Based on the top floor of a Hebden Bridge cloth mill in Melbourne Street, the climb to this artists' workplace is not for the faint-hearted.

Visitors may arrive slightly breathless but as soon as they emerge into the light-filled, attic-style room with its slanting windows framing views of the Calder Valley they will agree every step was worth it.

The studio is home to around 15 experienced artists, describing themselves as "diverse and mature" who indulge in their passions of painting, drawing, print-making, ceramics, etching, monoprinting, weaving, mosaics and much more.

"We got together basically because we all have the same kinds of interests," says Angie Rogers who has been at the studio since it opened two years ago.

Angie, who moved to the area from Birmingham more than 20 years ago, says she is inspired by the surrounding landscape..

"At first I thought it a bit bleak but I soon realised that perhaps that was part of its charm. I really love the area though, it never fails to thrill me," she says.

This is evident in her beautiful paintings, especially one collection which reflects the local countryside through the seasons.

"I wanted to explore the journey of the water and capture it through the various seasons of the year," says Angie who also runs children's workshops.

Frances Earnshaw is a former student of the Royal College of Art and, since moving to the area about 18 months ago, she has been "a pretty full-time working artist.

"I always loved art since childhood, especially drawing," she says.

"Over the years I have concentrated on print-making but it is since moving into the studio that I have also taken up painting again," she says.

Frances describes her work as "dark and edgy but with room for the whimsical". Last year she was asked to take part in an exhibition in Germany on the theme of fairy-tales, basing her work on the legend of the Cottingley Fairies.

The story grew up around a series of five photographs – taken by Elsie Wright and Frances Griffiths, two young cousins living in Cottingley, near Bradford – showing them playing with supposed fairies.

In 1917, when the first two photos were taken, the girls were 16 and 10 years old but in 1981 they admitted to faking all but one of the photographs, but insisted that they really had seen fairies.

Frances's work was exhibited at the German Fairy Tale Museum in Bad Oeynhausen.

Another committed 59 Steps Studio artist is Helene Fletcher who has been there since May.

Helene's striking work is impossible to miss -–not least because of its size.

"Yes I do like to work on a big scale," she laughs. "I work better that way."

Helene's beautifully muted tones are abstract and ideas, she says, can come at any time.

"Usually they come in the middle of the night for some reason and I wake with a complete image before my eyes. Because I am working with something which doesn't actually exist – only in my imagination – it can be difficult. I have to make sketches and get the image down as best I can."

She says she "went through a phase of drawing" but stopped because of work and family commitments.

"Now the kids are grown and I have time to myself I can really lose myself in my work and I love it," she says.

Christine Herbert's captivating still-life picture of flowers deserves a closer look to reveal that the image is actually a collage made up of newspaper images and headlines.

"It's called Calendula for Lebanon," she says explaining that the calendula, or marigold, is known for its healing properties and she chose it to highlight the area's troubles.

"A lot of my work has a political background," she says. Her past subjects have included the suffragettes.

She says her prints and paintings "have an organic basis" and she loves to use "layering of form and colour to produce images with hidden depths."

"I love working here though because being around other artists really inspires you. It's lovely to bounce around ideas and encourage each other," she says.

Two exhibitions showcasing the work of the artists based at the 59 Steps Gallery will be staged at the Festival Shop, Albert Street, Hebden Bridge.

The first, involving half of the group, runs today, tomorrow and Sunday from 11am to 5pm.

The second exhibition, also at the Festival Shop, involves a second group of artists and takes place on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, October 17, 18 and 19, from 11am to 5pm.