Ceramics Residency Programme
We have a traditional and ancestral approach to working with clay drawing on a long and abundant local history of pottery, medicinal clay and natural pigments.
Our ethos and process is heavily formed by work of our sister organisation Terra Ancestral, which explores on indigenous clay practice.
Our pottery stocks a mix of earthenware clays that can range from red to bright white, they are sometimes wild clays and sometimes the famous bright white from Limoges or the terracotta used by the roof tile factories that have been here since Roman times but all of them are local.
We offer two different kind of residencies - Self-directed and Supported.
Self-directed residencies, last two weeks and are suitable for those who can work completely independently on their own clay-based projects using local earthenware. Participation fee - €1295 for 2 weeks.
Supported residencies, lasting one week, are for those who can work independently but will need general help and advice or support with specific projects, your pieces are fired for you. Participation fee - €995 per week
Residents stay in one of two beautiful self-catered apartments in our seventeenth-century townhouse and work in the adjoining atelier. (Please visit ´La Casa´ to find out more about Apartments and Studios.)
Some use the time to create a new body of work or undertake new research or chose to work on something neglected or not yet formed.
We now offer the option to secure your place with a deposit payment of 250 euro.
Once you have selected your dates and made the payment we will contact you with our bank details so that so can pay the rest in monthly instalments.
Please note that the full balance must be cleared 4 months before your arrival.
Prices include:
- Accommodation in one of our large self-catered studio apartments with an ensuite bathroom and use of the studio equipment.
-Supported residencies include guidance and support tailored to the needs of the residents. There is no support included in self-directed residencies.
Food/ Meals are not included, but there are numerous local restaurants, shops and markets and you have use of your own beautiful kitchen included.
Additional costs.
Wood firing workshops are available for both programmes at additional cost of €295 on request.
Accompanying guests are permitted for a cots of €295 p/w (sharing the same bedroom in either two singles or one double bed)
“I am just so grateful for the experience your residency provides. I felt a pull to work in a way that’s more in tune with the earth and its gifts for some time, but being with you, working with the natural pigments and clay you have collected was a really special experience that solidified what I hadn’t been able to articulate just yet.
I keep reflecting on the wood firing and your personal approach to ritual and ancestral ways and feeling deeply inspired by it. As you mentioned, timing is so important and I as feel myself transforming in this new season of life, it is extremely cathartic to have witnessed my pieces transform in the flames as well.
Your offering of home, guidance and space is so appreciated and I know that anyone who leaves Casa Julfa must be feeling the same way. I do hope our paths will cross again in the future. ¨
Andrea Koesters - Self- Directed Residency September 2023
More about our studio and equipment….
Our ceramics studio is set up much in the way that small potteries in the surrounding area were pre-second world war; humble but spacious, simple but authentic.
We have a rustic and traditional approach to working with clay using only our local earthenwares - a fine porcelain produced in nearby Limoges and a Mica-rich terracotta.
Our small, wood burning kiln allows us to share this it's volatile and magical, and is something we believe everyone working with clay should try at least once. We feel privileged to be able to share this experience with guests. (Please note the wood-firing workshop is an add-on cost.
As well as our more traditional tools, the studio is fitted with economical and modern equipment such as our Rhode electric kiln and a few different throwing wheels. Our electric kiln can accommodate works of up to 66cm tall and 55cm wide, and fires earthenware up to 1050°c.
We have a good selection of hand tools, molds and a special selection of material for experimenting with, salvaged over a number of years from local brocantes in the area as well as from our work with artisans in Mexico and Armenia.
