Join us in June for a weekend of felt making! At the Woolly Jellyfish Intensive, we will be hands-on with woolly fibers as we dive into wet-felting and nuno-felting to create beautifully flowing jellyfish puppets. We will meet at The Clearing, a retreat center in Amelia Courthouse, Virginia. The workshop sessions will be held in the spacious, four-season lodge. This workshop is recommended for participants who have had previous experience with wet-felting. If you are in need of experience, reach out to the instructor to see about setting up an intro session over Zoom to be prepared! We will be using lots of elbow grease, too! Reach out to Heidi Rugg with any questions about the workshop or the facilities at 804-334-4338 [email protected].

Participants may commute, stay in the rustic sleeping cabin (participants must provide their own linens), or camp in one of the many campsites available. Communal meals are provided ($25); most dietary preferences can be accommodated. Participants are also welcome to use the kitchen facilities. 

Thanks to a generous grant from the Virginia Commission for the Arts, this workshop intensive is $80, inclusive of all materials. If you have financial barriers that make this prohibitive, please reach out to the facilitator, Heidi Rugg. (Contact info is below.)

Proposed Schedule:

Friday, June 7

2:00 PM–5:00 PM: Arrival

5:00-6:00 PM: Gathering, Introductions

6:00 PM: Dinner

7:00 PM–9:00 PM: Demonstration/Get Started

Saturday, June 8

8:00 AM: Breakfast, coffee, or tea; time for a walk

9:30 AM–Demo

10–11:30 AM: Work Session 1

Noon: Lunch

1:30 PM–3:00 PM: Work Session 2

3PM–Nunofelting Demo

4:00 PM: Snack/stretch

5:00 PM–6:00 PM: Work Session 3

6:30 PM: Dinner

Sunday, June 9

8:00 AM: Breakfast, coffee, or tea; time for a walk

9:30 AM–11:30 AM: Work Session 4

Noon: Lunch

1:30 PM–3:00 PM Finishing touches

4:00 PM: Depart

About the Facilitator:

Heidi Rugg is an interdisciplinary artist with her feet firmly planted in the worlds of both performance and visual arts. She is the founder of Barefoot Puppet Theatre, a Richmond-based touring company. She specializes in wet-felting and natural fiber applications in puppetry and rod puppet mechanisms. She has a passion for sustainable practices in art-making that promote healthy people and a healthy planet. When she is not on the road touring puppet shows with her husband and fellow puppeteers, Heidi lives on the edge of a swamp in Richmond’s Northside, where she maintains her studio practice. 

Questions? Email [email protected] or call/text 804-334-4338. 

Funding support has been provided by the Virginia Commission for the Arts.