Louise Curnin

After working in the steel industry for 17 years Louise moved to the Yorkshire Dales, running a small business from home. Told she was rubbish at art at school, Louise wanted to find her creative side and as luck would have, ArtisOn had just started up in 2010. She started to do a few workshops at ArtisOn – and hit upon Sheila Smith’s feltmaking. She got the crafting bug! Particularly influenced and inspired by Sheila’s workshops, Louise galvanised a group of felt enthusiasts who she’d met on Sheila’s workshops into a regular group. Calling themselves “Sheila’s Addicts”, Louise organises the group which meets regularly at ArtisOn or at Preston under Scar where Louise lives. They share ideas, help one another and just chat. This mutual support has fired up several members of the group to do their City and Guilds. When Sheila retired in 2015, Louise completed the circle by taking over some of her ArtisOn felt workshops as well as developing many new workshops of her own. In 2017, Louise was also one of the driving forces behind the establishment of the Fleece Gallery in Reeth – a gallery run collectively by makers now in its 10th year.