– COMMON THREADS –
This week I got to spend a lovely hour with Linzi from Studio Souk.
I loved the community heart and vision Linzi has and how she has created this space; a place for others to come, work and connect in what can be an isolating career path. There is a definite community feel as you wander around the artist’s work and you eavesdrop on snippets of conversation and banter as folk interact and connect.
My hopes for Studio Souk back in 2013 were nothing more than just a want to have a “workplace” to get up in the morning to go to, to spend the day with like-minded people, for some peer support and that sense of community. From 2010 I had been a silversmith with my own jewellery company, working in my little studio all alone in the house…with my work most of the time spilling out onto the dining room table, much to the annoyance of my partner. And I thought to myself…there must be other creatives out there with the same frustrations as me!? Or was I just slowing going insane???
So in July 2013 I closed my eyes, counted to 10 and took the leap! I found an empty shop and started work on it to open as an open plan studio and retail space for a few creatives like myself.
I could have spent an age in Studio Souk, (had I not had a little 4 year old at my feet)…I loved chatting to a few of the artists that were there, hearing their inspiration and talking through their process. People’s journeys, hearts and vision are all so individual, you get the sense that art is not just for the rich that can afford to spend thousands on a painting, but that art is completely accessible: it is affordable; unique. 
I think that makes this community space a real draw…in an age where the mass market is so strong and super cheap it is SO refreshing to walk into a space that oozes creativity.
