Botanical Impressions in Clay

Name: Botanical Impressions in Clay
Start: 2026-09-19T16:00:00
Location: Maker Room

The afternoon begins with a walk. Meagen Svendsen leads a slow loop through the grounds — the grapevines, the kitchen garden, the volunteer plants that turn up along the edges — stopping to look closely at leaf shape and vein structure, and to name what is actually growing here in September. What you gather on that walk becomes your material. Back in the Maker Room you'll press the foliage into soft clay, lifting an impression fine enough to hold the smallest veins, then shape and finish the form. Wax pastels and acrylic are on hand for anyone who wants to bring colour to the surface. You'll leave with a finished wall hanging and a sharper eye for the plant life you walked past on the way in. No experience needed; all levels are welcome.

Meet our Instructor Book Now

The Experience

Date: Saturday, September 19, 2026
Time: 4:00–6:00 pm
Location: Maker Room, Appellation Healdsburg
Capacity: 12 guests
Price: $95 per guest

Led by Meagen Svendsen, Appellation Healdsburg’s Artist-in-Residence for September. Her work in porcelain and clay begins with the forms she finds outdoors; this workshop begins the same way. All materials provided, all levels welcome.

Features

Walk the grounds with Meagen Svendsen, looking closely at the grapevines, garden beds and wild edges that shape a Sonoma September.
Learn to read a leaf for the qualities that press well — vein depth, edge, structure — and how clay holds that detail.
Create a finished botanical wall hanging, brought to colour with wax pastel or acrylic if you choose, and take it home with you.

Artist-in-Residence, September 2026

Meagen Svendsen

Ceramic Artist

Meagen Svendsen’s vernacular of ceramic works references the shared impact and cross-pollination of the human-made and natural world.

Informed by her years living in France, Japan, Mexico and Russia, and inspired by an inquiry into current discoveries in biology, ecology and neuroscience, she explores tensions between the perception of nature as exotic other and the practical implications of scientific findings on the interconnection between wildlife and humanity.