Hooked on Newfoundland: A Rug Hooker’s Road Trip Part 5 - The Unexpected Norton’s Cove Studio

Hooked on Newfoundland: A Rug Hooker’s Road Trip

Part 5 - The Unexpected Norton’s Cove Studio

Have you ever stopped to wonder why so many people love to travel? Is it the thrill of  discovering new cultures, taking in breathtaking views, or indulging in local foods you can’t find anywhere else? While I enjoy all of those things, what I love most about travel is the serendipity. The unexpected moments you never could have planned. At the start of this five week campervan road trip, I had a short list of rug hooking studios I hoped to visit along the way. But the more time I spent travelling through Newfoundland and exploring the craft, the more places revealed themselves. Some were recommended in conversation, others mentioned in passing, and a few I stumbled upon completely by chance.  That’s exactly how I found Norton’s Cove Studio.  We had stopped for lunch across the road, and curiosity led me to wander inside Keans’s General Store, home to Norton’s Cove Studio.  I had no idea then that this unplanned stop would become one of the most memorable moments of the journey.

Built in 1890, Kean’s General Store is located in Brookfield off Route 330 on the north side of Bonavista Bay. Stepping into the long and narrow room, I feel nostalgia for a bygone era, as I take in the long sturdy wooden counters worn smooth, wooden floors that creak underfoot and floor to ceiling shelves covering the walls behind the counters on each side of the room.  Rather than canned goods, barrels of flour and glass jars of sweets on the counters; colourful fishing rope repurposed into baskets and trivets, Lino-cut cards, watercolour paintings and t-shirts fill the counters and shelves. 

In a sunny room off to the side,  I meet studio owner, Janet Davis, an accomplished painter, printmaker and rug hooker. A Cheticamp-style frame, perhaps ten feet long, fitted with a linen backing sits against the wall. My curiosity is peaked as clearly this work is still in the early stages and I strike up a conversation with Janet.  The mat will replicate one of her paintings hanging on the wall above the frame, of fish in the sea.  The entire mat will be hooked using repurposed fabric.  She points to a pile of cut green strips that are destined to be reimagined as fish, sharing that her husband hasn’t yet noticed several of his T-shirts are missing. 

Next I am treated to a special gem, as Janet brings out a worn yet beautiful mat, hooked by her grandmother. Janet shares that it was her Grandmother who taught her the craft. It’s a familiar story for many, and thankfully, it’s this sharing, from one pair of hands to the next, that keeps this traditional art form alive. 

Wishing to support this talented artist and studio, I select a colourful lino-cut card depicting a fishing building next to the sea. I head back to the campervan feeling inspired and confident that I still have storage space for a lovely card. 

Tally of rug hooking supplies: 6 skeins of yarn, one pattern, three cards