Workshop
Weekly residential pottery courses with one-to-one tuition.
Spend a week in a 17th century mill, in the Dordogne countryside and improve your skills in, throwing, glazing, decorating and firing stoneware and porcelain. Courses tutored by Sylph Baier, a professional potter with more than three decades’ experience, in a creative and fun environment.
The mill is in an area which is accredited as a bird sanctuary and is situated in a valley with extensive woodland walks.
Included with the Courses
- Bergerac airport or Mussidan train station transfers by arrangement.
N.B. during the winter months there are no flights to Bergerac; arrivals are via Paris or Bordeaux airport followed by a one hour train journey to 24400 Mussidan. - Full board and lodging. Continental buffet breakfast (students make their own breakfast in their own quarters with the food provided at a time of their own convenience; that lessons start at 9am), a 3 course lunch will be taken at 5 different local restaurants, or at the Moulin, with mainly organic vegetables from the garden and a light buffet supper at 6pm. A small carafe of locally sourced organic wine is included. Additional organic wine can be purchased by the bottle. Note: vegans and vegetarians can be catered for.
- Up to 5kg of finished and fired work in Limoges porcelain or 10kg of stoneware clay. (Additional work can be made and is charged separately at Euro 12 per fired and glazed kg of Limoges porcelain and Euro 6 for stoneware and can be shipped at cost price)
Tuition
Workshop tuition runs from Monday to Friday, 9-12h and 14-17h and would suit students with some throwing experience but total beginners can also be catered for, as well as other production techniques from hand building to slip-casting, decorating techniques, glazing and firing in an electric or reduction gas kiln.
Some recent feedback from visitors/students
- July 2023. At Sylph Baier you will spend a wonderful week in a dreamlike ambience.
The days are filled with creativity and in-depth knowledge of the craft of pottery. Sylph is a wonderful and sensitive teacher who makes this week an unforgettable holiday with a lot of heart and care. Thank you for this incredibly enriching experience!
Bei Sylph Baier verbringst du eine wunderschöne Woche im traumhaften Ambiente.
Die Tage sind gefüllt mit Kreativität und fundiertem Wissen über das Handwerk des Töpferns. Sylph ist eine wundervolle und einfühlsame Lehrerin, die mit viel Herz und Fürsorge diese Woche zu einem unvergesslichen Urlaub macht. Danke für diese unglaublich bereichernde Erfahrung!
- June 2023. Well if you're thinking of booking a week of pottery …..do it!
Sylph went above and beyond making our stay as comfortable and relaxing as possible. To my surprise as I didn’t notice on booking we were taken to a fantastic restaurant for the most delicious lunch every day. Sylph has taken the time to choose different ones in different locations so we saw the countryside. This was a real treat. And then to be cooked a delicious meal in the evening to …… could it get any better !
The countryside around the house is just stunning and nature at its most beautiful. Wild flowers, adorn everywhere you look.
The pottery lessons were full and packed with knowledge. And my husband and I feel we both have learnt so much. No amount of evening classes could cover what we did in just 6 days. Sylph is encouraging, enthusiastic and incredibly knowledgeable.
We had the most amazing relaxing of holidays and would do it all again.
Thank you Sylph, Chelsea and scruff the adorable dog.
Danielle and Phil from England
- May 2023. This was without a doubt the most wonderful ceramic training I have ever experienced.
As an instructor, Sylph goes above and beyond to assure that you come away having improved your skills but also inspired to take on the next challenge. I chose to make a teapot, something I had never attempted and knew would be difficult, with all of its individual components. Sylph has endless patience and I loved the challenge. I am so pleased with the results and can’t wait to get back into my own studio to apply what I’ve learned.
And if all of the above wasn’t enough…the accommodations, meals and care I received during my stay were exceptional. I am already dreaming about returning!
Jennifer Duffy- Mill Valley, CA
- April 2023. The one-week pottery course with Sylph was simply fantastic!
- March 2023. What a beautiful and brilliant week with Sylph. I was a complete beginner. I wanted to learn ceramics for a long time.
My husband found out about Sylph. I talked with her on emails and WhatsApp. She was very friendly.
Then I decided to go and learn from Sylph. On 5 to12 March 2023 I was there for a whole week. That was a wonderful full experience for me. Her accommodations is beautiful and peaceful. Weather was still cold but the bedroom was so warm. Every morning she came early with coffee and lit the fire in the fire place. When I came down the drawing room was already warm.
I am gluten intolerant. She has full of gluten free food in her kitchen. She made gluten free cake especially for me. She has lots of good flavoured teas . Every day we went for lunch in local restaurants. She talked in advance to the restaurant to prepare gluten free and vegetarian food for me. She is so caring.
Sylph is a very good, excellent and experienced teacher. I learnt a lot. I threw lots of useful things that still I can’t believe I made. My husband and my family were so surprised to see those things. I worked with stoneware and porcelain. I learnt about glaze, underglaze, paint on glaze and dipping in glaze. Every evening she showed me very informative and interesting video clips. That was very useful.
Najma Sheikh
Accommodation & Prices
Blue room (en-suite shower & toilet)
Double (the Blue Room) with en-suite shower and toilet: € 1450 per student (course fee and full board and lodging).
Double (the Red Room) with en-suite shower and toilet: € 1450 per student (course fee and full board and lodging).
Partners are welcome for a holiday only at € 725 each for full board and lodging without the tuition fees.
If you wish to book, a deposit of 20% secures your booking and is non refundable should you wish to cancel.
The balance is due one month prior to your arrival.
We ask guests to use only environmentally friendly products.
Please note 1: The staircases in the mill leading to the first floor bedrooms are steep and unsuitable for people with walking difficulties and small children and toddlers. We also have uneven flagstones on the entrance of the property which date from the 17th century and access to all parts of the property is at visitors own risk.
Please note 2: We follow permaculture principles and try to live sustainably by conserving water and electricity, growing our own food, and recycling as much as we can. We ask you to support us in this endeavour.
Other Information
Transfers are included from and to Bergerac airport which has flights coming in from Stansted and Southampton. I will need to know your flight number, details and time of arrival and departure, so I can be there to collect you. N.B. During the winter months there are no flights to Bergerac, arrivals are via Paris or Bordeaux airport followed by a one hour train journey to 24400 Mussidan.
You will need to book your flight well in advance arriving on the Sunday and departing on the Saturday.
We stock a good selection of local wines, mainly from the Bergerac and Bordeaux region.
You will need to let me know if you have any special dietary requirements.
There is WiFi but in this rural location it has to be via satellite which can be intermittent.
Please get in touch if you have any additional questions or if you fancy a chat. I can ring you on a landline after 8pm English time.
Further information or if you wish to book, please contact Sylph Baier at info@sylphbaierceramics.com