Chuck Benson has a BS in elementary education and an MA in art education. His interest in weaving came from his mother and grandmother, both of whom were rug weavers. He taught art in the Edina public schools before semi-retirement allowed time for teaching at the Guild. His woven rugs include samples of all of the rugs in the Rag Rug Handbook and prize winners at the State Fair.
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.
Pamela Davis has turned her love of tapestry into a profession. She is dedicated to sharing her knowledge of the different historical techniques of tapestry from around the world and well-known American tapestry artists. She has taught business and science at the University of Minnesota, and teaches various levels of tapestry and weaving for the Weavers Guild of Minnesota and Color Crossing.
Catharine Ellis divides her time between studio work, and teaching the Professional Fiber Program at Haywood Community College. Her original training was in traditional woven techniques, which led her to weave functional fabrics for many years, often incorporating ikat resist dyeing. More recently, her career has been defined by the discovery and exploration of the woven shibori process.
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.
Louise French has had an interest in fibers and fabric since childhood and took her first weaving class more than 25 years ago. She enjoys weaving a variety of articles: from scarves to table linens to yardage for clothing. She has written many articles for Handwoven magazine and teaches at several locations in the Midwest, including Sievers School of Fiber Arts in Door County, Wisconsin.
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.
Elisabeth Horst taught herself to knit at the age of seven. She has been weaving since 2000 and has taught rigid heddle frame loom weaving since 2003. Known for her gentle, supportive teaching style, she enjoys creating a classroom where students’ individual creativity can shine.
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.
Malcolm "Mac" MacFarlane has been tinkering with loom design for more than 25 years. He has built looms for his wife and continues to rework their function and design to meet the needs of his in-house weaver, Rosemary MacFarlane. He has woven things, but he is more interested in the mechanics of looms, their structure and maintenance.
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.
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, Iowa. 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.
Mary Skoy is an avid knitter and weaver. She recently taught a class in which 25 weavers combined woven yardage and knit trim to create remarkable garments. She has completed the Canadian Master Knitter program. Her work has appeared in Weavers Journal, Handwoven, Handwoven Design Collections, and Spin-Off. Classes and workshops at the Weavers Guild of Minnesota has been her source of weaving knowledge and inspiration.
Helen Stoerzinger is the daughter of a weaver/weaving instructor. Receiving her mom’s loom and library in 1995 spurred her interest in trying many different weave structures. She enjoys drafting and weaving lace blankets, twill rag rugs, woven greeting cards, and more. Helen likes involving children and adults in weaving and finds fellowship in her involvement in WGM.
Barbara Walker’s weaving passion of more than twenty years is developing unique supplementary warp patterning effects. She is a member of Northwest Designer Craftsmen, a frequent faculty member of the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, and teaches workshops for guilds and conferences in the US, England, and Canada. Her woven scarves and ply-split creations are exhibited internationally, and she has written numerous articles for Handwoven, Weaver’s, Shuttle Spindle & Dyepot, and Complex Weavers Journal. Barbara's home studio overlooks the Willamette Valley in Salem, Oregon.
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.
