Retreats in the Makhonjwa Mountains

Every workshop centres on raw earth, plant fibers, and traditional processing methods. You make, test, and take home working materials alongside finished art.

Clay from the Ground Up

Paper Day Weekend

Stretch Your Own Canvas

Earth Pigments & Paint

Find, dig, sieve, and wedge local Barberton clay. Hand-build functional vessels and fire your pieces using traditional open-pit methods.

Beat reed, mulberry bark, and cotton rag in wooden vats. Pull sheets straight from the deckle, press, dry, and draw on your own handmade paper.

Build heavy timber stretcher frames from local scrap wood. Stretch unprimed cotton canvas and apply traditional sizing and handmade rabbit-skin gesso.

Collect raw iron-rich ochres and shales from the hills. Grind and mull the dry earth with natural binders into rich watercolour, tempera, and oil paints.

The 5-Day Full Kit Retreat: make every single medium from raw earth, pulp, and timber, then complete one finished painting using only what you forged.

Designed for dedicated makers seeking total material independence. Enquiries open for upcoming seasonal dates.

What to expect on site

Morning field collection

Rigorous hands-on processing

Studio application & critique

We gather in the studio at dawn to review the day's raw elements before heading out to source ochre, clay, or bark from permitted local sites.

Mull pigments on heavy glass slabs, beat wet fiber in wooden vats, or wedge sticky clay by hand until the material meets structural standard.

Test your freshly forged materials on paper, canvas, or clay. We close each afternoon with peer review and open discussion around material behavior.

All retreats take place at the BArts workshop in the Makhonjwa Mountains of Barberton, Mpumalanga. Accommodation and daily meals are arranged locally upon booking [DETAILS TBC]. Participants must bring sturdy field clothing, protective footwear, and a notebook for material logs.

Workshops welcome all skill levels, from professional painters seeking material depth to adventurous beginners. Group sizes are strictly capped at eight participants to ensure direct supervision at the glass mulling slab and paper vats. Contact our team directly for specific material transport and dietary requirements.