Earth Hands and Houses

Sunday, 16 April 2017

Decorative Clay Plastering Workshop

To book a workshop email earthhands@gmail.com

Come and practice how to make your dream natural home look stunning with beautiful natural colours using a wide range of clay plaster, paint and carving techniques.

26-31 May – Decorative Clay Plastering Workshop , with Athena Steen from the Canelo Project, Sussex, England – £485.. Now reduced to £385.

14-19 July – Decorative Clay Plastering Workshop – Sussex, England – £295

An AMAZING opportunity to attend a workshop with Athen Steen (the author of so many straw bale books) in the UK as Athena normally resides in Arozna and is coming all this way to teach this amazing workshop revelealing her natural clay mixes for the beautiful earth plasters and how to work with them and make incredibly smooth walls and decorate them with beautiful carvings.

A six day Workshop with Athena Steen.

26 – 31 May 2017.

for website link see:

http://earthhandsandhouses.org/decorative-clay-plaster-workshop-uk-athena-steen/

Set on a beautiful estate of Michael Hall Steiner school in the East Sussex countryside in the village of Forest Row, UK.

Taught in English by Athena Steen of the Canelo Project, author of many straw bale books, and architect and author Paulina Wojciechowska.

This workshop is a wonderful opportunity to gain hands-on experience of all aspects of clay plaster on a real straw bale that will be used for an outdoor classroom, in the woods of the school. The structure and straw bale walls of this building were built 2 years ago by class 9 students and a workshop that we ran and is waiting to be finished off with many layers of straw clay, smooth plastering and carving.

What You Will Learn

The six day workshop is based around the real hands-on experience of using clay plaster on the walls of a real structure, supported by regular lectures to ensure you understand the theory and possibilities. Over the six days you will learn:

Recognising the clay found on our land and understanding how to use it for creating clay plaster in construction
Preparation and application of the first 2 coats of clay plaster onto the straw bale wall
Application of a clay and straw “cob” mixture to straw bale walls
Preparation and application of the final layer of plaster
Sculpting with clay plaster
mixing different clay colours applying and carving the smooth plaster layers.
Methods of protecting clay plaster from the elements.
Preparation and application of clay paints for a beautiful natural finish.
The theory of how clay floors are built.

This clay plaster workshop will be mainly hands-on, with theory lessons on each day to back up the practical skills learned and provide the opportunity for more detailed questions to be answered.

Book Your Place

The price of the six day In-depth Clay Plaster and artistry with clay plasters Workshop is £535 per person, or a discounted price of £485 is available if booked by 15th March 2017.
Numbers on the workshop will be limited to ensure a good learning experience, and we are expecting the allocated places to fill up before the workshop begins.
To book your place
email: earthhands@gmail.com
call Paulina (+44) 7787918184.

About your Workshop Leaders

The workshop will be lead by our guest teacher Athena Steen, along with Paulina Wojciechowska.
Athena is considered one of the founders of the natural building revolution. In 1989, along with her husband Bill, she founded the Canelo Project, a non profit organisation with the aim of spreading their knowledge of natural building far and wide. Paulina gained her experience and wisdom in natural building while spending 6 months working with Athena and Bill, 20 years ago! Click here to read more about Athena and the Canelo Project.
Paulina Wojciechowska, is a qualified architect who has 20 years of experience building with straw bales and earthbags in communities all around the world. Paulina worked alongside leading straw bale and clay plaster veterans Bill and Athena Steen in 1997-8 and has been involved in running natural building workshops and designing and building structures with natural materials since then. Click here to hear Paulina talk about her experiences.

Food, Location, Accommodation

Vegetarian food will be available at an additional cost, payable upon arrival. This is expected to be in the region of £10 per day. The food will comprise a self service breakfast, full cooked lunchtime meal, and a light supper.
The workshop will be held on the grounds of Michael Hall School, in Forest Row on a large 6×10 metre straw bale structure built in previous years to be an outdoor classroom.
You may camp within 20 minute walk by Weir Wood reservoir on a camping farm field or on a floor of a un used storage barn for £5/day, which includes the use of a kitchen, with toilet and shower facility.
Click here for more details of the camping facilities, maps, travel information and other accommodation available.
Please note that consumption of alcohol and smoking on the site are not allowed.

Workshop Timing

The workshop will run approximately on the following times:
Days 1-5: – 09:00 to 18:00
Day 6: – 09:00 – 16:00
If you are camping, you are welcome to arrive any time from 15:00 on the day before the workshop starts and to depart the day after the workshop ends.

Booking Multiple Workshops in UK.

You are welcome to attend a combination of our other workshops:
Design Your Dream Natural Home + Earthbag dome workshop £675
Earthbag dome + Straw Bale + Artistry in clay and clay plastering (July dates), £855 if paid before 1st March, otherwise £975
Design Your Dream Natural Home + Earthbag dome + Straw Bale + Artistry in clay and clay plastering (July dates) £1245 if paid before 1st March, otherwise £1450

But there is more…

This will be more than just a clay plaster workshop – it will be a wonderful opportunity to enjoy learning and relaxing amongst like minded people, some who may become your friends for life!

Learn more…

For more information on how to book a workshop email
Paulina at

earthhands@gmail.com

Tuesday, 14 March 2017

Planning Your Dream Natural Home Workshop 2017

to book email: Earthhands@gmail.com

A six day workshop to learn how to go from your initial ideas to being ready to build! Includes how to choose your site, work with authorities, design your home, and understand all the building technologies to successfully manage and take part in the construction.

16-22 June – Planning Your Dream Natural Home Workshop – Sussex, England – £395

A six day workshop on planning your dream natural home
Friday 16th – Thursday 22nd June 2017, (with one day off in the middle)
Taught by Antony Dennis and an architect and earthbag author Paulina Wojciechowska.
The workshop will be held in a lovely field in the english countryside 30 minutes drive from London Gatwick airport.
This workshop is a combination of lots of hands on experience combined with lectures and discussion to help you plan your dream home made from natural materials.

What You Will Learn

The workshop covers all areas of planning your home, from choosing a site, through planning the design, to an awareness of what is involved in all aspects of the build so you can plan what you can do and what will require the help of others.
Throughout the six days, the workshop is 50% presentation and discussion, and 50% hands-on practical work.
The topic areas covered are:
An in-depth look at all aspects of planning the design of your natural home, including:

Choosing your site
Preparation of a site plan
Dealing with the site’s characteristics such as earth types, ground topology, etc.
Creating a house design to suite your lifestyle
The balance of costs: money, time, quality.
How to find your balance point and cost your project in a realistic way
Working with architects, builders and volunteers
Fitting the project into your life.
A design example: the amazing 5 bedroom house being built at Oaklands Farm.

Technologies choices for the house structure:

Foundations: types of foundations, pros and cons, which to use in different site situations, relative costs and effort involved.
Roof structures: types of roofs, pros and cons, how to choose the best roof structure for your project, relative costs and effort involved.
Insulation: a discussion of different solutions and their relative effectiveness.
Walls: an overview of natural building wall technologies: straw bale, cordwood, earthbag, cob, rammed earth, old tyres.
Floors: an overview of the different technologies, their pros and cons.
Guidelines for designing wall structures using different technologies
Balancing your idealogical ideas with your building inspector’s logical, legal ones.
Hands-on experience: on straw bale, earthbag and cob and wattle and daub.

An overview of planning and installing services, with an emphasis on specific considerations for houses built from natural materials:

Electrical systems
Plumbing systems
Heating systems.
Waste water drainage systems
Rainwater drainage systems
Internal shelving and structures.

Review and Presentation of up to Three Design Plans
Many people come to our workshops with plans and ideas for their house and site design. We will select up to three design ideas from participants to be reviewed by Paulina during the workshop and presented to the group on the last day for further discussion. Many of our attendees have specialist knowledge on particular areas of design, construction or permaculture, and it can be a valuable experience to share that knowledge. Please let us know with your workshop application if you would like your design ideas to be reviewed and presented.
Hands-on Experience – 50% of Workshop Time
This would be a very boring workshop if it were 5 days of lectures – and you would never be able to retain and use all the details. This workshop will be around 50% hands-on, based around the building aspects of a natural home. The hands-on work will be a brief introduction to the technologies involved, and will include:

Constructing some of the foundations on the straw bale project that follows this workshop.
Building with cob
Building with earthbags
Building with cordwood
Building with straw bales
Constructing part of a rainwater drainage system.
Working with electrical wiring, sockets and lights.
Working with plumbing and waste water parts.

Book Your Place

The price of the six day workshop is £445 per person, or a discounted price of £395 is available if booked by 1st March 2017.
Note that immediately after this workshop, we will run a five day workshop on how to build with earthbags, domes and arches, then a 5 day straw bales workshop followed by a further 6 day course on artistry with clay, more in-depth clay plastering techniques.
Numbers on the workshop will be limited to ensure a good learning experience, and we are expecting the allocated places to fill up before the workshop begins.
Children from the age of 8 are welcome to accompany their parent(s) and may participate in parts of the workshop as they wish. No charges are made for children under the age of 16 years.
To book your place:
email info@EarthHandsAndHouses.org or
call Antony on (+44) 7812 070413.

About your Workshop Leader

The workshop will be lead by Earth, Hands and Houses Antony Dennis and founder Paulina Wojciechowska, a qualified architect who has over 18 years of experience building with straw bales and earthbags in communities all around the world.
Paulina worked alongside Nader Khalili at Cal-Earth in 1996 and is the author of “Building with Earth”, one of the leading earthbag construction books. She also worked with leading straw bale and clay plaster veterans Bill and Athena Steen in 1997-8 and has been involved in running straw bale and earthbag workshops and designing and building straw bale structures since then. Click here to hear Paulina talk about her experiences.

Food, Location, Accommodation

Vegetarian food will be available at an additional cost, payable upon arrival. The food will comprise a self service breakfast, full cooked lunchtime meal, and a light supper.
The workshop will be held on a farming field, close to Weir Wood reservoir, in Forest Row, which is a 30 minute drive south of London Gatwick airport. You may camp at the farm for £5/night.
Click here for more details of the camping facilities, maps, travel information and other accommodation available.

Workshop Timing

The workshop will run the following times:
Day 1: from 10:00 to 18:00. You are welcome to arrive on the afternoon of the day before to set up camp and settle in before the workshop begins.
Days 2-5: from 09:00 to 17:00.
Day 6: from 09:00 to 16:00. If you are camping, you are welcome to stay on until the following morning if you wish.

But there is more…

This will be more than just a natural building workshop – it will be a wonderful opportunity to enjoy learning and relaxing amongst like minded people, some who may become your friends for life!

To Book email Paulina:

earthhands@gmail.com

Decorative Clay Plastering Workshops 2017 one with Athena Steen..!!

To book a workshop email earthhands@gmail.com

Come and practice how to make your dream natural home look stunning with beautiful natural colours using a wide range of clay plaster, paint and carving techniques.

26-31 May – Decorative Clay Plastering Workshop , with Athena Steen from the Canelo Project, Sussex, England – £485.. Now reduced to £385.

14-19 July – Decorative Clay Plastering Workshop – Sussex, England – £295