workshop Spot includes three night Dogtrot accommodations, all meals, and workshop fee (Thursday Dinner through Sunday Brunch). This is for one participant.

October 1-4 - Figurative Sculpture with Basil Watson

In this focused, hands-on workshop, participants will explore the human figure through direct observation, moving from drawing into three-dimensional form. Working from a live model, students will develop an understanding of proportion, gesture, and composition as a foundation for sculptural interpretation.

Through guided demonstrations, the workshop will begin with drawing exercises that emphasize structure, balance, and the spatial relationships within the figure. Participants will translate these observations into clay, learning how to build and articulate the form at approximately one-third life size. Emphasis will be placed on seeing and measuring accurately, while also developing a sensitivity to volume, weight, and movement.

Instruction will include techniques for modeling in water-based clay, with the use of simple armature supports such as bamboo skewers to stabilize the figure during the building process. Participants will learn how to construct forms with integrity, refine anatomical relationships, and resolve surfaces through additive and subtractive methods.

This workshop encourages both careful observation and expressive interpretation, allowing participants to deepen their understanding of the figure while strengthening their sculptural skills. By the end of the session, each participant will have completed a small-scale figure study, which will be dried and prepared for kiln firing.

This workshop is intended for Beginner to Intermediate skill levels.

A $75 model fee has been added to the workshop fee to cover the cost of a live model.

Tools and materials will be provided, though artists are encouraged to bring personal modeling tools if you have favorites.

Workshop Spot includes three night Dogtrot accommodations, all meals, and workshop fee (Thursday Dinner through Sunday Brunch). This is for one participant.

October 15-18 - Raku and Alternative Firing Techniques with Vicente Garcia

In this intensive three-day workshop, participants will explore a range of raku and alternative firing techniques, including smoke, obvara, fuming, saggar, and raku processes. Designed for both emerging and experienced ceramic artists, this immersive experience emphasizes hands-on learning, technical development, and an expanded understanding of surface transformation through fire.

Through detailed demonstrations and guided firings, participants will engage each stage of the process-from material preparation and surface application to kiln loading, firing, and post-firing reduction. Emphasis will be placed on how different materials and techniques interact to produce varied surface effects, from smoky blacks and carbon trapping to layered color, pattern, and atmospheric markings.

Working across multiple firings, participants will experiment with organic materials such as hair, feathers, pine needles, and other combustibles, alongside slips, washes, and saggar methods to create rich, unpredictable surfaces. Instruction will also include fuming and obvara techniques, as well as traditional and contemporary approaches to raku firing, offering a wide spectrum of visual outcomes.

The structure of the workshop allows for repetition, reflection, and refinement. Participants will have the opportunity to evaluate results, troubleshoot challenges, and re-fire selected pieces, deepening their understanding of each technique through iteration. Group discussions and informal critiques will support this process, encouraging shared learning and exchange.

This workshop is best suited for those with prior clay experience, as participants will bring pre-made bisque-fired work to focus fully on firing and surface exploration. By the end of the session, participants will have completed a diverse body of fired pieces, developed practical knowledge of multiple alternative firing methods, and gained the confidence to continue these processes in their own studios.

Workshop Spot includes three night Lodge accommodations, all meals, and workshop fee (Thursday Dinner through Sunday Brunch). This is for one participant.