INTERVIEW
Upcycling materials and Louise’s end result
Louise in her studio
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bought up lots of old 1950s and ’60s hats made of gorgeous parabuntal straw. I’m now really enjoying making new pieces out of them.
A talent for teaching It’s strange to think that although I resisted becoming a teacher when I was younger, it turns out that I really enjoy teaching! I still remember the buzz I got during Rose’s classes when I mastered something new, so to enable students to experience that thrill for themselves is wonderful. I’m very mindful of the fact that I was an extremely shy student, so I make it my mission to include everyone. I’m also aware that people won’t
necessarily have access to lots of fancy equipment. There’s nothing worse than turning up at a college to teach and realising that there are only five hat blocks between twenty
students, so I’ve come up with courses that use a simple polystyrene head or button block. It makes it easier when people are travelling on public transport too. They don’t have to carry lots of heavy wooden hat blocks around with them.
Virtual virtuoso I was filming Hat Academy courses before the pandemic hit in 2018. These courses are professionally filmed and recorded, so when purchased, can be viewed ad infinitum by the purchaser. When the pandemic came along and in-person teaching had to stop, I started doing my own live streaming courses as well via Zoom. A small group of milliners including
myself, Lina Stein in Ireland, and a couple of Australian colleagues helped each other along. Lina showed me how to convert my phone into a webcam, and I mastered the art of two-camera shots. We all had to get to grips with technology pretty fast. It was a matter of survival. I was actually really surprised at the demand for online learning. I guess people were looking for things to do during lockdown. It was wonderful to be able to continue interacting with students via my Zoom courses, answer questions and assist with their progress.
My ribbon cockade theme seemed the perfect subject matter as it was small and easy to capture on a webcam. Now that things are getting back to normal, the millinery market is flooded with online teaching options. Thankfully, face-to-face courses are getting back on track, and I’ve finally been able to return to my beloved studio.
Doing what you love I turned 60 a short while ago and have started to think about what I might do next. The Nicholas Building is currently up for sale and there is some uncertainty about its future, so if I lost my studio there, I’m not quite sure about what I’d do. Lockdown taught me that I don’t want to be based at home – even though I work quite a bit on my own, I do like chatting to folk and nipping out for a coffee, and I’d really miss that. For me, making hats is a way of
life – a way of nurturing my creative soul. But when I look back on my long and surprising career, the fact that I’ve succeeded in making an independent living from my hats is very important to me too. I’m incredibly proud of that.
More information
www.millinery.com.au
24 | the hat magazine #95
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