“I feel very positive" - new hope for Stella K Studios as search for local creators begins having previously announced closure
The owner of a studio in Southsea is looking for fellow creators to join her shop and help ensure its future.
Stella Kalan, of Southsea, opened Stella K Studios in Osborne Road in July last year. It was a dream come true for the University of Portsmouth graduate, however despite building a good community of customers she was facing the possibility of closure at the end of February.
With not enough money coming in to cover costs, she announced the news on Facebook along with a 50 per cent sale on all stock last week. Speaking to The News a week later, Stella is feeling more positive with her landlord agreeing to help her make the studio a success by bringing in more creators to use the space as a studio and sell their work.
Stella said: “I feel very positive, I was closing down and put everything at 50 per cent with lots of stock flying out. If you come into my shop now you will see I don’t have much stock so I’m running like a headless chicken to make more stock.
“I hope this works because it was my dream to do this since I was a teenager, and I achieved it in my mid forties. I was really sad the last month because I didnt want to close down but now I can see a little bit of light at the end of the tunnel, we will see.”
Stella put the call out of Facebook for more creators and has already had a number of enquiries with people interested in exploring the opportunity.
Currently, Stella sells a range of her artwork and craft including canvases, stationary, as well as crochet and wax melts. The space is also used for creative workshops, including for children.
Stella is hoping to find creators who do different crafts from who will able to utilise a dedicated space in the studio to work on and display their goods.
She posted on Facebook: “Our small creative studio in Southsea was about to close, but we want to keep it alive , and we would like to turn it into a curated studio, therefore we are looking for 1–2 talented makers to join us for a 2-month trial collaboration.”
Further details on Stella K Studios can be found at https://www.stellakstudios.co.uk/.