Dani Ives

Painting with Wool: Color, Texture, and Creative Voice in Fiber

Sunday, August 22, 2027, 5:30 pm: Meet & Greet

August 23-27, 2027

$1,395

Ever painted with fiber? Envision a needle as your paintbrush, wool as your paint, and you, an artist with all kinds of new creative ideas. In this retreat, you will work with materials that you’re already familiar with, but you’ll use them in a new way.

The technique is two-dimensional needle felting, and it will surprise you. It looks complex, but the moment you pick up the tools, it clicks. The fibers effortlessly layer and blend under your hands in a way that feels both intuitive and vastly expressive. While you reimagine a creative process with fiber, you will also expand your creativity and confidence as an artist.

You don’t need any prior experience with fiber art (or any art) to be successful. This five-day fiber arts retreat will show you how to make textured wool paintings from beginning to end, with artist Dani Ives. You will learn fiber blending for artistic results, layering for depth, and practical color theory for realism or abstraction.

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The heart of the week is a sustained project of your own composition focusing on any subject that genuinely interests you. Pick any style you like, such as landscapes, plants, animals, people, still lifes, or abstract art. There will be smaller studies and exercises throughout the week where you will experiment without pressure. These explorations will build your confidence and expand your sense of what’s possible with this technique.

Dani will also cover how to source quality materials, choose the right tools, and finish and frame your work for display. Demonstrations, hands-on exercises, and one-on-one guidance support you throughout the entire week.

If you’re curious about fiber art, want a new creative outlet, or wish to make something beautiful with good company, this workshop is a joyful place to start.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this five-day retreat, students will be able to:

  • Identify and use the essential tools, materials, and setup techniques for two-dimensional needle felting, including preparing fabric and applying wool in layered compositions.

  • Blend and layer wool fibers to create intentional color, depth, value, and visual transitions in both abstract and representational studies.

  • Apply the principles of composition Including focal point, negative space, foreground/background contrast, and hard versus soft edges—to develop an original wool painting.

  • Use color theory and value relationships to represent light, shadow, form, and atmosphere in a chosen subject.

  • Create various textures and fine details that suggest surfaces such as fur, feathers, foliage, and other natural or tactile forms.

  • Develop and complete an original fiber artwork based on a personally meaningful subject, such as a landscape, plant, animal, person, still life, or abstract composition.

  • Finish, mount, and present a completed wool painting or study while explaining artistic choices, reflecting on personal growth, and identifying next steps for continued creative practice.

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What's Included In The Retreat

  • Meet and greet with hors d'oeuvres on Sunday, August 22nd at 5:30 pm

  • Five days of instruction--Monday through Friday

  • Five lunches

Skill Level

This is open to all levels.

Felting Workshop: 5-Day Schedule

  • Sunday, August 22nd  at 5:30 pm

    Join us for an informal gathering with the instructor and participants. Hors d'oeuvres will be served.

    • Morning Demo: Tools, materials, setup, layering basics.

    • Exercise: Color blending swatches, abstract mini-landscapes.

    • Personal Projects: Choose and prep fabric for main piece, transfer design or sketch directly on fabric.

    • Afternoon Demo: Edges and outlines (hard vs. soft).

    • Personal Projects: Begin laying in background shapes and colors.

    • Reflection: What felt intuitive, what felt awkward?

    • Morning Demo: Building depth with layering, negative space, and composition strategies.

    • Exercise: Create a small study emphasizing edges and background/foreground contrast.

    • Personal Projects: Develop major forms in main piece.

    • Afternoon Demo: Working from reference photos (animals, botanicals, landscapes).

    • Personal Projects: Apply techniques to chosen subject.

    • Reflection: Share how composition choices are working so far.

    • Morning Demo: Value studies, shading techniques, layering lights/darks.

    • Exercise: Felt a sphere, cone, or fruit to practice directional light.

    • Personal Projects: Apply shading and color layering to key focal areas.

    • Afternoon Demo: Intro to color theory for wool (mixing, harmonies, emotional color use).

    • Personal Projects: Work on focal points with color in mind.

    • Reflection: Share one “aha” moment about color or light.

    • Morning Demo: Texture sampler — fur, feathers, foliage, rough surfaces.

    • Exercise: Texture studies on a small swatch (choose 2–3).

    • Personal Projects: Apply texture techniques where needed.

    • Afternoon Demo: Detail work — small areas (eye, leaf vein, feather edge).

    • Personal Projects: Begin refining main piece, layering details.

    • Reflection: Share where details elevated the piece and where they’re still tricky.

    • Morning Demo: Finishing techniques (trimming fibers, edges, mounting/framing).

    • Exercise: Try mounting a small study or test piece.

    • Personal Projects: Finish and refine main piece.

    • Afternoon: Optional Q&A on sourcing materials, pricing/selling, or inspiration practices.

    • Capstone: Group show & tell — present main piece and smaller studies.

    • Reflection: Each person shares their growth and next steps.

This 5-day immersive workshop blends demonstrations, guided exercises, and personal project time. Each day includes approximately 6 hours of class time/instruction, with a balance of structured learning and open studio time. Students will work on at least one main project throughout the week while exploring smaller studies and exercises. Most students will finish multiple pieces.

Note: The daily flow allows flexibility based on the group’s pace and interests. Students are encouraged to explore their own creative directions while applying new techniques each day.

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About Dani Ives

Dani Ives (she/her) is a fiber artist working at the intersection of observation, ecology, and material. Grounded in the Arkansas Ozarks and informed by a background in biology and conservation education, her practice spans sketchbooks, painting, and fiber. She is known for her unique needle felting technique, painting with wool, which she uses to create lifelike portraits and nature-inspired work that explores light, growth, movement, and presence, while documenting the quiet patterns that shape relationships between humans, animals, and place.

Her work has been showcased nationally within galleries and juried shows as well as regionally, including at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, the Arkansas Historic Museum, and the Women of the Ozarks exhibition. Dani is the author of Painting with Wool and teaches workshops worldwide, both online and in person. Her awards include the Artist 360 Grant, an Award of Excellence from Fiber Art Now, and inclusion in the National Museum of Women in the Arts Juried Artist Registry (2025–2027). She lives and works in Rogers, Arkansas.

Website: https://www.daniives.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/daniives

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/begoodnatured/

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Supply List: Painting with Wool

‍In this five-day fiber arts retreat, you’ll be creating one main piece over the course of the week, as well as a few smaller practice or exploratory pieces. The subject matter is completely up to you—landscapes, animals, botanicals, abstract—so feel free to bring reference images or sketches that inspire you.

Due to the nature of the medium, it’s easier to work at a moderate or larger scale, especially for beginners. For your main project, choose a finished size that’s in the range of 8x8 inches up to 11x14 inches. Smaller pieces can be any size you like for testing techniques and trying out ideas.

If you’re just beginning to build your felting supplies, I’ve listed my suggested supply list below and offered some tried and true suppliers under resources. To create in this medium, you’ll need a work surface like a felting foam pad, a base fabric like wool felt, wool fibers in various colors, and a felting needle. There are many variations of the above supplies, but I’ve linked my favorites in the resources section.

If you already have felting supplies, feel free to bring whatever you’re comfortable using. You are always welcome to reach out to Dani for specific questions about supplies and guidance on subject matter and/or color choices regarding those subjects. You can reach her at hello@daniives.com.

Felting Tools

  • Needle Felting Foam Pads (2 total) – these are reusable and will last for many projects.

    • One should be at least 12" x 12" or large enough to fit your main project

    • The second can be smaller and will be used for practice pieces or travel within the studio

  • Felting Needles

    • Size 38 Star: qty 4–6 (workhorse needle)

    • Size 40 or 42 Triangle: qty 2 (detail work)

    • Optional: Size 38 Triangle or any other sizes you enjoy using

    • Tip: Extra needles are handy to replace any you may bend or break.

  • Felting Handles/Grips (optional)

    • Multi-needle tools that hold 2 or more needles at once

    • Single-needle grips/handles that can offer comfort

Background Fabrics / Base Textiles

  • Wool Felt (1mm thick) in white or off-white:

    • Bring 6 or more pieces that are at least 8 x 10 inches. One should be large enough for your main subject.

    • One or two will be for practice, the rest for finished pieces

    • 100% wool felt is best. Wool blends can be usable, but they can warp or stretch. Note: wool felt fabric is different than prefelt—avoid prefelt for this workshop.

  • Optional: Bring a variety of other background fabrics if you’d like to experiment

    • Examples: linen, cotton, burlap, velvet

    • Avoid: stretchy or transparent fabrics

  • If framing in an embroidery hoop: Make sure the fabric is at least 1" larger than the hoop on all sides

Wool Fibers for Painting

  • Bring a variety of colors for your planned subject(s)

    • Carded wool batts are recommended whenever possible (not roving*). Carded batts are composed of shorter (usually chopped) fibers that are laid out in a thick, fluffy sheet that is rolled up. These shorter fibers allow for easy manipulation for blending and fine detail. *It is more difficult to get the “painting” effect with roving. If you have wool roving, I can show you techniques for how to use it.

    • Most suppliers offer wool in 1 oz or 1/8 oz increments — 1/8 oz is usually plenty unless your design is heavy in a particular color. Then you might consider getting more of that color.

    • If your budget allows, the Every Color Pack from Felted Sky (link on the Resource List) is a wonderful way to start your color collection.

  • Tip: For realism or creating lifelike dimension, bring multiple values of your key colors (e.g., light green, medium green, and dark green). I will also show you how to blend colors to increase your available palette.

Optional Finishing Supplies

  • Embroidery hoops (6” or larger) for optional framing

  • Other framing or mounting materials can be discussed during class

Design & Reference Materials

  • Pencils, sketchbook or paper for drawing, planning, and taking notes

  • Pen that marks on fabric or fine tip sharpie for image transfer if needed (uniball signo gel pen is my favorite)

  • A few blank pieces of home printer paper

  • Reference photos (digital, printed, or both)

    • For realism/portrait work: bring a printed image at the size you want to replicate (printed on regular office paper is fine)

‍Felting Supply Resources Grouped by Supplier

Felted Sky https://feltedsky.com

Living Felt https://feltingsupplies.livingfelt.com

The Felted Ewe https://www.thefeltedewe.com

Additional Resources on Dani’s blog: https://www.daniives.com/blog/2019/6/9/the-best-basic-supplies-for-painting-with-wool

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Download Supply List

Important Information Read Before Registering

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Cancellation Policy

If the Estelle Center cancels a retreat, you will receive a full refund of all payments made.

The $500 deposit is non-refundable.

If you cancel your reservation and the Estelle Center is able to fill your space with another participant, your $500 deposit will be refunded minus a $100 cancellation fee.

If you cancel within 45 days of the retreat's Meet & Greet date, no refunds will be issued unless the Estelle Center is able to fill your spot. In that case, any refund will be subject to the $100 cancellation fee.

We have limited guest accommodations. If you cancel your room reservation at any time, you will be refunded your payment minus a $150 cancellation fee.

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Payments

A deposit of $500 is required to register. The balance of $895 is due by June 23, 2027, 60 days before the start of the retreat.

After June 23, 2027, the full retreat cost of $1,395 is required to register.

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Meals & Lodging

The Painting with Wool: Color, Texture, and Creative Voice in Fiber Retreat includes meet and greet with appetizers, five lunches, and five days of instruction. Other meals and lodging are not included in the registration fee.

Guest rooms at Estelle's Upstairs are available for retreat participants. There are single, double, and triple occupancy rooms that share a large bathroom down the hall. To book a guest room, scroll down to the payment section below.

Click here to learn more about our guest rooms.

Click here to find other accommodations in La Veta.

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What To Expect Next

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Service Animal Policy

To preserve a calm and welcoming space for creativity and connection, we ask that guests do not bring pets or emotional support animals.

Service dogs, trained to assist and supported by law, are always welcome. Thank you for helping us hold this space with care. If you have questions or specific needs, we invite you to reach out ahead of your visit.

Click here to learn more about the The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Service Animal Policy.

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