Our new Membership Spotlight series has just posted its second interview! This month Katy interviews Tara Weinstein, a physics and engineering teacher who has become a highly-skilled weaver in a short time. In the fall of 2019, Tara took a two-hour introductory rigid heddle workshop which was her first foray into weaving.
Undaunted by the limitations of the rigid heddle, Tara was able to weave 4-shaft patterns on it. Currently, she works on an eight-shaft table loom. "Roadblocks are fun challenges," she says, and her positive philosophy comes through clearly in all she does.
Tara was born in Montreal and grew up in Toronto. She dabbled in all kinds of arts and crafts as a kid. As college approached, she found that she was equally drawn to the arts and the sciences, but decided to major in electrical engineering with a focus on biomedical applications. After spending ten years in Providence, RI as a high school physics and engineering teacher, she moved to New York City in 2010, where she continues her teaching career. As well as knitting and sewing, she learned and taught swing dancing, and has appeared on stage in several community theater productions. She has tried her hand at shoe making, needle felting, wood working, oil painting, watercolors, and is also a writer.
Her fellow guild members admire the fearlessness, determination and creativity shown in all her work. We enjoy following her progress at the Show & Tell portion of our meetings! Tara is an excellent example of how becoming a guild member can provide new weavers with encouragement and resources. We're sure you'll enjoy hearing about her learning curve and seeing her weaving.