Please join the California Straw Building Association for:
Ray And Roman's Clay Plaster Finish Coat Workshop!
North Fork, CA
November 22-23, 2025
Join us for a Clay Plaster Finish Coat Workshop! The workshop is being led by experienced clay builders Darles Eaton and Chris McClellan aka Uncle Mud.
Finally, the moment we’ve all been waiting for: finish clay plaster. We’ve taken this beautiful fire re-build, designed by Arkin Tilt, all the way from the straw bale raise earlier in the summer, through scratch and brown coats. Now, it’s time for the pay-off for all our hard work—smooth, sinuous, and delectable finish plaster. We’ll review how we’ve prepped and shaped our wall planes, window jams, and edges to make the finish coat as successful as possible. We’ll learn how to tape and mask for a clean and precisely executed finish plaster, how to plaster the field as efficiently and proficiently as possible, as well as how to tackle the trickier parts. We’ll also cover troubleshooting for blending seams and differing application styles. This coat is all about texture and continuity, so we’ll employ strategic planning and time management for each wall to enable the best possible results.
The finish coat builds on skill-sets developed during the scratch and brown coats—beginning to understand the materials, tools, language, and techniques—so prior participation in both scratch and brown coat workshops is a requirement. If you’d like to be granted an exception, there will be six slots for participants without plastering experience who will play supporting roles in the plaster process, offered on a first-come, first-serve basis.
About the site: Come enjoy the beauty of North Fork, located in the central Sierra foothills. The site has a creek running through the property with a gorgeous swimming hole. Camping is available on-site, with showers and an outdoor kitchen. It will likely be quite chilly at night, so come prepared for the cold. For those not prepared for cold-weather camping, indoor camping will be available in the building we’ll be plastering, and there will be plenty of airbnbs nearby for those who prefer greater comfort. Meals will be cooked by Chef Judith, who has worked professionally as a private chef in Beverly Hills, wowed the last workshop with her incredibly healthy, tasty, and well-balanced menus. Participants are invited to come up early on Friday Nov. 21st to maximize their learning potential by working alongside instructors and professional plasterers. The workshop will be instructed by Darles Eaton and Uncle Mud, who are both passionate about making natural building accessible to all, be it through education, savvy tricks to save money and repurpose materials, hands-on projects, or bringing natural building into the forefront of mainstream construction.
Cost: $225
Breakfast 7:30 am
Workshop begins 8:30 am, Ends 5 pm
Invitation from Ray and Roman:
Friends, As you may know, we are rebuilding our home that was destroyed by a wildfire in North Fork, California. Some interest has been expressed in finding out more about the house, and the evolving fields of Sustainable Design and Green Building which is why we hosted a bale raising and a plastering party. See a time-lapse video of the bale raising here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZyW8OAFVas. Now we are inviting you to learn and help with the plastering process.
The house is a passive/active solar design which incorporates straw-bale, solar control, massive floors, and an off-grid solar electric system. Its straw-bale portion is a non-load- bearing (aka infill) straw-bale design.
The Workshop will take place on Friday/Saturday/Sunday. Camping is available (Thursday) Friday/Saturday/and Sunday nights for those who need it. Saturday and Sunday the workshop will begin at 8:30 am.
There are many great spots on the property for you to make a campsite. (There is a full bathroom and hot shower available for all) I know some of you are bringing camper vans to park, and there are also many Airbnbs in town if that is more your jam.
We will provide meals and drinks throughout the day starting with breakfast at 7:30 am sharp. If you are local to NF and want to bring a snack, dessert or side-dish to share just let us know! Also, if you are unable to attend but want to help out, you can Venmo Ray a donation for meals. ( His Venmo is @Ray-Ford ) Or you can Zelle him at 323-445-6365. If you don't want to deal with the plaster at all we are also looking for someone to help wrangle food and meal prep. Just let Ray know.
The house is in North Fork, CA 93643. We will provide directions and related information to you once you let us know that you can join us. Please wear sturdy shoes and long sleeves, and bring gloves, a water bottle and a mask if you have them. Anyone with plastering tools is certainly invited to bring these.
We hope to see you there!
Registration: https://www.strawbuilding.org/event-6406982
