October 2026 - Mary Wonser

Inside Mary Wonser’s 100-year-old farmhouse in Redmond, color waits everywhere. On one loom is a hazy blue wool shawl embellished with silk ribbons. On another, bands of cream,charcoal, rust, and gray advance like a high-desert horizon. Small, felted bowls, bright as berries, wait for beads and pottery. The house holds two floor looms, several portable looms, and more ideas than they can contain.

“Not only do I feel the need to create, but I feel color. That’s the beginning of every creation, and the ideas keep coming,” she says with a smile. A textured yarn may begin the conversation; a feather, old coin, ceramic fragment may change its course. Dee Ford Potter, a fellow fiber artist since 1969, knows Wonser well. “Like me, she’s an artist first, and her medium is weaving. Mary’s so humble about her work, but she’s a major force in the field!”

Wonser’s surprising fiber compositions have been celebrated in museums, colleges, galleries, and exhibitions all over the country. Yet Wonser’s proudest role centers on invitation. For over a decade, she has served as Fiber Arts Superintendent at the Deschutes County Fair, overseeing weaving, spinning, felting, and natural-fiber exhibits. Demonstration looms create an excitement about weaving,” she says. “Education and outreach have been a focus of these exhibits.”

“I learned to knit as a 12-year-old and made Barbie Doll clothes in college for extra spending money. Also, a high school friend's mother had a loom, and I was fascinated by it. Finally, in the mid 80s, I took a class in Southwest style weaving at Adams State College in Alamosa, Colorado.” Wonser earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education at Valparaiso University, but her passion for learning about all styles of weaving kept her taking weaving workshops, some in New Mexico and later in Oregon.

Fiber may look soft and forgiving, but the loom requires precision. The lengthwise warp must remain evenly tensioned while the crosswise weft passes through it, row after row. Too much tension can distort the cloth; too loose, and the surface loses shape. Spacing, edges, and the force of each beat matter.

Fibers have personalities. Cotton is sturdy and absorbent. Wool is warm, resilient, and willing to felt. Mohair carries sheen and a soft halo, changing how light travels across it. Twist, thickness, elasticity, and direction affect structure and drape. A fiber artist learns these behaviors. Wonser’s wall hangings rise in vertical bands of color and texture. Their proportions often follow Fibonacci sequences, the expanding pattern revealed in pinecones and sunflower heads. “This progression carries a natural sense of balance and rhythm,” she says.

Wonser and her late husband, Mike, an artist and fine-arts professor, lived in Colorado’s San Luis Valley before returning to Bend, where he grew up. He encouraged Wonser to show her work. The couple opened a gallery and gift shop in Sisters, which Wonser ran for six years. She retired in 2012 to become a full-time artist, which has kept her busier than she expected. For October’s exhibition, wall hangings will take center stage, joined by scarves, runners, and the vessels Wonser calls “Wool Pottery.” Knitted and felted, they carry beads and ceramic pieces. Larger weavings may hold feathers, found objects, or pottery.

Wonser’s work has often appeared in the statewide traveling exhibition organized by the Weaving Guilds of Oregon that occurs every four years. In the latest exhibition called “Color Gone Wild,” Wonser created a dramatic black wall weaving for ceramic artist Dori Kite to attach her work: clay against fiber, smoothness against texture. “Recently I’ve returned to my roots with Southwest wall hangings. They have taken on a life of their own and evolved into my geometric style with embellishments and textures.”

Familiar with the less romantic side behind an artistic career, Wonder knows fairs mean travel. Sales require patience. Galleries need people to hang work, greet visitors, and balance books. “Everyone has their way of doing it, but it takes a lot of work.” Wonser spent thirteen years as bookkeeper for the Artists’ Gallery Sunriver and has exhibited there for over a decade. In addition, she assists Bill Lind with accounting at the Dry Canyon Arts Gallery and volunteers as a host.

Wonser’s homelife is abundant, too. “Mike and I were a blended family,” she says. “Six kids between us, 21 grandchildren, and 25 great-grandchildren.” Back in her farmhouse, each loom holds its place in the conversation. The wool shawl grows softer and bluer. A wall hanging finds its story. Wonser passes the shuttle once more, laying one thread across another, a simple motion repeated until color, tension, memory, and artistic vision come together in an extraordinary weaving.

To reach Mary Wonser, email her at marywonser@gmail.com