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What inspired you to open Left to Draw Studios and what can people expect when they visit?
I had recently left my previous career and planned to take a break for a few months, however… on one of our regular dog walks along the canal, I noticed the ‘to let’ sign in the Waterfront building and mentioned to my husband that it would make an amazing art studio. We decided to book an appointment to view the space, and once I’d seen it, there was no going back. Left to Draw Studios is home to a gallery area, exhibiting mostly local artists including some award winning artists who have appeared on Sky Arts’ Portrait Artist of the Year. There is a working studio area that we have recently began running beginners drawing and life/figure drawing sessions in. We have a selection of carefully curated gifts, jewellery and homeware items for people to browse and we also have a small meeting room for hire that individuals and groups can use. Can you tell us a little about your background? After completing a degree in three-dimensional design, I began to produce wedding stationery after doing the stationery for a friend’s wedding. I gained work through word of mouth and after a couple of years, I took on a premises. I had a gift shop and coffee shop combined, which I built up and ran for several years, where I produced greeting cards and offered a personalisation service (before the days of Moonpig!). It was hard work and a very busy time for myself and my husband as we had two young boys. I then fell pregnant with our third child, a little girl, and life became even busier! A few months later, myself and a friend began working on a range of cards to sell through the Harrogate Trade Show, while I was still running the shop. The show was a great success, so after a year of trying to run both businesses, I sold the shop and concentrated on the greeting card company. Together with my business partner/co-director and a great small team, we grew the business over the next 15 years, up until April 2023, when I left the company. What are you hoping to achieve over the coming year? The hope is that we can expand on our current classes to offer after-school sessions, more life drawing and intensive one day workshops. We’d like to collaborate with different artists who work in a variety of mediums. Do you have a dream artist you would love to display? That’s an impossible question! I love undone art and figurative work in particular. Recently I’ve fallen in love with work by Morag Caister, who won Portrait Artist of the Year, last year. The way she makes marks, treats clothing and leaves furniture as barely there is just so beautiful. Is there anything you would love readers who haven’t popped into the studios to know? Just to come along! People might not know that as well as an art studio, we are also a shop with lots of lovely stationery, homewares and gifts. People are welcome to come and have a browse and just enjoy the space. Left to Draw can be found upstairs in the Terminal Warehouse, Union Wharf, Market Harborough. It is open Tuesday–Saturday 10am–5pm.
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Issue 20
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