Bio: Peg Hansen attended the University of Wisconsin River Falls in the late 1980s for the purpose of learning to weave fabric for sewing garments. As it turned out, she instead pursued a career in teaching Visual Art to Red Wing High School students for 20 years. After that she got back to her fiber roots and started weaving in earnest. Being in the Scandinavian Weavers Group has provided the opportunity to learn about many weaving techniques from group warps and the sharing of knowledge by amazing group members. Weaving trips to Norway and most recently, Peru have proven to be highly educational and motivating. In addition to the classes at the Weavers Guild of Minnesota, Peg has taken classes at North House Folk School in Grand Marais, Minnesota and Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum in Decorah, Iowa. Peg is also a member of the Zumbro River Fiber Arts Guild

Description: Weaving a blanket is a rite of passage for weavers. I finally had the opportunity when I went to Bergen, Norway with friends from the Weavers Guild in May 2023. The goal of the workshop with Ingebjørg Monson was to weave samples of various Norwegian techniques. After sampling halvdräll, I took a turn on the blanket warp. What I thought would be a sample, or at at the most, a lap blanket, turned out to be a three day adventure. I kept going at the urging of Ingebjørg until 2:00 AM the night before my flight back to Minnesota. I was given parting instructions on finished my memorable wool twill blanket. It was so much fun I promptly enrolled in a double weave blanket class at the guild with Kayla Exworthy. I heartily recommend blanket weaving!

Regarding the Scandinavian Weavers Group: After a long hiatus from weaving, I joined the Scandinavian Weavers Group as a way to kickstart my life-long love of all things fiber. Having regular meetings to discuss and try many techniques is a great way to learn and maybe most importantly, get to know other fiber fanatics!

pegandrayhansen@gmail.com

Bio: Lisa Torvik credits early influences of her mother, grandmothers, aunts and friends in the US and in Norway for her knitting, sewing, embroidery and weaving interests. She spent a year in her youth studying weaving at Valdres Husflidsskule in Fagernes, Norway and now focuses on projects in traditional Norwegian techniques and more contemporary applications.

Description: My Hordaland teppe is a half-width copy of my weaving school teacher’s full-sized coverlet, which again she had copied from an old threadbare coverlet. A classmate and I lay on our teacher’s living room floor for a couple days and drew the weaving order, shot for shot, on graph paper with colored pencils. We taped the sheets together into a long scroll. I continued as an “extra” student for another semester, able to pursue independent projects, and I wove it up from this scroll on a Monica loom that was free. It gave me nice clean lines.

Regarding the Scandinavian Weavers Group: I am happy to be a part of a group to which I can contribute what I have learned and I can in turn try my hand at techniques I am unlikely to set up on my own or have little experience with. Weaving is both a social and solitary occupation, and the Scandinavian Weavers Study Group encourages both learning and community.

content1627@gmail.com

Bio: Sharon Moe Marquardt has been weaving since the mid-1980s. Inspired by her sister’s summer/winter cow runner, she studied rigid heddle one- and two-heddle loom techniques from the Prairie Wool Companion, edited and authored by David and Alexis Xenakis. She used her notes to teach rigid-heddle classes at the Weaving Works and Experimental College in Seattle. Moving to her home state of Minnesota, she taught these classes at several weaving conferences. At one conference, she discovered Syvilla Tweed Bolson’s vendor table and later signed up for her boundweave class in Decorah, Iowa. These lessons led to a life-long pursuit of learning Scandinavian techniques. She has studied at Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum, in Norway, and at the Hemslöjden in Landskrona, Skane, Sweden.

Description: On a Vesterheim-sponsored tour which included the folk school in Kabelvåg in the Lofoten Islands I learned to weave a traditional black and white Sami coverlet called a grene from teachers Sonja Vangen and Olaug Isaksen. They work and teach at the Sami Husflid [a handcraft organization] in Manndalen, a Sami community on Kafjord east of Tromso. I was one of the first to sign up for this class because my grandmother is from the Vesterålen Islands north of the Lofotens and west of Tromso, where I have relatives. The grene is a much-desired coverlet and wall hanging. Sonja weaves them for customers on her warp-weighted loom. For wider grene, the looms are propped up against walls and woven outside. Later on the tour, we visited their husflid where I purchased a miniature warp-weighted loom which allowed me to teach classes.

Regarding the Scandinavian Weavers Study Group: The Scandinavian study group has been my main support for decades. I live in a small rural area where hardly anybody weaves. I’ve traveled to meetings, but with Zoom now available I can attend most of them. Mange takk to this group.

shmarquardt@gmail.com

Bio: Mary Erickson is a fiber artist living on the Mesabi Iron Range with an interest in how landscape and culture influence our lives.  Scandinavian weaving has long been an interest and she has traveled to several Nordic countries to study traditional methods of weaving.  

Her weavings are on public display at the Essentia Health Virginia Building, the Minnesota North College at the Mesabi Range Virginia Campus and also at the Eveleth Campus.  Solo exhibits of her work have been held at the First Stage Gallery, Lyric Center for the Arts in Virginia, MN and her work has been included in many group exhibits.

Mary holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Art Education from Bemidji State University and a Master of Art Degree from the University of Wisconsin, Superior.

Description: The first time I saw Frida Hansen’s weavings was at the Kunstindustrimuseet in Oslo. I was struck by their beauty!  When I asked for more information about her, the book Frida Hansen Europeeren i norsk vevkunst was suggested.  Over the years I have treasured the book with the wonderful images of her weavings, but had no idea how they were woven.

I was happy when I learned that Robbie LaFleur studied Frida’s work and was teaching classes on how to weave this open warp transparency technique.   I feel very fortunate to learn from her.

Why Poppies? Several years ago I photographed and drew sketches of poppies growing in my garden which I intended to one day use for a weaving.  Now was the time.  I wove these poppies based on the beauty in nature.  But like so many things we create, our ideas can go deeper and give more meaning.  When I see poppies I always remember my mother saying that she loved poppies every time she saw them. 

About the Scandinavian Weavers Study Group: Living in Northern Minnesota, the Zoom link to the Scandinavian Weavers Study Group enables me to connect with a wonderful organization of weavers who are always looking forward to new learning, projects and goals. I feel very lucky to be a part of this group of talented weavers and also for the opportunity to display my work in this exhibit.

vember@mchsi.com

Bio: Kala learned to weave in Sandefjord, Norway in 1980. It took a few years, but she finished her BFA in Fiber Art at Northern Michigan University. Now, any available time is spent living her dream; enjoying her studio space and teaching at the Weaver’s Guild of Minnesota in Minneapolis as well as folk schools and non-profits. “Weaving, with its endless possibilities, fascinates me. It’s like creating a tangible story with a purpose. The texture of the thread, the color it’s next to, the direction it’s laying, the light it’s exposed to, all influence what we see. My favorite ingredient is the color, I can play endlessly with color combinations and textures.”

Description: These towels were inspired by artifacts at Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum in Decorah, Iowa. The photos show the artifacts which were painted at different times in history. I like weaving memories that are developed by looking at the colors and then making something that can be used everyday.

Regarding the Scandinavian Weavers Study Group: The Scandinavian Weavers group is a wonderful community. The sharing and encouragement among members is exactly what a study group should be there for. It’s exciting to try new techniques as a group and brainstorm with people who understand the vision.

kala.exworthy@gmail.com

Bio: Peg Hansen attended the University of Wisconsin River Falls in the late 1980s for the purpose of learning to weave fabric for sewing garments. As it turned out, she instead pursued a career in teaching Visual Art to Red Wing High School students for 20 years. After that she got back to her fiber roots and started weaving in earnest. Being in the Scandinavian Weavers has provided the opportunity to learn about many weaving techniques from group warps and the sharing of knowledge by amazing group members. Weaving trips to Norway and most recently, Peru have proven to be highly educational and motivating. In addition to the classes at the Weavers Guild of Minnesota, Peg has taken classes at North House Folk School in Grand Marais, MN and Vesterheim in Decorah, Iowa. Peg is also a member of the Zumbro River Fiber Arts Guild

Description: I learned card weaving long ago as a weaving student at the University of Wisconsin River Falls. Little did I know that one day I would find myself immersed in all fiber things Norwegian. I started making a Beltestakk Bunad for myself in 2018 when I went on a tour to Norway with my bunad instructor, Sue Sutherland of Ely, MN. I spotted one version with silk embroidery on wool fabric and I was hooked. Woven accesories are important for a complete costume. Card weaving goes back centuries in Norwegian textile traditions. It is the chosen technique for hårbånds and the wide belt of this particular Telemark bunad. The colors I chose are from the town of Bø, Telemark in Norway.

Regarding the Scandinavian Weavers Group: Learning about the technique used for the hårbånd was what drew me to The Weavers Guild of Minnesota. I first joined the Banditos Band Weaving group since their focus is weaving bands from cultures around the world. Through them I learned about the Scan Weavers. Even though I live 60 miles away, I am able to attend meetings more often since Covid allowed for the development of online meetings alongside the in-person meetups. The study groups have provided the opportunity to get to know weavers more personally. In fact, it was though this group that I was able to actually tour and weave my blanket (shown elsewhere in this exhibit) in Norway. I love the community warps that give me the opportunity to learn and practice the craft.

pegandrayhansen@gmail.com

Bio: Lisa Torvik credits early influences of her mother, grandmothers, aunts and friends in the US and in Norway for her knitting, sewing, embroidery and weaving interests. She spent a year in her youth studying weaving at Valdres Husflidsskule in Fagernes, Norway and now focuses on projects in traditional Norwegian techniques and more contemporary applications.

Description: After I finished my “Kalendar” piece for our Baldishol exhibition at Norway House in 2020, I had about 2-3 yards of warp left on the loom. A combination of upcoming shows and our “stash busting” challenge inspired me to get that warp off the loom, but what to weave? I looked at my Hordaland teppe hanging on the wall and just started weaving it up as a transparency, from the bottom up until I ran out of warp. I improvised designs to fill the border areas, and I used primarily what I had on hand, including different weights of linen and perle cotton.

content1627@gmail.com