Norma Rosier describes the tapestry, rug weaving, and beginner weaving workshops she has led, and discusses workshops she has taken through the Guild that have influenced her work.

Norma Rosier describes the tapestry, rug weaving, and beginner weaving workshops she has led, and discusses workshops she has taken through the Guild that have influenced her work.

June 18, 2021

© Kingston Handloom Weavers and Spinners

Shaelagh Cull

Norma Rosier

Zoom

Initially, I was working with Jackie Sylvester to run the workshops. I became the workshop coordinator and I was on the Board at that time. So I was really very much involved in lots of aspects. I taught the tapestry weaving and I enjoyed that because the beauty is it's open to almost anybody. I started doing that workshop in the Hebrides. There's a local gallery that I used to sell tapestries through. We used to run that over two days for basically tourists coming to the island, no one did something to do. They had no knowledge of weaving whatsoever. But it's perfectly accessible to just about anybody. The rug weaving workshop that I did, is more involved. And then I've done the introductory weaving workshop on table looms. And that is very satisfying, because you take somebody who's never done any weaving before, and get them to the point where some of them can just take it and run with it. And it's just such a joy to see that that light going on and off they go and become an independent weaver. I've done three workshops with Susi Reinink: the double weave, overshot and the lace weave workshop. But then I did a workshop with Bridget Lewis on creative dyeing and again, that was a life changer because I thought wow, I can create my own colors. And I've just been either dyeing wool for knitting or fiber for spinning. And that's just opened up yet another world for me. It was only one day and it was just this is what you do and we played about, but it just gave me the skill to do my own dyeing and I now have a dye station at home, basically, a microwave and you know in the upstairs bathroom. And if I want a particular color, I can achieve it and that's wonderful.