During this 3 week retreat participants will plaster a small vaulted straw bail structure.Participants will go home knowing how to mix and apply earthen plasters and aliz (clay paint), over straw, adobe, and drywall. We will teach both hand and trowel application, how to mix wheat paste, a number of recipes for plaster and clay paint, and how to test soil. Participants will also learn a little about lime and cement plasters, straw bale and adobe construction, passive solar and small house design. During much of the course work will take place in meditative silence. It will be a good course for people with some construction experience who want to learn about natural building. It is also a good course for people who meditate and want to expand their meditation practice to include physical work.

Participants will be welcome to join in Lama Foundation community life, taking part in weekly Friday night Shabbat services, Sufi chanting practice, women's lodges and much more.

The Instructor
Shay Salomon (pictured in photo below, at right) has led women's building workshops for twelve years. She's worked as a carpenter and as a plasterer, and also as a design consultant. Previously she worked in the United States as a social worker and overseas in “community development,” so she has a cross-cultural perspective to her work. You can learn about a workshop she led in 2000 at Lama by visiting www.imagegypsy.com/sbvltl.htm. You can learn about the book that she wrote by visiting www.littlehouseonasmallplanet.com

For More information or to register for this course, please contact Shay Solomon at smallhouse@theriver.com or Meredith Mason, the Lama Foundation liaison, at mason@lamafoundation.org or (505) 586-1269.