Clay learning with room to notice.
The unique story of a Buenos Aires studio founded around calm, practical making and the velvet kiln philosophy.
Our story
ClearAura Clay Studio began in 2017 with a single table in a quiet Palermo apartment. Mara Benítez invited six neighbors to shape clay together using only their hands and an amber notebook of observations.
Word spread through Buenos Aires. By 2020 the studio moved to a converted warehouse in San Telmo, where the first velvet kiln was built. Today the space hosts daily workshops that honor silence, repetition, and the quiet orbit of making.
First six-person workshop in Palermo
Opened San Telmo location with the velvet kiln
Launched the amber notebook curriculum for all students
Introduced the quiet orbit residency program
Our mission
We help people develop observation, patience, and material confidence through accessible clay practice that respects the pace of each maker.
How we teach
Observe before shaping
Students spend the first ten minutes of every class simply looking at the clay, the light, and their own hands before any tool is touched.
Learn through repetition
We repeat the same simple forms for weeks. Mastery arrives not through novelty but through the steady accumulation of small adjustments.
Finish with care
Every piece is sanded, signed, and placed in the amber notebook with a short written reflection before it leaves the studio.
Meet the team
Mara started ClearAura after studying ceramics in Córdoba and working in a traditional pottery village in northern Argentina. She believes clay is a conversation, not a command.
Tomás maintains the velvet kiln and teaches the technical side of firing. He previously worked in industrial ceramics in Rosario before joining the studio in 2019.
Inés leads the quiet orbit residency and the amber notebook writing workshops. She trained as a sculptor in La Plata and brings a deep sensitivity to surface and texture.
Begin your studio chapter
Join our community of makers in Buenos Aires and shape quiet moments into lasting form.