Every other Saturday, guests can experience one of those perspectives through Tides & Textures, a new summer course led by an American artist, inspired by the ocean, seaside living, and marine life. Over a relaxed 2.5-hour session, participants of all ages shape their own ceramic piece from a kilo of clay, choosing from three foundational hand-building methods: pinch pot, coil building, and slab construction. The result can be functional or purely sculptural: a bowl, a mug, a wall hanging, a candle holder, a small creature, a planter, or something entirely abstract. No prior experience needed.

Ocean Pottery, Thursday Mornings

Thursday mornings also belong to clay. Ocean Pottery draws on the sea and on Portuguese and Slavic ceramic traditions, introducing techniques like majolica and azulejo through both wheel and hand-building. Relaxed, approachable, and open to all ages, it is the starting point for anyone new to working with clay.

Golden Layers, Thursday Afternoons

Thursday afternoons shift to oil paint. Golden Layers is the academy's signature oil painting course, led by a New Zealand artist with a graphic design background. Students work through colour, brushwork, and composition at their own pace, in a relaxed atmosphere where there are no mistakes, only opportunities to create.

Watercolour Workshops

Watercolour rewards a lighter hand. These workshops use washes and wet-on-wet blending, drawing on Algarvian motifs and classic English botanical watercolour, an easy entry point for first-timers and a chance for returning painters to loosen up their technique.

Plein Air Sessions

For students who prefer open sky to studio walls, Plein Air Sessions take the easel outdoors: onto the coast, into the countryside, small cozy streets and bougainvillea yards, wherever the light is best. Working with watercolour or gouache on location means reading changing colour, light and atmosphere in real time. Students will learn exactly how to build an image and lead the viewer's eye, guided through composition flow, colour mixing, and strong fundamentals.

Intermediate and Advanced Wheel Work with a Portuguese Master

For those ready to go further, the academy is preparing intensive wheel courses this summer, led by a renowned Portuguese ceramic artist. It is a rare opportunity to learn centring, throwing, and refining form from a true master of the craft. There is usually a waiting list to learn from him. Places are limited. Mark your interest now.

A Studio Built on Continuity

Making art regularly is not just enjoyable; research links it to lower stress, sharper focus, and longer, healthier lives. Portuguese, Slavic, American, New Zealand: each perspective adds something the others do not, and each class becomes a small meeting point between cultures. Over time, that builds more than a course list: a community bound not by geography, but by a shared love of making things with care.

Website: https://algarvearts.academy/

Address: Urbanização Al-Sakia Village, Lhm, Av. da Fonte Santa 10 Loja 7, 8125-020 Quarteira

Email: jg@algarvearts.academy

Telephone number (WhatsApp): +351 911 575 403

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