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Tottenham artist empowers women through ‘Think Pink Welding’

May 29, 2020   ·   0 Comments

Photo by Jennifer Gilbert

A local woman is inspiring fellow females to follow their passions through her welded artwork and successful business.

Daniela Torelli of Tottenham, who’s a member of the South Simcoe Arts Council (SSAC), started her art company “Think Pink Welding” in 2018, where she sells uniquely crafted horseshoe decor.

“I do a lot of craft shows and a lot of different markets throughout the year [and] I like to talk about welding and I love empowering women,” she said.

“Welding is a male-dominated trade, of course, and there’s very few female welders. We are kind of growing but just spreading awareness as well, for women in the trades is huge.”

She told The Times sharing her art with South Simcoe residents has been incredibly gratifying as well.

“I was a very shy person and I’ve never really done anything like this before, so just putting myself out there and then seeing all the community support has been a really big accomplishment for me,” Torelli said.

Only in the last five years she switched careers as a vet technician to pursue her passion for welding and now works in the industry full time.

Torelli made the transition from purely being a welder by trade to creating art during the Christmas of 2017.

She has several friends who love horses, so she took their horseshoes and turned them into home decor to be given as Christmas gifts.

“Then, the next thing I knew, people saw them in my friends homes… and I started getting orders,” she recalled.

Think Pink Welding grew organically due to the demand and Torelli said she’s very grateful to now have a creative outlet where she can share her artistic talents and turn a profit.

“I’ve always wanted to be my own business owner and it was just really great how it grew from that,” she said.

Her artwork is available online and has been purchased by people across Canada and throughout the United States.

“I actually have some orders going out to British Columbia this week,” Torelli said.

The distinctly welded horseshoe art and home decor is usually available at storefronts in Sutton and Elmira, as well as the SSAC FortyOne Local Art Market, but COVID-19 has kept everything closed.

Torelli primarily specializes in Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welding, which is needed when conducting very fine artistic welds.

She said the act of welding itself is very rewarding and is what keeps her coming back to the workshop each time.

“You’re melting two pieces of metal together and the things that you can create…it’s pretty amazing what you can do with all the different types of metal, aluminum, steel, stainless steel, titanium,” Torelli said.

“You’re conducting electricity and then your heating it up and forming it into different shapes.”

Torelli has always worked out of a small section of her garage for her business and recently put her operations and online shop on hold to allow for an expansion of her current workspace.

She told The Times construction is underway for a new workshop, specifically designated for her craft, which will leave her with more room for equipment and tools.

Going forward, Torelli said she’s hoping to be able to show her work in some capacity this year.

“It’s hard to tell what’s going to be happening in the future but hopefully there will be some Christmas markets coming,” she noted.

“I miss socializing, that was my favourite part of markets and craft shows. I don’t care if I don’t sell anything; if somebody wants to talk and learn, then I’m all about teaching.”

By Sam Odrowski
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter


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