Finding a Space to be

Here is a little blog about the journey for a Smitten Studio.

I have a space to be me! But also a space for others to come together, slow down create and connect.

Getting Smitten

With a passion for screen printing, comes the need for a space to do this in! Having your own creative space is challenging at the best of times, but somehow, I’ve always managed to figure something out. I have rented some pretty cheap and bizarre places over the years. (best not to go there!)

But what I know now, more than ever, is the need for a space is not just a need for a place to work in - but it’s a space to think, rest, soul-search and just BE.

In 2005, when my eldest was 8 months, I claimed the basement in our family home in Titirangi in West Auckland. It was dark, damp, and a home to many huge spiders, but I didn’t care a bit.

Slowly, alongside the busyness of working various jobs and growing a family, I set up a humble screen-printing space. And, from there, I began; Smitten Design Textiles. (almost embarrassingly so!)

Garage days…..(Photo credit: Kinstry Smythe)

As the kids grew up and needed more space, so did my textile ambitions. I booted myself from the basement and got myself a studio space at the Corbans Estate Art Centre. (CEAC).

Smitten upholstered chair and CEAC as the backdrop

And, sigh, CEAC turned out to be the most supportive and nurturing community I could have hoped for, I felt such a love and kinship with like minded creatives, something I hadn’t experienced since leaving Art School.

I was asked if I wanted to run workshops, and I did. Lots! This not only ignited my passion for teaching, but also a love for connecting with a community.

I continued to nurture the screen printing work that had started in my basement and got brave enough to post things on Instagram and Facebook, slowly getting enquiries, invitations and followers. (hello if you were one of them from back then, love to you x).

The industrial backdrop of textures surrounding my studio at Corbans, inspired many textile designs.

Design: Shed 2

In my little studio at CEAC (photo credit: Rachel Sheilds)

After four years, of being all too many things in a very small space, I felt my time was up at CEAC, and was on the hunt to find a space to grow my business and run my own workshops.

In 2019, the perfect space showed up for me, and I got to sublet a space in the old showroom of a sewing factory in Avondale.

This was so exciting, and I really blossomed in that space. I am so grateful to all that came. Thank you! xx

I was in the Avondale studio for just over three years, and they went very fast! They were some of the biggest and busiest years for me, not only with my business but in my personal life too.

Avondale studio

One of the first workshops in full swing, Avondale studio

Behind the screens

Not long after moving into the Avondale space, the Covid 19 pandemic happened, no one could have predicted this. It touched the lives of everyone. Without warning, we were all forced to suddenly stop, adapt our lives, and face uncertainty and instability. And the repercussions of all this, are still being felt.

Although, like so many of us, I had my wobbles, I also found this time strengthened a resilience in me. When I could, I found productive contemplation through my textile work. And it helped to get me through.

Around this time, I had also started the beginnings of a painful separation from my marriage of 17 years, and not long after the split, I got diagnosed with having ADHD. Whoop! (But no surprises there).

Although these years were full of rollercoaster moments and managing much anxiety, many lessons get learnt, and a new awakening into figuring out how I’m wired and how to take better care of myself.

I won’t go deeply into ADHD here, or my divorce, but I am mentioning these things, as I know I’m not alone in any of this.

I think we can all be in agreement, that we each carry so much. Too much!

I am starting to recognise, more than ever, the positive impact of having a textile printing studio, and the importance of slowing down.

Having a creative space, not just for myself, but one I can share, through the workshops I run, is a unique privilege and a hugely humbling experience. Bringing people together, to learn something new, take their mind off the hook from their busy lives, and have fun, never ceases to inspire me.

Evening screen-printing workshop.

Also, over the years of growing my business, I have become increasingly aware of the enormity of the fast fashion industry. It is so important to me, to stay small, create less waste, less toxicity and connect to a community.

I’m going against the tide of mass production in a world where we rely so much on fast paced convenience.

When people buy a Smitten product, they are also connecting to me as a maker. They are making a conscious choice, to buy something unique, and hopefully, making a purchase with longevity in mind.

With my Smitten workshops - participants aren’t just taking away a new skill, but also a product, a feeling, a memory and a shared experience.

I often think about the metaphors and meanings inherent in textiles, the conversations, the memories, the stories involved in the making, and this is a big part of my personal research for my textile art practise. (stay tuned for the next blog).

It’s not an easy way, but I have found home.

I have found home, not just for myself, (and my kids and my cat) but also a creative shelter for my business and this textile life.

I’m not sure what the future holds? But right now it feels very good indeed, and anything is possible.

Stay tuned.

Katie x

New beginnings

Landscaping next!