🌀 Sculptural Cob Walls: Shape, Structure, and Soul

🌀 Sculptural Cob Walls: Shape, Structure, and Soul
📅 September 5–14 (10 days)
💰 $815

Want to build with your hands, your heart, and a big pile of mud?

In this extended, hands-on workshop, we’ll guide you through the entire process of building load-bearing cob walls (from base to bond beam) with a focus on strength, creativity, and flow. This is where function meets sculpture, and you’ll leave with the confidence to build something truly your own.

Cob is tactile, forgiving, expressive, and strong. Perfect for cabins, studios, garden walls, and structures that feel alive.

What we’ll cover:

• Soil testing and mixing cob by hand and foot

• Foundation-to-wall transitions

• Cob wall building, shaping, and structural sculpting

• Incorporating curves, niches, benches, shelves, and arches

• Thermal mass and wall thickness

• Embedding bottles, stones, wood, and window frames during organic construction

• Daily hands-on practice with expert guidance

We’ll be working on a real structure in a forest setting, with plenty of time for both technical learning and creative expression.

This workshop is part of our Fall Earthbuilding Series at Talking Water Nature Retreat, our family-run forest retreat on Suck Creek Mountain in Chattanooga, TN. Together, we’re building a bluff-top amphitheater using natural and repurposed materials, each element teaching skills you can take home.

🌿 Pricing includes:

• All tools and materials

• Daily breakfast, lunch, snacks, and drinks

• One homemade, healthy group dinner

💸 Discounts available:

• 10% off for group sign-ups

• 15% off for attending multiple workshops

🏕️ On-site camping: $20 per tent
🏡 Discounted cabin rentals available (limited availability)

📩 Email: Bobbie@TalkingWaterTN.com
🔗 Sign-up & workshop info: talkingwatertn.com
📍 Suck Creek Mountain – Chattanooga, TN (15 mins from downtown, next to Prentice Cooper State Forest)
🔗 Facebook share link: https://www.facebook.com/share/1H1dgCprih/

🛠️ Fall 2025 Earthbuilding Workshop Series at Talking Water

Each workshop is a hands-on, focused session. Join just one or come for the whole journey!

🪨 Dry-Stacked Stone Foundations
For drainage & erosion control
📅 August 25–28 (4 days)
💰 $480

🪞 Bottle-Log Windows
For beauty & light diffusion
📅 August 30–31 (2 days)
💰 $315

🪵 Load-Bearing Cordwood Walls
📅 September 13–14 or September 20–21 (2 days)
💰 $315

🌀 Sculptural Cob Walls
📅 September 5–14 (10 days)
💰 $815

🪷 Natural Plasters
Breathable, weather-ready finishes
📅 September 24–28 (5 days)
💰 $580

🏡 Reciprocal Green Roof
Thermal mass & elegant structure
📅 October 12–16 (5 days)
💰 $580