Welcome to our blog series, telling the stories behind the businesses in Clevedon.
Nicky – Nicky’s Atelier
Tell us about your business. What services do you provide?
We are a creative art school, and we run creative workshops for both adults and children. We also do lots of other things around that. I offer one to one tutoring service. I’ve been a teacher for 16 years – I tutor both children and adults. We run arty parties, events and corporate events. We have a monthly Sip and Sketch evening with a live model, this has a real social element and we serve drinks. There is also our Junior Atelier for little artists on a Wednesday afternoon, and we run a masterclass on a Tuesday evening for people that want to delve a bit deeper into their art. And every Saturday we run a creative workshop.
How did you start your business? What’s the story?
I was always very creative as a child. My favourite present at Christmas was an art box that my mum used to do me – full of lots of creative goodies. No matter what I got for Christmas that was what I would spend Christmas morning doing – I would always look forward to it.
We are all born with creativity, it is an inherent thing in us, but I think a lot of people just disconnect from it, or they label themselves as not being creative. We are pushing back against that.
I was a fashion designer for 10 years, and then retrained to become an art and design teacher, I worked in many schools. Had my little boy and started running creative workshops for Clevedon Art Club. They became very popular and people suggested that I did them for myself, and so we started in April 2024.
We really wanted our own creative space in Clevedon so we could bring creativity to everyone, and so we moved in here. The Library next door have been really supportive of our visions. Our mission is to make art accessible to everybody, and we really believe everyone can make art.
What is the best thing about running a business in Clevedon?
We love Clevedon. We live here, it’s our home. We feel very part of the community, and I didn’t want to open my art space anywhere else. I think Clevedon is a really creative town, especially in the triangle, as there are lots of creative businesses here. It’s quite an exciting time in Clevedon – there is a lot of creativity and since being here a lot of creatives have come and spoken to me.
Nicky’s Atelier is on Old Church Road. To find out more visit https://nickys-atelier.com/