Traudi Bestler‘s first weaving and spinning classes were at the Weavers Guild, followed by sessions at Sievers School of Fiber Arts, and Madelyn Van Der Hoogt’s Weaver School. She has been teaching in the fiber department of the Minnetonka Center for the Arts since 1992, travels and teaches workshops in the midwest, and lately has been indulging her love for tapestry by dyeing the yarn she uses for weaving images.
Katherine Buenger has a degree in studio art from Macalester college. She has been a member of the WGM since 2001. She enjoys many fiber related arts, and always likes finding something different and fun to do with her crafts. Spinning the yellow pages, coffee filters, computer tape and other non-traditional things and finding ways to weave, knit and ply-split with them has been a fun challenge for her. She is not afraid to try break the rules and try something new, and encourages others to do the same.
Anne Burgeson’s goal when starting a new spinning project is simple: to make yarn. Her teaching goal is also simple: for spinning students to make yarn in an encouraging and creative environment. The end results are as varied as the spinners and the fibers themselves, which is the beauty and the power of making yarn. She loves every step of the process from “sheep to shawl”, which includes washing raw fleece, dyeing, carding, combing, spinning on either a spindle or a wheel, and then knitting.
Steve Bye is an Adobe Certified Instructor of Photoshop and taught classes at the Minnesota Center of Photography until it closed recently. He now teaches Photoshop, Lightroom, and Digital Fine Art Printing at the Minneapolis Photo Center. Bye’s strength as a teacher is in explaining difficult concepts in easily understandable terms, a skill learned while he was an engineer, trainer, and manager at Hewlett-Packard Company.
Sue Bye started weaving 30-some years ago on a rigid heddle loom and an inkle loom and has woven sporadically ever since, but more regularly since she retired from technical writing in 2003. She now has a 32-shaft computer-controlled loom, but still enjoys the inkle loom.
Kala Exworthy is passionate about working with all aspects of woven and sometimes knitted cloth. Color relationships are the primary attraction with woven structure a close second. Her weaving journey began at a Folk school in Norway a long time ago, eventually resulting in a BFA and a charming studio of her own. She strives to help others realize the impact that color has on their lives and how to translate those ‘colorful’ feelings into creating personal pieces that suit them.
Sue Farley started developing the pixeLoom software shortly after she learned to weave five years ago. With an interest from a young age in the fiber arts, she is delighted to have found her way to weaving and the seemingly endless possibilities it holds in store.
Betty Glynn Carlson has been weaving since 1972 and began weaving Navajo rugs in 1995. She studied Navajo weaving with Fran Potter, Marilou Schultz, and several Navajo weavers at the Taos Institute of Art. Betty feels a special kinship with the loom and experiences Navajo weaving as a meditative process that invites stillness and reflection. Betty also has several floor looms and enjoys creating scarves from alpaca fiber. Currently, she has a colorful herd of 18 award-winning alpaca at her farm in Lindstrom.
Nedra Granquist has been weaving rag rugs since 1982. Since then, she has taken several classes and workshops, and has taught a few, including double faced rugs, rosepath rugs, and rug finishing. Nedra shares a studio in downtown Minneapolis with co-weaver Barbara Heath. Their big rugs have won several blue ribbons and sweepstakes at the Minnesota State Fair. She wove piles of placemats before realizing it was no way to make a living, and now only weaves them for fun.
Donna Hanson was introduced to weaving on a rigid heddle and floor loom by her mother, a professional weaver, in the early 1970′s. Her weaving activity was put on hold for several years to teach special education and raise a family. Donna came back to weaving at the Weavers Guild of Minnesota in 2004, taking many workshops and technique classes. She has a particular interest in experimenting with color in her weaving, no matter the structure. Her work has been displayed at the State Fair, earning several ribbons, including the Sweepstakes in weaving.
Elizabeth Harrington was introduced to spinning in the summer of 2006. She taught herself to spin on a CD spindle, and quickly fell under the spell of the fiber arts and now spins, weaves, and dabbles in dyeing. She loves sharing the discovery of spinning and weaving with others.
Doreen Hartzell spins, knits and crochets in wonderful Minnesota. She also supports local sources for fleece by finding them from small family farms. Doreen’s handspun yarns are available at Etsy through Goldfish Love, Darn Knit Anyway in Stillwater, MN, and the Uptown Market throughout the summer. She teaches at Darn Knit Anyway and provides private lessons in Minneapolis.
Susan Hensel is an enthusiastic spinner! You may know her more as Susan of Susan Hensel Gallery, or Susan of BATT YOUR OWN at Shepherd’s Harvest. She brings enthusiasm and joy to the table when she touches wool and combines it with color.
Carol Johnson desire to create cloth stemmed from her early interest in sewing. She has been weaving since the 90′s, using tablets, rigid heddle and floor looms. She particularly loves how the many facets of weaving engage and challenge both the right and left brain, from design through execution and finishing. In the spirit of “blurring the line between work and play”, together with her husband she founded Studio Tupla, a partnership of handweaving and furniture making.
Jan Johnson has been weaving since 1997, when she saw rigid heddle weaving classes offered at her favorite yarn shop and knew she needed to be a weaver. She weaves mostly items for the home, such as runners, towels, wall hangings, and rugs. Jan is also an accomplished knitter; her favorite part of both knitting and weaving is exploring color.
Rosemary MacFarlane, a weaver for thirty-five years, has always loved textiles and “had to” learn to weave, concocting a loom from a pencil (pick-up) and an Ivory comb (beater) years ago. Her husband built her current loom with modifications for easier warping. She loves fine threads and intricate patterns and collects ribbons from the State Fair every year.
Linda Madden has a BS in art education and a MA in Art History. As a production weaver of table linens and garments she has learned about time saving loom technology. She contributes to two Complex Weavers Study groups and is active in the Guild’s Multi Shaft Study Group. Her special interests are multi shaft weave structures, especially tied weaves, double weaves and lace.
Ann Masemore’s primary focus is color in combination with recycled fabrics like t-shirts, denim, and cotton clothing. She has taken numerous classes from the Guild, including double binding, rep weave, and krokbragd and enjoys the play of color with pattern. She is inspired by the creativity at the guild and the many people she’s met through classes and volunteering.
Wynne Mattila wove her first rug at the Weavers Guild of Minnesota in 1990 and before it was finished, she knew she was a rug weaver. The way colors blend and the way she sees them creates a feeling in her – this feeling is the basis of her design. Wynne’s goal for each rug is to create a piece exhibiting technical perfection, delightful aesthetics, and everyday functionality. Her one-of-a-kind designs reflect her Finnish heritage. Two of her rag rugs (one as a how-to-weave project) were included in the book Weaving Contemporary Rag Rugs by Heather Allen.
Jan Mostrom’s love of weaving began in a January-term weaving class taught by Lila Nelson at Luther College. Since that time, Scandinavian techniques and designs have been her favorites. Jan has taken and taught classes at Vesterheim Norwegian American Museum in Decorah. She has also taken weaving classes in Norway. Jan has earned a gold medal in Vesterheim’s national juried weaving exhibitions.
Julie Nester has been weaving since childhood and teaching at the Weavers Guild since 1999. She exhibits her rag rugs at juried shows, including the American Craft Council Fine Crafts show, Minnesota Craft Council Festival, Art on the Lake, and in local galleries. Her work has also appeared in Handwoven magazine. Julie was Guild president in 2001-2002 and enjoys introducing beginning students to her love of weaving.
Virginia Parent learned to spin on an antique spinning wheel before the spinning revival occurred in the 70s, and has been spinning ever since. She has studied with numerous teachers in New Mexico and in the Midwest, and organizes the Whorling Spinsters monthly study group at the Guild.
Judy Payne learned spinning and weaving in order to understand the construction of historical garments. She has taken several spinning and weaving classes as well as studied with Walter Nottingham at the University of Wisconsin, River Falls. She demonstrates weaving, spinning, and other historic crafts for groups and historic sites.
Nancy Preckshot has been teaching spinning for five years. Her grand plan was to be a multi-shaft complex weaver. Then she acquired a spinning wheel from her mother who wanted an excuse to buy a new one. From then on, spinning became Nancy’s obsession. Sandwiched in between were forays into weaving and other fiber-related techniques like needle felting.
Aimee Radman received her first loom at the age of eight and became so intrigued with it that later she went on to get a bachelors degree in art emphasizing in fiber. As a professional artist, she enjoys designing with color and pattern in her weaving and dyeing. Aimee’s work can be seen in juried art exhibits, art fairs, and local galleries. When she’s not busy weaving, she spends time spinning, felting, knitting, and tending to her small flock of sheep.
Karen Searle is an artist, writer and fiber arts instructor. She received her MFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and teaches fiber arts at the College of St. Catherine. Karen exhibits her artwork nationally via solo, invitational and juried exhibitions. She has also received residencies through the Jerome Foundation and MN State Arts Board taking her to New York Mills Cultural Center, MN, Canberra School of Art Fibers, Australia, and Mendocino Art Center, CA.
Dianne Stiff has been weaving for just over 5 years. She had always been interested in trying weaving but got started because her husband wanted to buy her a frame loom as a present. Dianne also enjoys ply split braiding. She started doing this 2 years ago after taking a workshop at the Guild. As with weaving, Dianne feels there are too many new ideas to try and too little time. She has demonstrated ply split braiding at the State Fair for the past two years.
Sharon Tessman Hoiland has been near looms most of her life. She learned to weave as a child from her mother who was a weaver for more than 50 years. Sharon joined the Weavers Guild in 1996 and has since participated in various classes, workshops, and fiber fair. She’s also taken classes at Siever’s School of Fiber Art and has studied Art in the U.S. and Europe. Her work has appeared in international shows, private collections, publications, and shops. She was the recipient of the HGA Award in 2006.
Betty Wilson has been weaving on the rigid heddle frame loom since the early 1980s and joined the Guild in 1991 to take classes on floor loom, basketry and spinning. She has been active in numerous positions at the Guild and has taught at the Guild for the last few years. Betty is happy knowing that she needs a lifetime to learn everything in fiber-related arts and crafts, and two or three lifetimes to complete all the projects she would love to try.
