Residency
All photos on this page were taken by Quin Cheung, resident of The Six 2025
The sIX 2026…
Collaborate, connect, and rejuvenate: January 15 to February 26, 2026
A residency is a chance to fully dedicate yourself to your art, taking it in new directions, building critical skills, and getting inspired by new influences.
I offer a residency at Il Baciarino called The Six: for six weeks, 6 ceramic artists gather in Tuscany to work collaboratively on a goal they set for their own practice. The Six is collaborative, restorative, joyful residency in a culturally rich setting. It’s guided by the resident artists themselves using a female leadership model.
Would you like to join us? Send me an email.
Would you like to learn more about how The Six 2025 went?
I offer each artist;
Their own cottage to live in
A dedicated space in the studio
Daily one-on-one support and mentoring
Accountability for the goals they set themselves
Lunch together during the week
Regular structured activities to promote self exploration and reflection
As a group, we;
Have structured and conscious cross-pollination opportunities
Hold weekly critiques
Visit various local sites for inspiration and relaxation
Create and install a final group exhibition (here’s what The Six 2025’s exhibit looked like)
Infrastructure available to the artists includes;
A choice of three standard clay bodies: a red robust clay body (Solargil's J30) great for flameware, sculptural work, or large throwing; a black clay body (Sibelco's Nigra) good for both sculpture and throwing, and a very plastic white claybody (Sila's WM) great for throwing and for showing flamework.
Five wheels; four shimpo electric wheels, one trimming wheel
An extruder with multiple extrusion disks
A glaze kitchen with raw materials for creating glazes, washes, coloured slips, etc.
Four kilns; an Olsen fast-fire wood kiln, a gas soda kiln, a raku kiln, and a Rohde electric kiln
Access to a woodshop, metalshop, and textile studio to support interdisciplinary exploration.
Group use of a car (with manual transmission) for getting groceries or other necessities.
The artists are responsible for;
Transportation to and from Grosseto, Italy
Your own breakfast and dinner
Medical insurance
Shipping any completed work home
Contributing 4850€ per artist to cover costs
“After six weeks of living and working in a space shaped by female leadership, I’ve come to see it as an approach rooted in adaptability, intuition, and collective strength. It’s a way of working that values process as much as outcome, encourages open dialogue, and recognizes that leadership isn’t about control or fixing—it’s about creating space for myself and others to thrive.
Feminine leadership feels different from masculine leadership in that it often prioritizes fluidity over rigidity, collaboration over hierarchy, and emotional intelligence as a strength rather than a liability. It fosters an environment where exploration is encouraged, vulnerability is seen as a tool for growth, and success is measured not just by output, but by the quality of the experience itself.
This residency reinforced the power of leading with curiosity, of making room for uncertainty, and of trusting in the collective wisdom of those around me. It has challenged me to bring more of that approach into my own practice—both in my art and in the way I engage with the world.”
Thank you to Dave and Quin Cheung for capturing the residency so lovingly!
This is a good fit for you if you are:
An active artist; the residency isn't designed for beginners or hobbyists - please instead consider one of our retreats or intensives.
Flexible and resilient to change; things may not go as planned. You need to be adaptable to changing circumstances.
Knowledgeable about the tools of the trade (kilns, clays, glazes, etc) and have enough experience with ceramics to be able to work independently without supervision in a ceramics studio.
Open to sharing your knowledge with others. The experience will be all the richer for everyone’s active contributions.
Female or someone who thrives in a feminine space. Our working practices and leadership style will be distinctly feminine; collaborative, inclusive, team oriented, empathetic, authentic, and based on active listening and relationship building. You’ve got to be pretty comfortable talking about your needs and feelings for this to work!
Interested? Send me an email. Candidates will be expected to submit a portfolio and a letter of intent to considered for the residency.
Application deadline: September 15, 2025.
In the months leading up to the residency, I will work with each artist to establish a proposed growth goal for their time during the residency.
Residencies held at Il Baciarino, Vetulonia Italy
“I’ve rediscovered the importance of play, of following the spark of inspiration and enthusiasm. And for the first time in my life I see myself as an artist.”
