This is New Ways with Clay—a week-long immersive workshop designed not just to teach, but to transform. Guided by celebrated ceramicists Reyaz Badaruddin and Élodie Alexandre, this residency-style retreat offers a rare kind of learning: one rooted in trust, dialogue, and deep attention to material.
What We Explore
Over six days, artists are invited to break routine, loosen their grip, and find new ways into clay. This isn’t about mastering the perfect form—it’s about discovering new possibilities.
You’ll explore:
- Slab construction and hand-building
- Sculptural form-making
- Texture, slip, and mark-making
- Surface development through drawing and collage
- Storytelling through clay—form as narrative
The work is tactile, raw, often abstract—but deeply grounded in intention.
Meet the Facilitators
Reyaz Badaruddin
With over two decades of practice, Reyaz is one of India’s most respected contemporary ceramic voices. A Charles Wallace fellow, an alumnus of Cardiff School of Art & Design, and co-founder of Atelier Lālmitti in Andretta, Himachal Pradesh, his work bridges traditional Indian craftsmanship and international ceramic innovation.
His approach to teaching is calm, precise, and profoundly patient. Reyaz emphasizes clarity in construction and encourages artists to slow down—to trust form, weight, and balance. He’s known for helping artists move beyond decoration, toward sculptural integrity and conceptual clarity.
“Good work begins when you stop controlling and start responding,” he often says.
Élodie Alexandre
Originally from France, Élodie holds a BA and MA in Ceramics from Cardiff School of Art & Design. Her work dances between clay, illustration, storytelling, and personal memory. She brings a poetic sensitivity to the studio, inviting artists to work intuitively, symbolically, and with care.
As a teacher, she listens as much as she guides. Her method is rooted in play, softness, and quiet attention—often using drawing, storytelling, and collage to unlock form. She helps artists find meaning in imperfection, voice in gesture, and truth in the process itself.
Together, Reyaz and Élodie offer something rare: a dual perspective that honors both structure and surrender, technique and instinct, precision and poetry.
Their Studio: Atelier Lālmitti
Founded in the artists’ village of Andretta, Atelier Lālmitti is more than a studio—it’s a living, breathing space for clay-led learning. The two artists have created a nurturing environment for students, residents, and apprentices from around the world.
Many of their past students have gone on to start their own studios, receive international fellowships, or pursue MFA programs abroad.
Their philosophy? To offer a space where people can slow down and work with intention—not to become production potters, but to become thoughtful makers.
Who This Workshop Is For
This retreat is designed for:
- Intermediate or practicing ceramicists
- Sculptors interested in clay
- Artists seeking a more open, intuitive relationship with form
- Makers interested in process-based exploration and personal storytelling
It’s not about producing a perfect set of objects. It’s about letting something new emerge through process, conversation, and place.
The Workshop Flow
Each day is slow and spacious:
- Morning + Afternoon Studio Sessions (approx. 4–5 hours/day)
- Guided demonstrations, one-on-one feedback, group conversations
- Informal walks, shared meals, and plenty of unstructured time to think and make
Participants work in terracotta, exploring hand-built sculptural forms, surface development, and narrative through texture and image.
What You’ll Leave With
By the end of the week, you’ll have a small body of work—but more importantly, a shifted perspective.
You’ll leave with:
- A deeper relationship to your materials
- New hand-building and surface techniques
- Confidence in sculptural thinking
- A renewed sense of presence in your making
How to Join
Dates: Usually April, stay updated on our website for the upcoming dates.
Location: Dharamkot Studio, Himachal Pradesh
Fee: ₹64,500 + 18% GST (includes materials, meals, shared room)
Spots: Limited to 10 participants
To apply, write to manoj@dharamkotstudio.com with your:
- Portfolio (5–10 images of recent work)
- Brief CV
- A few lines about what excites you about this workshop
Final Thoughts
“New Ways with Clay” is a space to pause, to play, to push your own edges. It’s a space where clay becomes not just material, but metaphor—something to speak through.
Under Reyaz and Élodie’s generous guidance, you’ll not only learn—you’ll feel changed.
If you’re ready to listen more closely to the material—and to yourself—this may be the beginning of something entirely new.