Clay + Food + Fire
February 20 - March 2, 2026
@Clay Kitchen Portugal
10-Day International Clay Retreat 2026
Travel with us for 10 days of hands-on clay, incredible food, and experimental fire with Sam Taylor and Mark Shapiro!
Joined by American potters Sam Taylor and Mark Shapiro, we are hosting a very special program in collaboration with Clay Kitchen Portugal; a ceramic retreat center for lovers of clay, wood firing, and hands-on ceramic education overlooking the stunning landscape of Ribeira da Azenha in Southwest Portugal.
this experience will include:
• building and firing a small, low-fire, salt/soda kiln
• making wheel-thrown and hand-built work out of locally-dug clay, and experimenting in low-fire
• learning new techniques from master potters Sam Taylor and Mark Shapiro
• cooking and eating seasonal, adventurous, and exceptional local food from the land and sea
• exchanging skills and creating community that crosses borders with our friends at Clay Kitchen Portugal
• resting and recharging at the beautiful Três Marias guesthouse, less than 3 miles from the beach
• learning about Portugal, and exploring the Alentejo region
A love of clay, learning, and community is all that is required to participate — no extensive experience is necessary. Partners of clay participants are welcome and encouraged to join as non-clay participants at a reduced fee.
Learn more and view the full program brochure with more photos at the link below:
the short video montage below is from our 2025 program in Portugal with Sam Taylor and Mark Shapiro. Enjoy!
Retreat abroad
Craigardan brings our inter-disciplinary, community-focused creative programming to Portugal again in 2026 as part of a series of international experiences.
See, taste, hear, and feel the world with philosophical, ecological, and artistic perspective. Led by experts in their field, these short-term residencies and workshops weave together site-specific themes of:
Art + Craft, and Local Cultural Heritage
Architectural + Archeological Past, Present, and Future
Agricultural + Culinary Traditions, their Preservation and Sustainability
Place-Based + International Crosscurrents and Conversations
the details
A Craigardan retreat in Portugal. This 10-day program is about clay; but it is also about place: people, food, culture, and the exchange of skills and ideas in a beautiful location with a rich history. We’ll watch and learn from master potters, we’ll make good work, but we’ll also experience the art of living + building community in a whole new way. You might just get a bit closer to discovering the meaning of life.
Food. The culinary experience is a large part of why we travel. At Craigardan, food and agriculture are integral to our understanding of and care for place and community. The creation and sharing of beautiful meals is an opportunity to come together, to learn about each other, to share stories, good wine, and laughter. This translates to inspired creativity, becoming better makers, and making better pots.
Breakfast will be served each morning at the guesthouse. For lunch and dinner we will cook together at the studio kitchen, explore local cuisine with guest chefs, and eat fresh, local food from the sea and land. Dietary restrictions can be accommodated, but it’s best to come with an open mind, and an open palette.
Accommodations. All participants will be staying at the beautiful Três Marias, which is only a short walk from the studio which is on the same property.
Located in Southwest Portugal, halfway between Porto Covo and Vila Nova de Milfontes, Três Marias is a country guesthouse integrated in an Alentejo property, where the large plains merge with the hills of the Serra do Cercal, in a scene reminiscent of African landscapes. Here the days are tinted with golden light and the nights are wrapped by an incredible starry sky.
A cluster of contemporary buildings separated by fields where donkeys and ostriches are grazing, there are fifteen rooms with private porches, inviting moments of relaxation. The colorful breakfasts and simple, authentic dinners have created a reputation, not only for the food, but also for the friendly atmosphere.
A pool and sauna (limited hours) welcomes you after a long day in the studio. Hikes, surfing, and other outdoor activities are also possible; going inland to experience the local traditions and ways of living within a natural landscape, or going to the ocean side, to feel the sea breeze and walk part of the famous Fishermen’s Trail, one of the most sought after coastal trails in the world.
The guesthouse will wonderfully exceed your expectations.
Visit Três Marias: https://tresmarias.pt/en/home-2/
registration + fees
The program fee is all-inclusive except for transportation. This includes:
Accommodations (single or double room)
Meals with wine at dinner
Clay, studio materials, and firing
Instruction and demonstrations
special excursions
local pick up at bus station
There is also a reduced-fee option for non-clay participants to join the trip and stay with partners who are participating in the clay program. The non-clay participant partners must occupy their days but are welcome to re-join the group for meals. They may not help with kiln building, watch demos, or join studio activities but there will be other opportunities to feel a part of the community. Non-clay participants may choose to rent a bike from our hosts and explore nearby, or rent a car from Lisbon airport and have the freedom to explore daily.
All registered program participants will meet together with Sam, Mark, and Michele in January for a pre-travel zoom. You’ll be able to ask questions, arrange shared transportation with each other, and get to know the group before our fabulous adventure.
Single Private Room + Private Bathroom: $4950 for one person
Shared Double Room + Bathroom: $3950 per person. $7900 for two people. Doubles require a roommate to guarantee the rate.
Half and Half Room + Bathroom. Non-clay participant sharing a double room with a clay-participant partner. $3950 + $2500 = $6450 total for two people. Non-clay participant must occupy themselves during the day, not at the studio, and may come together with the group for meals.
Camping Option. $2100 per person. Must bring your own tent and camping gear. Shared access to studio bathroom and shower.
To Register. We require a 50% non-refundable deposit to hold your spot, with the balance due in full by December 15th, 2025. Once the deposit payment is made, participants receive a link to an online form to submit more information which will help us prepare for your Portugal experience.
Please email info@craigardan.org with any questions.
Cancellation Policy. The deposit is non-refundable. If you need to cancel after the balance is paid in full, you will receive a refund only if we are able to fill your spot.
Click the link below to pay online with a credit card and reserve your spot!
your guides
THE MAGIC IS IN THE PEOPLE. Your guides and hosts for our 10-day adventure are:
Sam Taylor
Sam Taylor. Sam has been making pottery in the foothills of the Berkshires for over 25 years. He is a self described "slow potter," making pots on his foot powered treadle wheel and firing them in his wood fired kiln. Sam is a studio potter and has performed all the associated tasks that go along with that title: exhibitor, teacher, organizer, builder and promoter.
Sam received his BA in Art History from Beloit College in 1987. In 1998 he started building kilns, wheels and studios in Gloucester, MA and at the Stonepool Pottery in Worthington, MA. Sam built the wood kiln and studio in Westhampton, MA in 1997, where he currently lives and works with his wife and three boys.
Mark Shapiro
Mark Shapiro. Before moving to Western Massachusetts in 1986, Mark had been living in New York and making sculpture while supporting himself as a carpenter. The turn to pottery answered the vexing problem that he had been unable to resolve with his sculpture: Where does the stuff go? On a pedestal in patron’s living room? In front of a building? In a museum storage vault? As a potter, on the other hand, Mark knew his work would be held and used; it would stay in the main places of people’s lives. And, he could control most aspects of creative production—the concept, making, finishing, marketing and selling of the work, in a process and within a scale that preserves and enhances the humanity of the creative experience. As Mark's work has evolved he continues to be compelled by the challenges of domestic pottery, but he has also recently become interested in making larger work that is more appropriate to the scale and abstractness of a gallery space than the kitchen.
David Trueb
David Trueb. David designed and built Clay Kitchen Portugal in 2019. Clay Kitchen Portugal is a place where creative people meet with clay in their veins. “As a creative space we host workshops and meetings primarily about the exchange of ideas, connections and the stimulation of new ceramic techniques. It is important for us to share over privilege of this wonderful place here in Portugal and to inspire others to dive into this infinite world of ceramics that bridges cultures and brings us closer together."
Craigardan Staff will include:
Michele Drozd. Michele is the co-founder and executive director of Craigardan. An artist with a degree in Ceramics from the New York State College of Ceramics (NYSCC) at Alfred University, she worked under Petras Vaskys, Laszlo Fekete and Marie Baron studying design, mold making, and sculpture. After traveling the world and finding her home in the Adirondack Mountains of New York, she became intensely interested in art and entrepreneurialism, the revitalization of small rural towns, food and agriculture, conservation and historic preservation - and the connections between them. Since 2002 she has worked within these fields in both the nonprofit and for-profit sectors. Her belief that the creative process helps us imagine and build a better world has led to numerous community and social justice initiatives that use cross-disciplinary collaboration as a tool for systems change.
Michael Intrabartola. Mikey is a builder and a ceramic artist with a BFA from the NYSCC at Alfred University. A craftsman of many materials, his knowledge of wilderness, design, and building have taken him all over the world to work in remote landscapes from the arctic in Greenland to the south pole in Antarctica. After an apprenticeship with Bente Hansen in Denmark, he returned to the US to live and work in the Adirondacks.