Creating a home for crafters in the Winthrop Arcade
Crafter Jolanta Katke opened Artisana in the heart of the city last summer with a mission to give local crafters an outlet to sell their handmade goods. She's determined to hang in there.
“When you know how to do a lot of different things, it can be hard to settle on just one,” says Jolanta Katke, owner of Artisana, a new shop in the Winthrop Arcade, which first opened its doors for business last August and sells only handmade products made by local crafters.
Katke herself is a passionate crafter and spent many years making and selling her own items from home and online. Now however, she has started her very own business, and is delighted to be able to develop an ever expanding ecosystem of fellow artisans.
“I moved to Ireland seventeen years ago (from Lithuania), but I’ve been doing crafts all my life. Fourteen years ago I had twin girls and it was during this time that I tried a lot of different crafts.”
“I crochet, knit and I do some felting, but I always like to challenge myself and I don’t like to just stick to simple things. But now I have a lot less time to make things, so I have to choose carefully what direction to go.”
This direction Katke speaks of is giving a large number of people an opportunity to find a home for their work and also offers them the chance to sell their products in a premises in town, which perhaps wouldn’t be otherwise possible.
“At the moment we have fifteen crafters in total, some of them were friends and the others we found each other somehow, through different events or maybe we connected online.”
“Everything in the shop is handmade because I really want to support Irish crafters. We also work with people from Poland, the Ukraine and other countries. Hopefully we will be able to manage in this way and I don’t have to start buying things from China!”
Katke says this with a big laugh, but the reality of trying to sell strictly handmade products is not lost on her.
“People say ‘I love craft things’, but they can be slow to buy them, especially if they compare the prices to big stores.”
“But I don’t think these items should just be popular at Christmas, it should be all year round.”
While there are lots of different items available in Artisana, ranging from jewellery to knitwear, there are also some very unique and quirky pieces which have been a big hit among people visiting her shop.
“Our teapot cosys are very popular. We have ones that look like Michael Collins and another of Michael D. Higgins, which we call Michael Tea Higgins and people really like these and we get lots of orders for them online as well.”
Katke credits this ability to create products which resonate with Irish customers to an old partnership she developed when she was first starting out.
“I used to supply Pure Crafty Shop which used to be on Paul Street and the owners Susan and Patrick gave me ideas for things to make and introduced me to different aspects of Irish culture and famous characters on television like Bosco or Dustin or Father Jack.”
This integration into her adopted country now runs deep, as Katke feels completely settled and at home in Ireland.
“I’m from Lithuania originally, near the border with Poland and Kalingraad and when I first moved here I lived in Bantry for three years with my husband. Straight away we fell in love with West Cork and all the beautiful scenery.”
“When I go down there to visit now, it feels like I am visiting my native land, which is very strange I have to say.”
But while having a shop always seemed like something of a pipe dream for Katke, it wasn’t until she decided to start looking around for some place to be based that she believed she could turn it into a reality.
“I wanted to rent where the barber shop is (also in the arcade) but it’s just used for pop up shops, so I gave up for a while and spent almost half a year just playing around which was very frustrating.”
“A lot of businesses go from having a premises to moving online but I’m the opposite; I wanted to move from online to a shop because I miss talking with customers and I like to get feedback face to face.”
“It’s not easy at the moment, VAT is a big issue, then there’s the rent, rates and everything else. I expected the first year to be tough and it definitely has been.”
Despite the challenges she has faced, Katke remains upbeat and is making lots of plans for the future.
“On Sundays we have crochet and knitting classes but I hope to find more crafters to have a design shop and studio, so they can provide workshops or classes.”
“If people have an idea for a class I’d love for them to approach me and we can discuss it. If it’s something to do with mindfulness or photography lessons, whatever it is, I’d love to hear about it.”
As we were wrapping up our chat, I noticed the Echo boy stationed outside the Post Office. What’s it like listening to him every day? I asked.
“In the beginning it was a little bit annoying,” Katke said, “but now I’ve got used to it and it even helps me sometimes when meditating!”
This is followed by another laugh and a feeling of real and genuine positivity.
“The Winthrop Arcade is such a nice place,” Katke said of the gallery of shops which is Ireland’s oldest covered shopping arcade, having first opened in 1926. It was designed by Levie and Chillingworth, who also designed the now derelict Roches Stores building on Saint Patrick St.
“I love the big windows I have here so sometimes it’s good to lose another place, because when I saw this place and the big table sitting in the middle, I really wanted it to be my shop space and being in here in the arcade it’s a bit like France or somewhere.”
“Best of Buds has been here fifteen years and Monreal twenty five years, so hopefully I can do the same.”
If you are a crafter or have an idea for a class you can contact Jolanta here.
