Tag Archive: plaster

Alsea, OR

Instructor Kiko Denzer, Margaret Mathewson

http://ancientartscenter.com

Tuition /$50/day

May 1-2- Weave Willow Walls for a Bill Coperthwaite Yurt

Part 1: May 1-2- This continues a project begun last October with Yurt Master William Coperthwaite, who led the frame and roof raising of the beautiful, two-tiered wood yurt. Now we start weaving the willow wattle walls, so that later in May we can apply mud to weatherproof and insulate. View our living willow fences, arches and get ideas for your own willow structures. This is an ongoing project with Mud Builder Kiko Denzer

Part 2: May 29-31- Mud Building- Learn about giving any kind of structure a mud “skin.” We’ll identify types of mud for various uses – plaster for covering existing walls and buildings; sculptural mud for shaping and decorative ornaments; natural (fireproof!) insulating mud; mud for natural colors and paints; and cob or adobe mud for walls, ovens hearths and entire homes. We’ll apply plasters to woven will panels on the yurt. Kiko Denzer will the the Guest Instructor.

These two classes are offered by Margaret Mathewson, of the Ancient Arts Center, ancientartscenter.com, Lobster Valley Rd., Alsea OR 97324, (541) 486-4311, margaret@peak.org

FEE: $50 per day plus materials- Look on line for materials fees and photos of the projects , or inquire directly.

Pine Ridge South Dakota/Jacksonville Oregon

Instructor: Coenraad Rogmans, James Thomson

http://www.housealive.org/

House Alive! is again offering an opportunity for people to get beyond the basics and experience an extended Natural Building apprenticeship. This immensely popular intensive course is designed for people who want to use natural building skills in a professional context or who want to take extra time to work on skill development for their personal project. Participants will get first-hand experience with every aspect of building a natural home, from the foundation to the roof. Learning how to build a natural home is one of the best investments you can make: once you know how to design, build and shape your own living space, you can save many thousands of dollars in living costs.

In many ways learning to build is like learning to play a musical instrument: It is hard to learn without another experienced person guiding you and, the more you do it the better you get. The apprenticeship program for 2010 offers 8 weeks of “hands-on” building, problem solving, designing and discussing all aspects of natural building, allowing you to take the time to develop new skills under the guidance of experienced natural builders.

This year’s apprenticeship takes place in two locations. We will start off in South Dakota by starting a 2 bedroom cob house on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation (first 3 weeks). The reservation is incredibly beautiful, historically rich as well as tragic and is known as one of the poorest places in North America. After completing the site preparations for the building, apprentices will participate in an 8 day “complete Shelter” workshop along with other students.

please email welcome@housealive.org for more info.

Jacksonville, Oregon

Instructor: Coenraad Rogmans

http://www.HouseAlive.org

Tuition: $825

This workshop offers an incredibly rich learning experience that has made it our most popular for the last 5 years. During the workshop you will develop the confidence, knowledge and skills to design and build your own natural building and sustainable living project. This workshop is for you if you are interested in building your own natural cottage, want to use natural materials in you present house in the form of a “natural renovation”, or are looking to make some lifestyle changes.

House Alive workshops focus on “learning by doing;” be prepared to do a lot of building. Constructing a house takes determination and sustained physical activity. We believe building your own house can be possible for anyone and teach “democratic building” techniques: Simplicity of design, building in community, using simple hand tools, taking care of our bodies, and extreme affordability to free ourselves from debt. But you don’t have to build your own home to employ these techniques. You can improve the beauty, comfort, and affordability of any living space by employing “Natural renovation” techniques or using “appropriate technologies.”

mixing cob We will focus much of our hands-on time on building with cob. Cob is often considered the “mother” of all natural building techniques. It has been around for millennia, is practiced worldwide, and the materials can be locally harvested. Cob doesn’t rot or burn and offers great flexibility to shape spaces to fit our lives. You will learn how to find materials, mix them into cob material and build strong, beautiful walls. You also will learn how to deal with foundations and roofs, how to put in windows, doors, plumbing and electricity, how to easily add arches, niches, and other sculptural features, and how to finish buildings with earthen floors and plasters. Afternoons and evenings will include lectures and demonstrations on a wide variety of natural building and appropriate technology topics (see curriculum). Over the course of the workshop you will learn how to easily integrate various forms of natural construction, such as straw bale, light-straw-clay, adobe brick, natural plasters and floors, round wood, and more.

Clay Culture: Plasters, Paints and Preservation
By Carole Crews

Now in print, this self-published book begins with a condensed history of the Southwestern US with details about how the old adobe houses were built and how to repair their walls. The chapter, “Learning by Doing” is a brief memoir of the author’s own building experiences, and includes details about the construction of her adobe dome. It also includes a beautiful photographic essay by John Collier Jr. of Malcolm and Rachel Brown erecting their family home made of mud in the 1950’s.
A survey of natural building wall systems and how to plaster them will help owner-builders plan the simplest ways of manifesting their dream home. The author also shares the building of an adobe fireplace and methods of making adobe floors. The Elemental Awareness chapter goes into scientific detail about the materials themselves to facilitate the formulation of recipes for specific tasks using your local materials.
Well known for her micaceous clay finishes, the reader will learn all about alis, casein, color and how to make your own walls beautiful in the simplest dust-free ways, using either found materials or those from pottery suppliers. Binders can be made from a variety of ingredients found in your own kitchen. Many tips about making art from the same materials are also shared.
As those interested in natural building well know, social justice issues can be addressed through this body of knowledge as we all find our places in the evolution of a more earth-friendly world.
Order books through the author’s website: carolecrews.com

Obera, Misiones, Argentina

http://www.mamaroja.blogspot.com

Tuition: US$925

Fall Internship
Sustainable Living and Natural Building Internship

Come participate in a shared learning internship on our small-scale sustainable homestead!

March 1-April 30, 2010 (May, Optional)

We will be offering an 8-week in-depth internship program to individuals interested in getting hands-on experience in organic gardening, natural food production, earthen and natural building, seed saving, and community living. This will be an opportunity for personal growth through shared learning in which interns will cooperate in the different aspects of a dynamic sustainable community. The internship will be a chance to take responsibility for providing for ones basic needs in a positive working environment of like-minding people.

Topics of Focus:
Organic Gardening: Composting and Soil Amending, Bed-Making, Planting, Seed Saving, Companion Planting, Natural Pesticides, Harvesting, and more…

Natural Building:
We will be building a small cottage using various techniques: Bamboo, Earthen building with Adobe Bricks, Wattle-and-Daub, and Rammed Earth, also Foundation, Design Principles, Wall Construction, Plaster and Painting, Roofing, and creative use of site-found and salvaged materials…

Extended Sustainable Ideas:
Food Product Making, Jarring and Preserving, Alternative Refrigeration, Milk-Product Creating, Fermentation and Cultivating Micro-organisms, Animal Husbandry, Alternative Energies, Reforestation, and there will also be plenty of space to explore projects of personal interest and intrigue. Also, there will be opportunities for practicing Yoga, Meditation, Massage (Thai and Swedish), Medicinal Plant Searches, Nature Hikes, Waterfall and River Swimming…

General Schedule:
Monday-Friday: morning and afternoon sessions, with an extended break in the middle of the day for lunch and siesta. We will also have one 5-day break in the middle of the course . There will be an optional extended stay for those interested.

Meals:
We have a community kitchen where we all share in the meal preparations and clean-up. We provide 3 healthy vegetarian meals with local produce, fruits, and products.

Living Arrangements:
Tents.

To Apply:
Please write us a short letter introducing yourself. We would like to know who you are and better prepare the program for your needs. (This will remain confidential.) Write a simple, honest, authentic letter about yourself and why you want to participate in the internship program. It does not need to be formal, just in your own style. Please include your age, gender, and an overview of your present life (for example, what brought you to want to come, where you are from, where you are coming from at this point in your life, how you hope to integrate the experience/learning from the program in your life, a few of your strengths and weaknesses in living in community/working with others). If you have any emotional or health difficulties, please let us know how these are effecting your life now. Please wait for acceptance before making travel arrangements.Please send your letter and any questions you may have to mama.roja@yahoo.com.

Cost of Internship: US$925
Your contributions go toward allowing us to expand the project and work with local communites on important topics such as seed saving, no chemical usage, and natural building alternatives.
Arrangements can be made for participants from less developed countries.

For more information or questions, contact us at mama.roja@yahoo.com

Concord, MA

Instructor: Tim White

http://www.traditionalbuildingmodelsandsystems.com

Please contact twtraditionalplasters@frontier.net for more information.

Santa Fe, NM

Instructor: Tim White

http://www.traditionalbuildingmodelsandsystems.com

Click here Hamaasha oct 1_4 Lime Stucco Seminar Flyer.doc to see an event  flyer.

For more information please contact twtraditionalplasters@frontier.net.

NW Newberry Rd. Portland, OR

Instructor: Scott Howard

http://www.earthenhand.com

Tuition: $225 before Sept. 5th, $275 after.

Explore the art of finishing a wall or floor with earthen plasters, paints, pigments, and oils.

Come experience the finishing of an earthen building near forest park.
The final phase of an earthen cabin includes plastering, adding color,
detail, and invites you to use creativity, and construction skills in
this hands-on workshop. We will be mixing and applying cob,
creating natural final plasters from local materials, adding color,
and finishing out the building with the materials we prepare. We’ll
sculpt finishing details such as niches. We will also finish an earthen floor.

The design is a 16 ft x 12 ft earthbag ellipse with a loft and a usable living
roof space.

Skills you will learn & practice: Sculpture with Cob, Earthen plaster
and paint mixing and application. Earthen floor construction.