This 14‑day workshop led by Ivan Albreht invites you to a hands-on, sensuous exploration of clay and the overlooked objects of everyday life. We will take a hybrid approach that blends contemporary, industrially informed techniques within the quiet traditional setting, transforming plastic and glass bottles, cases, aluminum trays, cans and other consumer remnants into molds and new forms. The workshop is designed to be tactile and immersive, encouraging curiosity, risk taking and the pleasure of making.
You will learn practical mold making methods, from simple 1- and 2-part press molds to more complex 2-to-4-part molds for slip casting, then move into casting and assembly as soft and hard casts become modular elements for sculptural or vessel-based work. Each participant will make at least one mold and will be able to share and trade cast parts, so ideas circulate through the group. While the focus will be on the process with an open-ended outcome, several smaller scale pieces will be created by participants. Surface options include glazing or leaving pieces unglazed to emphasize form and texture.
Participants will be housed in the remarkably well-preserved Umbrian hill town of Monte Castello di Vibio. Your workshop package is all-inclusive, providing welcome and departure services and airport transfer from the Rome Fiumicino, Leonardo Da Vinci Airport (FCO). Aboard our comfortable private bus, single occupancy accommodations with shared bath (a wide range of upgrades with private bath are available), 3 meals per day Monday-Thursday, Prosecco brunch and dinner on Saturday and Sunday (no meals are served on Friday, our excursion day. Your workshop includes one excursion per week and many additional options are available on weekends for an additional fee. Of course, 24/7 access to facilities and 24/7 bi-lingual support are provided.
This workshop on sculpting the human figure in clay emphasizes an experimental, improvisational approach to discovering movement, gesture and vitality. Through live demonstrations, hands-on exercises and slide presentations, participants will learn to manipulate the clay figure and push past common stumbling blocks of proportion, movement and balance.
Students will build small-scale maquettes in anticipation of larger work, learn solid sculpting methods, and discover how to hollow and prepare pieces for firing. We'll break the figure down into basic components to explore their potential for various poses, with special sessions focusing on challenging areas such as heads and hands.
Surface techniques will be explored using texture, underglazes, stains, pencils and mark-making to strengthen the form and develop rich visual effects. Michelle will work individually with each participant on their artwork. All skill levels welcome!
Participants will be housed in the remarkably well-preserved Umbrian hill town of Monte Castello di Vibio. Your workshop package is all-inclusive, providing welcome and departure services and airport transfer from the Rome Fiumicino, Leonardo Da Vinci Airport (FCO). Aboard our comfortable private bus, single occupancy accommodations with shared bath (a wide range of upgrades with private bath are available), 3 meals per day Monday-Thursday, Prosecco brunch and dinner on Saturday and Sunday (no meals are served on Friday, our excursion day. Your workshop includes one excursion per week and many additional options are available on weekends for an additional fee. Of course, 24/7 access to facilities and 24/7 bi-lingual support are provided.
This workshop addresses the question, “just how much can I communicate on the ceramic surface, and how deep is it really?” Over this two-week intensive, Eva offers step by step technical demonstrations, probing writing and imagery prompts, one on one mentoring, and open-forum discussion, as we create several series of investigative tiles and wall boxes. Our emphasis will be on creative experimentation and exploring strategic layering and combinations of techniques in order to develop tableaux of complexity and depth, be your aim dramatic and lively, or subtle and resonant.
All techniques will be low-tech but high-impact, meaning they can be used in any studio setting, using any clays and any firing temperature, with no need for special materials or equipment. The magic is in how we apply them in service to our vision, and there will be as many approaches as there are makers. Employing Eva’s “freestyle” way of hand
building, we compose personal narrative and meaning through the interplay of form, mark making, texture, and color.
This is an opportunity to hone in completely on the painterly potential of ceramic materials and processes. An intensive session of discovery, reflection, and production will impact our existing studio practices greatly, broadening the spectrum of means for bringing creative vision to light: this exploration is applicable to pottery, sculpture, or even painting with non-ceramic media. This workshop is open to all levels of experience.
Participants will be housed in the remarkably well-preserved Umbrian hill town of Monte Castello di Vibio. Your workshop package is all-inclusive, providing welcome and departure services and airport transfer from the Rome Fiumicino, Leonardo Da Vinci Airport (FCO). Aboard our comfortable private bus, single occupancy accommodations with shared bath (a wide range of upgrades with private bath are available), 3 meals per day Monday-Thursday, Prosecco brunch and dinner on Saturday and Sunday (no meals are served on Friday, our excursion day. Your workshop includes one excursion per week and many additional options are available on weekends for an additional fee. Of course, 24/7 access to facilities and 24/7 bi-lingual support are provided.
This workshop on sculpting the human figure in clay emphasizes an experimental, improvisational approach to discovering movement, gesture and vitality. Through live demonstrations, hands-on exercises and slide presentations, participants will learn to manipulate the clay figure and push past common stumbling blocks of proportion, movement and balance.
Students will build small-scale maquettes in anticipation of larger work, learn solid sculpting methods, and discover how to hollow and prepare pieces for firing. We'll break the figure down into basic components to explore their potential for various poses, with special sessions focusing on challenging areas such as heads and hands.
Surface techniques will be explored using texture, underglazes, stains, pencils and mark-making to strengthen the form and develop rich visual effects. Michelle will work individually with each participant on their artwork. All skill levels welcome!
Participants will be housed in the remarkably well-preserved Umbrian hill town of Monte Castello di Vibio. Your workshop package is all-inclusive, providing welcome and departure services and airport transfer from the Rome Fiumicino, Leonardo Da Vinci Airport (FCO). Aboard our comfortable private bus, single occupancy accommodations with shared bath (a wide range of upgrades with private bath are available), 3 meals per day Monday-Thursday, Prosecco brunch and dinner on Saturday and Sunday (no meals are served on Friday, our excursion day. Your workshop includes one excursion per week and many additional options are available on weekends for an additional fee. Of course, 24/7 access to facilities and 24/7 bi-lingual support are provided.
In this workshop we will explore new ways to construct functional pottery forms from slabs and paper templates, and transforming those flat shapes into functional pots. Focusing on the intimate objects that we use regularly; primarily cups, mugs, bowls, and vases, we will use these objects as canvases to explore surfaces and develop new ways to convey and layer our ideas. Working within our beautiful Italian surroundings, we will use our time equally between making and looking. We will step out of our comfort zones, finding beauty in the mundane, and finding surfaces that are captivating in both our environment as well as our pottery. We will utilize various regional clays to make terra sigilatta, historically used in this region of Italy since the Etruscan times, that will become our canvas to build upon in our explorations.
Participants will be housed in the remarkably well-preserved Umbrian hill town of Monte Castello di Vibio. Your workshop package is all-inclusive, providing welcome and departure services and airport transfer from the Rome Fiumicino, Leonardo Da Vinci Airport (FCO). Aboard our comfortable private bus, single occupancy accommodations with shared bath (a wide range of upgrades with private bath are available), 3 meals per day Monday-Thursday, Prosecco brunch and dinner on Saturday and Sunday (no meals are served on Friday, our excursion day. Your workshop includes one excursion per week and many additional options are available on weekends for an additional fee. Of course, 24/7 access to facilities and 24/7 bi-lingual support are provided.
Staging the Narrative:
Ceramic Hand building with Ceramic and Cold Finishes
Inspired by Monte Castello di Vibio's Teatro della Concordia (the smallest Italian style theater in the world) and grand theatrical vision of La Scarzuola, let's explore the drama of the human narrative! During this retreat Kirsten will guide the class to build a 3/4 life size head that can hang on the wall or sit on a table. Kirsten has a step-by-step approach to figurative ceramics that is easily accessible, even for the beginner. Her class demonstrations and hand-outs are followed-up with individual tutorials, enabling her to help each student achieve their narrative vision.
After the build, Kirsten will explore the potential of adding layers of texture before firing. Post-firing, Kirsten will guide the class in using cold finishes to mimic, complement, or enhance ceramic finishes. She will share her techniques as well as encourage experimentation and play with different mediums. Participants will walk away with a stronger knowledge of human anatomy and the narrative value of expression, as well as an approach for finishing their works that is layered and complex. Finished sculptures will be able to be packed in a carry-on suitcase for travel and transportation convenience.
In addition, participants will enjoy several excursions to nearby Umbrian towns such as Perugia, Spoleto or Todi to explore the history and art that shines in the green center of Italy. Participants will be housed in the remarkably well-preserved Umbrian hill town of Monte Castello di Vibio where you can wonder its quiet streets and enjoy the vistas of the valley and other hill towns. Explore the history of this medieval village and experience the jewel-box of a theater that is one of the smallest theaters in the world.
Your weekend is free to catch up on studio work, relax, or take advantage of the other sites or activities in Umbria. These additions can be arranged through ICArts for an additional fee. This class is for ALL LEVELS: whether you have never touched clay but yearn to stretch your creative potential, or if you are a seasoned ceramicists that want to add a few new techniques to your toolbox.
Participants will be housed in the remarkably well-preserved Umbrian hill town of Monte Castello di Vibio. Your workshop package is all-inclusive, providing welcome and departure services and airport transfer from the Rome Fiumicino, Leonardo Da Vinci Airport (FCO). Aboard our comfortable private bus, single occupancy accommodations with shared bath (a wide range of upgrades with private bath are available), 3 meals per day Monday-Thursday, Prosecco brunch and dinner on Saturday and Sunday (no meals are served on Friday, our excursion day. Your workshop includes one excursion per week and many additional options are available on weekends for an additional fee. Of course, 24/7 access to facilities and 24/7 bi-lingual support are provided.
Fueled by a new interest in the individual, the birth of the Renaissance in Florence in the 15th century brought a rebirth of the long dormant art of Portraiture. What better place to study the art of Portraiture than in Monte Castello di Vibio, just a stone’s throw from that extraordinary city?
This comprehensive two-week workshop offers a unique opportunity to study classical realist Portraiture in both two and three dimensions under the expert guidance of renowned sculptor Constance Ramsey Bowden and acclaimed painter Karen Warshal.
Workshop Focus
Working from live models in an intimate studio setting, students will explore the fundamental principles of portrait creation across three classical mediums: drawing, painting, and sculpture. This intensive program emphasizes the essential building blocks of representational art, making it ideal for both beginners seeking solid foundations and more seasoned artists looking to refine their skills. The small class size ensures ample individual instruction for each student.
Class Structure
Students will draw or paint the model in the morning. After lunch, students will sculpt the same model in water based clay. Models will maintain the same pose for the duration of the workshop.
Curriculum Highlights
* Design Elements: Explore the principles of traditional design inherent in each portrait.
Cultural Immersion Beyond the Studio
Students will journey to the artistic heart of Renaissance Italy with guided excursions to Rome and Florence. These field trips will serve to deepen students’ understanding of the skills and concepts they’re learning in the studio. In addition, they’ll come to appreciate the history of Portraiture itself and its place in the overall history of art.
Florence: visit to the world class Palazzo Pitti, including the Galleria Palatina and the Gallery of Modern Art. The Palatina features some of the greatest paintings of the Renaissance and Baroque periods, while the Moderna hosts masterpieces of traditional art from the 19th century.
Rome: visit to the Musei Capitolini complex, filled with many of the finest Roman copies of Greek sculptures in existence.
Weekends
Weekends are reserved for relaxing and recharging, with optional visits to nearby towns such as Deruta and Todi. Open model time will also be available for those interested.
Join us for this unique experience in Monte Castello di Vibio, where life is always just a little bit magical!
Included in the price
Transfer to and from airport on designated pick-up and drop off dates*
Transportation for excursions to Florence and Rome
Entrance fees to Palazzo Pitti e Musei Capitolini
All class instruction
All meals except for lunch and dinner on the days of our field trips to Florence and Rome
Accommodations in single room with shared bath in the Asilo. (One “matrimoniale” room is also available.)
Private tour of the Teatro della Concordia
Clay and armatures for sculpture
Not included in price
Optional excursions on weekends
Housing upgrades to private room with bath or entire apartment (see options below)
*Pick-up and drop-off at Fiumicino airport on days other than those designated. For those arriving at a different time, an additional charge will be added.
About the food
Delicious meals are lovingly prepared by our expert chefs, Cristiano and Loris. Featuring traditional Umbrian cuisine and always using the freshest ingredients purchased daily, Cristiano and Loris work hard to please everyone, honoring dietary restrictions and food preferences. Breakfast (buffet) and lunch are served indoors, while dinner is held on the scenic rooftop terrace ove
rlooking the valley surrounding Monte Castello di Vibio. To say that this is a breathtaking venue and an extraordinary experience would be an understatement.
Class Schedule
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday (of both weeks):
9:30-1:00 class (drawing/painting)
1:00-2:00 lunch
2:00-2:30 rest
2:30-6:00 class (sculpture)
Wednesdays: field trip Saturdays, Sundays: optional field trips, optional model time, free time
A PERSONAL NOTE FROM CONSTANCE AND KAREN TO YOU, OUR POTENTIAL STUDENTS:
We’ve designed this program with the goal of maximum learning because, as teachers, that’s our responsibility and it’s also who we are. But remember that this is YOUR special experience and it needs to meet your needs. This is an intensive program, so if you’re tired, take a rest. If you miss an hour or even a session, the world won’t come to an end.
Join us in the heart Italy - in our mountaintop "castle town" of Monte Castello di Vibio for an intensive week of wood kiln construction with renowned potter and master kiln-builder, Rudie Delanghe!
Here, deep among the mountains and ancient forests, Roman and Etruscan kilns still dot the clay-rich landscape of the Tiber Valley. Our participants live and work in an ancient mountain village made of stones, which is unchanged since the middle ages. We are surrounded by vineyards and olive groves -and steeped in traditions. This is truly a side of Italy that most travelers never experience!
In this landscape where past meets present, we will follow in the path of the ancestral crafts of the region as we construct a kiln that Rudie has designed and has himself built many times. The 1.5 meter wood fired trolley kiln we build together will constructed with over 2,000 refractory insulation bricks and provide a useable space 100 cm wide, 120 cm long, 130 cm high. This remarkably efficient kiln design is very economical in its use of wood and easy to fire by one person.
Building a wood-fired kiln is a complex process that requires both extensive knowledge and experience as well as careful planning. Rudie will select materials, weld our metal frames and trolley, and lend his direction and masonry expertise to the group as we build the kiln itself. Participants will learn principles that underlie the successful design of a wood kiln and the complex process behind its construction from a master European kiln-builder! This workshop is open to all levels of experience. Those interested in firing their work and experiencing the kiln in action, should consider our subsequent Workshop: Earth, Hands, and Fire: Building Epic Vessels for the Wood Kiln with Eva Champagne October 5- 19, 2025.(Be sure to inquire about reduced pricing for both workshops.)
During the Workshop, participants will be housed in the remarkably well-preserved Umbrian hill town of Monte Castello di Vibio. Your workshop package is all-inclusive, providing welcome and departure services and airport transfer from the Rome Fiumicino, Leonardo Da Vinci Airport (FCO) aboard our comfortable private bus, single occupancy accommodations with shared bath (a wide range of upgrades with private bath are available), 3 meals per day Monday-Thursday, Prosecco brunch and dinner on Saturday and Sunday. Your workshop includes one excursion per week and many additional options are available on weekends for an additional fee. Of course, 24/7 access to facilities and 24/7 bi-lingual support are provided.
Would you like to master one of the most intriguing graphic techniques?
Join "Linocut and Book Illustration" course, which will open up a world of creative expression through linocut and the art of illustration!
You will learn about the history of linocut — from its origins to modern trends.
Understand how different types of strokes, lines, and dots affect the final image.
Gain practical knowledge of compositional rules and learn to convey space, light, and shadows through line work.
Immersion in the creative process:
The course is divided into three practical themes:
You’ll learn how to turn the abstract ideas of poetry into concrete graphic elements, balancing both the text and imagery in a harmonious composition. This will be a opportunity to combine literature and graphic art, allowing participants to deepen their understanding of both mediums while creating a series of meaningful, artistic works.
Join us for an immersive two weeks of creating meaningful ceramic vessels and firing them in ICA Italy’s new wood kiln. Be in the first group to fire this custom-built kiln!
Throughout history ceramic vessels have told stories far more profound than the mere fact of storage or service. During this workshop, we plumb the depths of our own motivations to create vessels which carry our contemporary, personal narratives.
Taking inspiration from the landscape and historical-cultural milieu of Umbria, as well as the unique ideas and influences we each contain within us, we create a series of works that embody a specific moment, investigation, and touch. This workshop explores the vivid possibilities for expression when one adopts a “freestyle” approach to making. We create personal narrative and content through the interplay between form, surface embellishment, and wood firing atmosphere on a series of works inspired by vessels of antiquity.
Eva’s intuitive hand building method creates 3 dimensional “canvases” upon which to explore multiple techniques for mark making, printing, adding depth and texture— in effect, telling a visual story across the surface of each vessel, and then offering these highly expressive works to the new wood kiln, allowing it to have the final word in design.
During our first week together, Eva offers step by step technical guidance, demonstrations, one on one mentoring, and open-forum discussion, as we create our series of vessels at varying scales. We quickly hone our hand building skills, develop tactile acuity, and push our ability to make clay do what we want and convey the thoughts and concerns we wish it to. We investigate numerous ways that the form and surface can be handled for expressive results, be your aim dramatic, vivid, or subtle.
At the end of the first week, we dig up some local clay to work with, allowing us to compare the material qualities and firing results between clay bodies. During week two, we turn our attention to finishing touches to our series, drying them, and preparing for the wood firing. We discuss all aspects of this process, and everyone is hands-on during the inaugural firing itself, which takes about one day. We experience the exhilarating freedom of giving our works over to the wood kiln, since results cannot be entirely predicted. Our process can be described as a collaboration between the maker’s planning and execution, and the kiln’s sweeping endowments and editing: a meeting of intention and fortune.
This intensive period of creative reflection and production undertaken in such a breathtaking setting as Monte Castello Di Vibio will impact your studio practice for a long time to come. This workshop is open to all levels of experience.
Participants will be housed in the remarkably well-preserved Umbrian hill town of Monte Castello di Vibio. Your workshop package is all-inclusive, providing welcome and departure services and airport transfer from the Rome Fiumicino, Leonardo Da Vinci Airport (FCO). Aboard our comfortable private bus, single occupancy accommodations with shared bath (a wide range of upgrades with private bath are available), 3 meals per day Monday-Thursday, Prosecco brunch and dinner on Saturday and Sunday (no meals are served on Friday, our excursion day. Your workshop includes one excursion per week and many additional options are available on weekends for an additional fee. Of course, 24/7 access to facilities and 24/7 bi-lingual support are provided.
Ancient cultures resonate in Umbria and in particular was the cradle of Etruscan Civilization. In respect for these traditions, ICA is proud to offer an intensive -hands-on- studio pottery program on the techniques of Ancient Ceramics, focusing on Greek and Etruscan Pottery. Experts in these techniques will lead participants into one the most appreciated ancient forms in the history of ceramics: Greek and Etruscan Vases. Participants are accommodated in Monte Castello, and the workshop is to be held at our Deruta laboratory, in the Umbrian town renowned for its majolica traditions.
The intensive workshop provides four days of "in-class" work studying decorative techniques of the famous black-figure and red-figure vessels focussing on analysis of specific examples such as the Krater of Euphronius, which describes the history of the Trojan War. The workshop includes lectures focusing on history of the medium with special attention to technical aspects and practical dimensions as well as aesthetic considerations -manifest in their classic shapes and colors.
Participants will work with shapes and decoration characteristic of the Greek Classical Period. The workshop will also focus on sources of the pigments which were harvested from the earth and decanted from clays. The colors we use will be derived from clays, just as in ancient times - participants will even paint their pots with brushes specially made with hare whiskers. Traditional techniques to be covered include: painting, scgraffito, sanding and firing - there will also be a traditional "egg" decoration test, in which color changes with heat, providing insight into a simple but historic decorative technique.
Throughout the workshop, participants will be housed in the remarkably well-preserved Umbrian hill town of Monte Castello di Vibio. Your workshop package is all-inclusive, providing welcome and departure services and airport transfer from the Rome Fiumicino, Leonardo Da Vinci Airport (FCO). Aboard our comfortable private bus, single occupancy accommodations with shared bath (a wide range of upgrades with private bath are available), 3 meals per day Monday-Thursday, Prosecco brunch and dinner on Saturday and Sunday (no meals are served on Friday, our excursion day. Your workshop includes one excursion per week and many additional options are available on weekends for an additional fee. Of course, 24/7 access to facilities and 24/7 bi-lingual support are provided.
Closely linked to Zen culture, in which the beauty and harmony of simple things is exalted, the Raku technique was born in the 16th century as an art for the creation of bowls used during the traditional tea ceremony. It is characterized by a rapid production process and a particular process from which ceramics are obtained which differ in their characteristic cracking and coloring, giving life to unique pieces.
In the 16th century, a type of rapid clay firing, called Raku, was discovered in Japan. This Japanese term has the meaning of "relaxed, pleasant, joy of living" and is traced back to the suburb of Kyoto where clay was extracted at the time. The birth of the Raku technique for creating ceramic objects seems to be attributed to a Korean craftsman, Chojiro. This ceramist, who mainly made tiles, began to use the particular clay, rich in silica sand, to speed up the production process of bowls for the tea ceremony.
The origin of Raku ceramics, with an improvised appearance, full of defects, almost unfinished, is closely connected to Zen thought which is inspired by simplicity, poverty in forms. All those that may seem like "imperfections" in Raku objects are instead exalted and considered "beautiful" in Zen culture. This aspect is also evident in the Kintsugi technique, which involves the repair of a vase or other object through the use of a precious metal: this Japanese art valorises "flaws" and becomes a metaphor of resilience.
The four-day course will cover: modelling, creation of sheet shapes, brush and airbrush glazing techniques, firing with crackle and metal effects. The course also includes 2 or 3 firings which are one of the most fascinating things about the technique.
Throughout the workshop, participants will be housed in the remarkably well-preserved Umbrian hill town of Monte Castello di Vibio. Your workshop package is all-inclusive, providing welcome and departure services and airport transfer from the Rome Fiumicino, Leonardo Da Vinci Airport (FCO). Aboard our comfortable private bus, single occupancy accommodations with shared bath (a wide range of upgrades with private bath are available), 3 meals per day Monday-Thursday, Prosecco brunch and dinner on Saturday and Sunday (no meals are served on Friday, our excursion day. Your workshop includes one excursion per week and many additional options are available on weekends for an additional fee. Of course, 24/7 access to facilities and 24/7 bi-lingual support are provided.
