# Moy Mackay
*Award-winning textile and felt-stitching artist*

Moy Mackay is an award-winning Scottish artist based in the Tweed Valley of the Scottish Borders, whose work reimagines the ancient craft of felt-making as a fine art practice. Using merino fleece fibers and stitch in place of brush and paint, she creates vibrant “felted paintings” that capture the landscapes, flowers, and shifting light of her Scottish surroundings with remarkable depth and luminosity. Widely regarded as a pioneer of this art form, Moy has exhibited nationally and internationally throughout the USA, Canada, Australia, Norway, and Sweden, and her work is held in private collections worldwide. In 2013, she won Silver in the Textiles and Needlecraft category of the British Craft & Design Selected Awards.

Born in Edinburgh, Moy grew up drawing, painting, and making things, encouraged by a crafting mother, a creative father, and a painter uncle who taught her from a young age. She went on to graduate from Glasgow School of Art in 1990 with a degree in Design specializing in printed textiles and has since developed her own distinctive felting style that brings together traditional craft and painterly expression. Her work has reached an international audience through her three bestselling books with Search Press: "Art in Felt & Stitch," "Flowers in Felt & Stitch," and "The Art of Moy Mackay." In 2016, Sky Arts featured her on Landscape Artist of the Year, where she made it to the final three in her heat. Since 2012, she has also run The Moy Mackay Gallery in Peebles, which showcases her own work alongside that of leading contemporary UK artists and makers.

Alongside her studio practice, Moy is a dedicated educator who has traveled internationally to teach felt painting workshops. Today she welcomes students to workshops and retreats at her own studio in Scotland and also offers online courses, making her techniques accessible to artists around the world. Her teaching covers the full creative process, from finding inspiration through sketching, painting, and photography to color mixing and blending, composition, mark-making, and the felting and stitching that bring each piece to life.

At the heart of Moy’s teaching is a passion for color and a belief that every artist is on their own creative journey. She encourages students to keep an open mind and to work freely with wool as if it were paint, finding the balance between spontaneity and control that makes felt painting so absorbing. Whether introducing beginners to the magic of fiber or helping experienced makers develop their own designs, Moy creates a warm and generous environment where students can build confidence, explore new directions, and create work that feels uniquely their own.

Learn more about Moy Mackay and her work by visiting her [website](https://www.moymackay.com/), or follow her on [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/moymackay).

**Connect:** [Website](https://www.moymackay.com/) · [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/moymackay)

## Retreats led by Moy Mackay

### Felted Andalusian Landscapes Retreat with Artist Moy Mackay in Spain
May 31 - June 7, 2027 · Níjar, Almería, Spain · $5,400
Instructors: Moy Mackay
[Details](https://uptrek.com/ai/content/retreat/felted-andalusian-landscapes-retreat-artist-moy-mackay-spain) · [Book on uptrek.com →](https://uptrek.com/retreat/felted-andalusian-landscapes-retreat-artist-moy-mackay-spain#book)

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**Last updated:** 2026-10-13