Silver & Jewelry
Kyle Anderson moved to Alexandria, MN after spending 25 years of teaching English in Pennsylvania. He has taught classes through Alexandria Community Education, the Senior Center, Art of the Lakes, and i-Try Studios, ranging from silversmithing to rock cutting and polishing to guitar classes. His personal motto is: I see. I do. I try. His lifelong learning attitude is instrumental in his belief that every day presents a new opportunity for personal growth.
Marilyn Hanson lives on the South Dakota side of Big Stone Lake in western Minnesota. She has a passion for various art mediums and has been involved with MVAS for 19 years. Her father and sister, both former students of MVAS silver classes, introduced her to this fascinating art. Marilyn is semi-retired and is now able to offer 3 day classes this year. She is a veteran student of advanced silversmithing, silver spoons, bracelets, earrings and technique classes. She has been teaching silver classes since 2012. She enjoys teaching and sharing her knowledge. She is always amazed at the new ideas and designs that her students bring to her class. Her sister, Kathy Nardi, a talented silver and jewelry artist, often assists with beginner classes.
Jo Schwalboski resides in rural St. Joseph, MN with her husband Ralph. She currently enjoys splitting her creative time between jewelry making, drawing and painting. Creating an assortment of unique, nature inspired original handcrafted wire-wrapped jewelry pieces plays an important role in Jo’s studio life. Her one-of-a-kind jewelry compositions are designed with gems, cabochons, raw stones, fossils and minerals from around the world. Jo regularly teaches, exhibits and sells her art at Great River Arts, Little Falls, at NE STARR Holistic Wellness Boutique in Minneapolis, MN and at Paramount Gallery in St. Cloud, MN.
Scandinavian
Karen Aakre is a fiber farmer that spins, weaves, and felts sheep wool. She travelled to Norway to learn this craft from Britt Solheim. She taught art for 15 years and has taught this craft since 2011. Karen is very involved in her Norwegian heritage and raises sheep llamas and goats.
Scott Johnson and his wife Marlene live near Atkinson, a small town in north central Nebraska, located at the edge of the Sand Hills. He works full- time as a service tech for a natural gas company. Scott has been carving and Kolrosing for 7 years. He is a Vesterheim Gold Medalist in Woodworking and a Gold Medalist in Knifemaking. He loves sharing his passion for the Folk Arts with others and seeing their smiles when they discover the magic.
Jon Roisen started making Norwegian knives with Gene Tokheim in 1995. Since then he’s fine tuned his knife making skills to become a Gold Medal winner at the Vesterheim. Jon has assisted Gene in teaching at MVAS for over 10 years and needs no introduction to returning Norwegian Knife Making students. Jon and his wife Sue own the Lac qui Parle Valley Vineyard and are board members of MVAS.
Hans Sandom, born in Norway but now residing in Minnetonka, Minnesota, is a gifted wood carver. Hans has over 40 years of carving experience in Acanthus and Rococo styles and specializes in furniture. Hans has won the Gold Medal in National Competition for Excellence at the Vesterheim Museum in Decorah, IA and received first prize in acanthus carving from the International Wood Carvers’ Congress in Davenport IA. He was commissioned to carve a memorial box to King Olav V which was presented to King Harald V.
Judy Velde Weiss, being of all Norwegian descent, grew up surrounded by Norwegian culture and rosemaling. After taking her first rosemaling class, she quickly became passionate about the art. Within a year, she had studied with four Vesterheim gold medalists in rosemaling, as well as other skilled rosemalers. Since that time, she has continued to paint and take numerous online and in-person classes. Judy teaches rosemaling in the Twin Cities and has earned many awards that include six first-place blue ribbons at the Minnesota State Fair and
Ingebretsen’s Scandinavian Gifts.
Scandinavian Jewelry
Kathy Nardi discovered her love of silversmithing when she and her dad took their first silversmithing class together from Tom Johnson over 20 years ago. Since then, she has taken numerous classes from Tom, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, GIA(the Gemological Institute of America), and has worked closely with an award-winning gold and silversmith. She has thoroughly enjoyed the enthusiasm and eagerness of her students to learn new things. She resides in St. Cloud, MN.
Carving & Working with Wood
Charles Banks, an emerging artist/wood carver, is a Minnesota based carver with a passion for the Nordic arts. You can usually find him by following a trail of wood chips. His area of study for the past 20 years has been Scandinavian Flat Plane figure carving. A current art educator and lifelong learner, Charles will give his students a hands on experience including history, influential individuals, a study of individual characters and character design all culminating in the creation of his student’s own hand carved characters.
Jock Holmen has been a professional woodcarver for over 40 years. He began his career at Baker Furniture in Michigan, and started his company, Norwegian Termite, in 1979 in Chicago. He won his first woodcarving award at the National Exhibition of Folk Art, Decorah, IA, to be followed by several other awards, including achieving his Gold Medal status in 2010. He has received training and tutoring from various American and Norwegian master carvers, including Hans Sandom, Phillip Odden, Bjarte Aarseth, and others. Specializing in design and hand carving in the Scandinavian traditions, Jock teaches classes in flat-plane figure carving, Norwegian acanthus, timber carving, lettering and other woodcarving techniques at North House Folk School (Grand Marais), Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum Folk School (Decorah, IA), Colonial Williamsburg’s Cabinet Shop, and in his home studio. He co-teaches Introduction to Woodcarving as part of ISD 191 Community Education. Jock demonstrates woodcarving, drawing, and tool sharpening at various festivals, events, and retail outlets in the area.
Bill Jaeger, Anoka, has been figure carving in the Scandinavian traditional style since 1992. The last six years he has taught regularly at the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis as well as other carving venues. A draftsman by trade, Bill has since taken many folk arts and craft courses here and in Sweden. Bill won the 2009 Gold Medal for wood carving at the Vesterheim Museum in Decorah, Iowa and demonstrated carving at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts’ Nordic oil painting exhibition.
Fred Livesay discovered his woodworking abilities at age 7 and later trained as a wheelwright and carriage builder. In college, he went on to study Scandinavian folk art and decorative arts. Fred is a restoration carpenter who also builds and repairs fine furniture, turns bowls, & weaves baskets. Fred is a founder of North House Folk School, has been a Slöjd instructor at the Waldorf schools in the cities, has studied hand craft extensively in Sweden and is a frequent and highly regarded instructor at Spoonfest held each year in England.
Steve Mullins began his woodworking career more than 30 years ago after earning a degree in carpentry and woodworking from Alexandria TCC. He started Mullins Woodworks in 1985 and specializes in turning wooden bowls and wood art on the lathe. His work has been sold across the country and around the world. Steve is a lifelong resident of west central Minnesota and lives in New Prairie township near Cyrus.
Alex Yerks is a Minnesota based greenwood craftsman who is an international instructor making his living selling and teaching his craft around the world. He specializes in carving a traditional Scandinavian influenced drinking vessel called kuksas, utilizing pre-industrial revolution hand tool techniques. Alex has dedicated his life to working with trees and utilizing natural resources where he lives in Minnesota. It has been a daily part of his life for the past 15 years. Alex teaches all over the US and abroad, including Spoonfest in England, London, The Milan Spoon Gathering in Minnesota, Spoon Jam in Australia, The Spoon Hoolie in Scotland, and the Necessary Traditions Festival in New Zealand. His focus is uncovering the techniques and philosophy of yesteryear and trying to see where it fits in the modern world we live in. He believes we all have a connection with our natural environment and can enrich our lives if we surround ourselves with simple items crafted from the forest.
Painting: Watercolor
Katia Andreeva is an accomplished watercolor artist whose work has been displayed across the United States and, particularly, in the Midwest. She has received numerous awards in art and Watercolor Society exhibitions, and has been shown in galleries in New York, the Midwest, and Southwestern U.S. Her art has been displayed in the Museum of Russian Art (TMORA) in Minneapolis, MN, and the German House in Moscow, Russia.
Katia Andreeva was born in Arsenev, Russia, on the coast of the Pacific Ocean. She studied art in Russia: art college in Khabarovsk, and Mukhina Academy of Art and Design in St. Petersburg. Now in the United States, she lives and works in NE Minneapolis and has taught master classes in Watercolor Societies in the Midwest and in the Milan Village Arts School.
Brad Hall and his wife live in a unique home and studio in southwest Minnesota. Built in 1889, it was originally a church and then a town library and senior center for over 80 years. Brad is a printmaker and watercolor artist who combines both mediums. With a little help from family and friends, he makes his own picture frames out of barn wood collected from abandoned farm buildings. Brad was one of the founding members of the Meander Art Crawl and has been a
participant in numerous outdoor art festivals for over a dozen years. He has been fortunate to be juried into some of the top art shows in the Midwest. Brad began by teaching printmaking classes for many years, and then expanded into teaching watercolor classes.
Stained Glass, Weaving, Framing & Brooms
Rich Brubakken has been working with stained glass over the past 10 years. He is a retired educator who has always loved the creative arts, especially in the areas of color and design. He has taught classes in Brookings and Sioux Falls, SD. His projects normally use the copper foil technique but he has also taught using fused glass.
John Kellen has always loved photography having received his first camera when he was very young and over his lifetime, he has documented his experiences and travels behind the lens. His intentions are to share his work more broadly and to offer photographic services, cinematography and writing to individuals and organizations.
After a 30-year career in International Business, Academia and Philanthropy spanning more than 60 countries John has returned to his hometown in Minnesota to pursue his artistic inclinations. As a lifelong learner, he is constantly learning new techniques and skill sets to enhance what he has been able to share with the world.
Robin Moore has lived in Lac Qui Parle county for more than 20 years, digging into the community, her gardens, and the making of useful goods. She learned to make brooms 17 years ago and enjoys sharing the simple but useful skill of making brooms for everyday use. (Just don’t tell her if you’re planning to use it for decoration.)
Dianna Soehren, Appleton MN, has been an instructor at MVAS for more than 20 years. Dianna has been a key figure in the development of the MVAS Loom Room which will soon be expanded and renamed the MVAS Textile Studio.