So often pottery is presented in a classroom environment with commercial bags of clay and pre-programmed kilns, overlooking the meaningful relatinoship that can be created with the source of our materials and the lineage of the craft.
Pottery is an ancient art, intrinsically tied to the land, inspiring our belonging to it as we shape the things we need up from the ground. For this very reason, using local clays is profoundly meaningful. It slows down our “production” mindset and allows us to tune into the immense ecological and geological narrative we are apart of.
We are earth and this craft reminds us that we too are shaped by our choices, becoming vessels that can hold our deepest prayers. Clay is a powerful medium for intuitive exploration of the soul, because it grounds us to the material world as we face the transformative fires of life.
Shaping Earth and Fire immersion is a devotional week of wild embodiment, creative exploration through clay, and community ritual.
Our full five day retreat integrates the creative process with informational hands-on learning. Having a full week to ground together gives us time to dive into wild clay processing and all the things one needs to know to begin working with foraged clays at home, as well as practice various hand building techniques with space and time for the creative process to move through us. We will integrate indoor and outdoor studio time, group time, and solo time.
No prior experience with ceramics is necessary to participate. If the clay calls you, please join and know that no skill is needed for shaping earth, it is inheriently human.
Earthenware
Unlike mid-range and high fire pottery, earthenware specifically refers to low fired ceramics made with wild clays. Pit, ground or open firings are practiced by many cultures around the world, each with rich pottery traditions, cuisines, and histories.
An open fire or small clay oven can only reach bisque temps, it is not hot enough to melt glazes, so techniques such as burnishing and sealing have been used instead of glazes to create finished functional, everyday use ceramics for the kitchen and home.
A key difference between earthenware and glazed pottery is in its durability. While we in the West have prioritized it’s look and durability, glazed pottery is essentially permanent, taking as much as 1 million years to decompose. Given our global consumption of resources, this can be seen as a significant reason to make more earthenware. At the end of earthenware’s life cycle is can be broken up and composted, returned to the soil, helping to not only trap valuable nutrients but also retain water.
Week Overview
Sunday afternoon/evening: Arrival & settling in, dinner
Monday - Wednesday: Time on the land, foraging and processing clay and other materials, handbuilding and creative exploration, decorating and burnishing
Thursday: Clay lecture and hands-on experimentation: clay chemistry, geological narratives, blending theory, addatives, firing ranges, troubleshooting, and more! Glaze tests!
Friday: All day pit firing ceremony and evening pottery sealing
Saturday Morning: Closing & departure
Costs
Full Workshop Fee is $750, which includes five full days of facilitated learning, making, and ritual with finished fired pieces and all materials for making, as well as organic dinners every night and access to kitchen and sauna. Lodging is not included.
Dancing Tree is a land-based community and retreat center in the Columbia River Gorge, 30 minutes from Portland. There are a few lodging options onsite for the week. Camping is $90, sharing a spacious two room loft with other participants is $160 for the week, and there is a private cabin for $360, which can also be split with other participants.
$150 desposit will hold your place, with a monthly payment option of $100 or $200. Please be in touch to confirm monthly payment schedule.
Dinners Sunday through Friday night are provided, but breakfast and lunch will be on your own. There are full kitchen and fridge amenities on site. The registration form will confirm your lodging preference, as well as food restrictions and preferences. Camping or room payments will be sent directly to the event center.
Hosanna White
Hosanna is dedicated to learning slow crafts like primitive firing, weaving, and foraging that connect her with the source of her materials and the magic that comes from transforming them for everyday use.
Hosanna lives in the foothills of Western Oregon, a geologically rich landscape that has inspired her studio work, Whitesnake Arts. She blends bio-regional history and land stewardship into her artwork and place based pottery.