Creative retreats, painting
vacations & art getaways

Amy Brand

August 15 - 20, 2027

Storybook Characters & Woodland Treasures: A Five-Day Needle Felting Retreat

Medium: Fiber Art

Level: All Levels

Location: Studio

Status:

Rates & Enrollment

Deposit is $450

Day Student Tuition: $1,596

Inn-Stay Package*: $2,664 - $3,220

*Your Inn-Stay Retreat Package includes:

Workshop Tuition, lodging, dinner 2 nights (welcome and farewell), breakfast and lunch each day, daily snack breaks, unlimited coffee, tea & seltzer.

For your independent dinners, there are many restaurants with a wide variety of cuisines and price points, within comfortable walking distance of the Inn, plus Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe’s.

You can choose a room to yourself (single occupancy) or double your fun, bring a friend and split a room (double occupancy).

To learn more about your options or to register, click the Register Now button.

About This Workshop

Join fiber artist Amy Brand for an immersive five-day exploration into the art of needle felting. Designed for all skill levels, this retreat combines traditional sculpting techniques with imagination, storytelling, and an appreciation for the beauty of the natural world.

The retreat begins with a half-day introduction as students create an amanita mushroom on a mossy woodland base. This charming project provides the perfect foundation for the week, introducing core felting techniques, working with different fibers, creating smooth forms and organic textures, and incorporating natural materials into a finished piece.

Students will then create a whimsical storybook mouse, learning how to build a strong wire armature, sculpt expressive features, and bring personality to their work through thoughtful design. We will bring our mice to life with handmade clothing and carefully crafted accessories such as satchels, miniature books, and butterfly nets.

To complete the retreat, students will sculpt a blackbird, exploring a different style of construction while learning techniques for shaping elegant forms, creating feather textures, and capturing the character and movement of birds.

Throughout the week, students will learn:

Building and sculpting over a wire armature.
The characteristics of different types of wool and when to use each.
How and when to use a variety of felting needles.
Multiple sculpting and finishing techniques.
Working with multiple types of natural fibers.
Creating miniature clothing and accessories.
Incorporating natural materials to add storybook charm.
Tips and techniques developed through nearly twenty years of professional needle felting.

By the end of the retreat, students will leave with three finished projects—a woodland mushroom, a storybook mouse, and a blackbird—along with the knowledge and confidence to continue creating their own whimsical fiber sculptures.

About Amy Brand

Amy Brand is a fiber artist, photographer, floral designer, and educator from Rochester, New York, whose work celebrates the quiet magic of the natural world. Working primarily in wool, she creates whimsical woodland animals, birds, botanicals, and storybook characters that invite viewers to slow down, look closely, and rediscover a sense of wonder.

After exploring many artistic mediums, Amy discovered needle felting in 2007 and immediately knew she had found her creative home. For nearly twenty years she has been refining her sculptural techniques while developing a style that combines careful observation of nature with imagination and storytelling. Inspired by woodland walks, vintage children's literature, and the beauty found in everyday moments, each piece is thoughtfully handcrafted with warmth, personality, and meticulous attention to detail.

Amy's work has been exhibited at The Strong National Museum of Play and featured at art festivals throughout New York. She has also become known for her welcoming teaching style, encouraging students of all skill levels to discover the joy of working with wool. Her classes emphasize not only technique, but also creativity, observation, and the confidence to develop one's own artistic voice. Amy believes that making something by hand has the power to slow us down, reconnect us with nature, and remind us that beauty often lives in the smallest details.