HOW IT ALL BEGAN…
” Creativity is contagious. Pass it on!” Albert Einstein
Back in 2015, while our children tore around playgroup, we did what every good parents do, we drank tea and chatted about our pre-children life. We realised we shared a love of art, handmade crafts and, of course, wine! Fast forward to early 2017 and opportunity was gifted to us to open a small space in Guildford to sell our own art, and the initial concept for The Artists Nook was then born. We opened the doors in August 2017 as a collective of our own and a few local artists (read ‘friends’). Our shop was in a beautiful courtyard in Guildford, with 3 other businesses and we loved it! It was tiny but it was ours and it allowed us to cut our teeth and work out how it was going to work, with low risk, and how we could grow our business into what we both dreamed of!
Over the next year we got other artists on board and we began running workshops to share our passion. Both our retail space and workshops began slowly but with consistent work from us and amazing support from our families it began to gain momentum. By the end of 2018 it was evident that we had outgrown our little shop and we needed to expand our premises to grow our business. So we started looking at our options. We didn’t know where it would lead but we put it out to the Universe and of course she delivered and the shop next door to us became available. So in March 2019 we moved into our bigger space. OMG the anxiety levels of moving into a bigger shop with higher rent were crazy but we knew we had to move if our business was going to grow.
We now have a fabulous shop where we represent over 40 local artisans and businesses. PLUS the perfect workshop space to run both our own boutique workshops and for other creatives to run theirs. Looking at how far we have come since we opened 2 years ago we couldn’t be prouder and we couldn’t have done it without the most A-M-A-Z-I-N-G local creatives and of course our wonderful customers. Our vibe is relaxed, inclusive and social and we certainly attract our tribe!
THANK YOU
About Katherine & Nicola
“ We moved to Australia from the UK in 2008. We first lived in Perth city where we had our first child in 2009, when he was 3 months old we moved to Fitzroy Crossing in the Kimberley. We lived there for 4 amazing years during which time we had our second child. Then in 2013 we settled in the beautiful Perth Hills. For most of my life I never considered myself an artist. I was creative, sure, but an artist…? I had some major surgery back in 2015 and while recuperating I had lots of time to think, create and cruise instagram. My whole life I’d always said that if I could paint all day I’d be the happiest I could be but, hey, artists can’t make money to pay their bills it’s only a hobby, right!? Well actually, wrong! When I left school in 1994 and graduated from my BA(Hons) degree in 1998, the world was a vastly different place. Jobs were more conventional in my circle of friends and family in London, so being an artist just wasn’t an option. At 40 I figured it was time for me to live my true creative life and in doing so becoming a better parent and wife. The opportunity for The Artists Nook came at just the right time, as I believe these things always do. Working with Nicola is perfect as between us we have great cross section of skill and experience and we can work in our zone of genius knowing that the other person has our back.
My work is predominantly mixed media abstracts that heavily reflects my personality and energy. As with most creatives I can’t just stick to one thing and I also enjoy macrame, polymer clay, woodwork and dabble in printmaking having studied it at art college.
I absolutely love running my workshops and working on larger public art projects, but more importantly I LOVE the platform we have created for local artists. It’s forever evolving with so much variety and we are amazed all the time at what a talented bunch West Australians are!” – Katherine Ferguson
“ Shortly after gaining my honours degree in Fine Art Printmaking in Scotland the opportunity to move to beautiful Perth came along and my partner and myself jumped at it. 14 years, 3 kids and a four year stint in Indonesia in the middle and we are happily settled in the beautiful Perth Hills.
As we started a family and moved around Indonesia my artwork became the constant reliable thing in my life, my printmaking press is well travelled! On returning to Australia in 2015 I met Katherine at playgroup, our youngest kids stuck like glue and it was so exciting to meet another artist out in the bush. When the opportunity to go into business together came along I grabbed it with both hands and have never looked back.
Our business has grown and blossomed into something beautiful. I love that we can support so many other creatives by representing them in our retail space and through sharing our skills in our workshops and art classes to those who have that creative appetite but never had the time or opportunity to explore it.
It all seemed to happen naturally and opportunities have come along at the right time. Our little shop has become a multifaceted arts business and the potential is huge, from our retail space to our workshops and art classes to our public art projects, we want to bring as much art and beauty to Perth and its people as we can.” – Nicola Cowie
