This Spotlights honors one of our members as part of our 75th Anniversary Celebration.
- by sandy mclain hochmuth
A guild member since 1979 (then Joliet Weavers), Bev has been a significant contributor to guild operations, from sitting-in-the-back member to how-can-I-help member to holder of multiple guild offices. Her accomplishments are numerous: teacher, small business owner, awards winner, and is nationally recognized for her work in fiber and metal, fabrics and jewelry.
TV is rarely on in her house, she’d rather weave. She’s been a weaver since 1962, taking what she thought would be a very boring course in weaving to complete her BFA at Syracuse University. By 1979, Bev acknowledged a serious addiction. She described her weaving self back then as a guild and workshop junkie, joining every guild she could find, attending every workshop available, travelling to meetings in three different states. However, what she learned, she’s shared, and we are grateful.
She and Bev Savel joined forces to open 2-B Weavers in 1991, for classes and retail sales – but they almost never met. They blamed Ma Bell: Bev S called Bev A, wanting to take one of Bev A’s weaving classes. No answer, so she left a message, but the message was lost. Undeterred, Bev S called a year later, and the rest, as we say, is history: partners in 2-B Weavers for twenty-four years, and best friends for thirty-two.
Sixty-four years as a weaver, and she continues to find new techniques, new fibers, new patterns exciting. She was once told “you could do a different pattern every day, and never do all of them.” She considers variety a challenge that thrills her every time she starts a new warp on her warping mill or puts two jump rings together. A true weaving junkie, she has nothing to hate about weaving – except for the slow, slow tying on of ends and making that tension even!
Bev weaves it all. “As a teacher and a retail store owner, it was necessary to stay ahead of your students. I do wall pieces, fashions, accessories, tapestries, rugs and household goods. I also do beaded pieces, and am a jewelry designer.” She finds inspiration in architecture and nature; a birds-eye view of Chicago skyscrapers sends her off to her weaving sketch pad. We know Bev enjoys weaving for family members; for her daughter’s antique corner chair, she wove a stunning blue and white twill to recover the seat, then flipped the fabric to the reverse to make a coordinating pillow, because her daughter couldn’t decide which side she liked best. Bev weaves “heirlooms – that is the meaning of the word ‘heirloom’ – items from the loom you pass down to your heirs.”
Bev’s work has been in many, many galleries and shows across the country, and her work is available at 2-bweavers.com.
Illinois Prairie Weavers Guild 