7-Day Off-Grid Artist Retreat — Terracotta Makuu, Big Island of Hawaii

 Seven days.  Three art forms. Two farms that will ruin ordinary chocolate and coffee for you permanently.  One corner of the Big Island of Hawaii that has been inspiring artists since Pele created it.

This is not a resort getaway. There is no infinity pool and no hard start and stop times. No tourist traps and no up-selling. This is an artist retreat one and half years in the making, in collaboration with local artists and farmers. We'll take you to our favorite hidden spots (and swear you to secrecy about them), introduce fruits and flavors you've never even dreamed of, and help you truly unplug and come back to your self. 

You’ll leave with pottery you threw, glass you blew into existence over fire, ocean watercolor paintings you made of one of the most paintable landscapes on earth, a front-row education in two of the most ancient art forms, and a very strong opinion about where your coffee and chocolate should come from.

Welcome to the Terracotta Makuʻu 7-Day Off-Grid Artist Retreat.

Maximum 8 participants. This is intentional. The experience depends on it.

June 19-26, 2027

🌺 The Itinerary:

Day 1 — Aloha
Land. Exhale. Let the Big Island do its thing. Check in to the off-grid studio at Terracotta Makʻu and get your hands into clay before the sun goes down — a gentle intro to hand-building, no experience required, no pressure to be good at it yet. The only goal today is presence.

 Communal dinner under the stars. The island introduces itself on its own terms.

Day 2 — Clay Day
Wheel throwing or hand-building — your call, your pace. Morning instruction followed by open studio time to experiment and find your voice in the material. Make whatever the island is whispering to you.

Afternoon:  We'll head to the Maku'u Farmers Market to take in the sights, tastes and smells of the Big Island's farmers and artists. Then we'll cool off in the waves with turtles and tropical fish at one of our favorite, secret beaches.

Evening: back in the clay studio for good food, better conversation, and turning the day's inspiration into ceramics. 

Day 3 — Cacao, Snorkeling & Watercolor 
After breakfast with the geckos on the lanai, we will enjoy a private guided tour of a local cacao farm — from pod to chocolate, tasted at the source in the shade of trees that smell like a dream.

Afternoon: We'll head to the beach to cool off, snorkel, and enjoy plein air water color painting, fresh-caught poke and an intoxicating breeze. 

Evening: Come back to the studio with a sketchbook full of paintings, pockets full of cacao nibs, and a completely new understanding of where chocolate comes from.  Dinner will be prepared while you decompress in the studio with clay or more painting. Dinner under the stars. 

Day 4 — Kona Coffee and Glass
Morning: a guided coffee farm tour where you’ll trace Kona coffee from cherry to cup and taste it in a way that makes every other cup feel slightly apologetic. Then we will return to the studio to throw and hand-build mugs worthy of Kona coffee, and forever filled with memories of your week in paradise. 

In the afternoon we will travel to visit a local glass blowing artist in his studio, and get a chance to make your own small glass waves out of earth and fire.  Pele will be glad you're taking this home and not one of her rocks. 

Day 5 — Fire & Pele 

We will start our day with local Kona coffee in the clay studio and continue to work on our island-inspired mugs and pottery. 

Then we will head to the Hilo Farmers Market to taste, touch and enjoy lunch on our own with the local artists, farmers and music. After lunch we will head to the newest beach on the island to experience the uniquely Hawaiian heated tide pools Pele creates with every high tide.

Finally, we will head to Kilauea to meet Pele and see the island's famous, occasionally- fountaining volcano up-close.  Enjoy dinner on your own at the Volcano House before heading back to the retreat and studio for the night, desert and drinks around the fire and under the stars. 

Day 6 — Free Day

The itinerary steps aside. Today is entirely yours. Hike the lava fields and walk on land that didn’t exist a decade ago. Swim in the ocean. Return to your watercolors and pottery with fresh eyes and a week’s worth of new references. Sleep in. Wander. Sit somewhere beautiful and do absolutely nothing, which is harder than it sounds and more necessary than most people admit. The island will suggest something. Follow it.

We will regroup around a fire under the stars and swap stories, inspiration and fresh island deserts about two hours after sunset.

Day 7 — Reveal & Celebrate
The kiln opens. Your pottery emerges — fired, finished, and ready to travel. Your watercolors are dry. Your blown glass piece is already your favorite thing you own. Your sketchbook is full. Closing circle. A final meal worth every mile of travel. You’ll leave with a collection of work in three mediums, a deep respect for art forms you watched masters practice and tried yourself, a very personal relationship with cacao and coffee, and the kind of quiet that only comes from spending seven days making things in a beautiful place. Safe travels. We’ll miss you immediately.

✨ What’s included:

• 7 days and 6 nights at Terracotta Makuʻu, our private off-grid studio on the Big Island of Hawaii
• Pottery: all clay, glazes, tools, materials, and kiln firing
• Watercolor: all paints, paper, brushes, and instruction
• Hands-on glass blowing session at a local hot shop
  
• Guided cacao farm tour and tasting
• Guided coffee farm tour and tasting
• Expert instruction in pottery, watercolor, and glass blowing — all skill levels welcome, no prior experience required
• Almost all meals prepared with fresh, hyper-local ingredients including tropical fruits, fish, and farm-sourced cacao and coffee (please flag dietary needs in advance)
• A finished collection of pottery, watercolor paintings, and a blown glass piece to bring home
• One full free day to explore, rest, and let the island whisper to you
  
• transportation to the included excursions
• The kind of creative reset that changes you forever

🌿 What’s not included:

• Flights and transportation to the studio
• Purchases at artist studios (optional)
• Additional optional excursions beyond the included farm tours and studio visits
• Some meals (see description above)
• Your pre-retreat stress (please leave it at the airport — we mean this sincerely)

All skill levels welcome. You do not need pottery experience. You do not need watercolor experience. You do not need glass blowing experience. You need curiosity, a willingness to stand near a very hot furnace, and the good judgment to book before one of the other seven people does.

Maximum 8 participants. The studio is intimate by design, instruction is personal by intention, and the whole experience works better when the group stays small. Eight spots. Adults only. That’s it.

If you’ve been waiting for a reason to book a flight to Hawaii and re-connect with your soul, plus make somethings — several somethings, actually — this is it. 🌊🎺🌶☕🎨

For more photos of Terracotta Makuʻu, our off-grid studio, and the Big Island, follow us on Instagram: @TerracottaMakuu