Geraldine Hennessy: Welcome to the Cork Creative Podcast. With this podcast, we hope to promote local creative businesses and people. I’m your host, Geraldine Hennessy from Flux Learning, and today I am joined by craft shop owner Cecilia Scholte Lubberink in Brookpark Business Centre in Dunmanway. With no TV in her childhood home, writing poetry was her first creative calling, which she then illustrated, and so began her creative voyage.

A graduate of Crawford College of Art and Design, her own work can be seen in the West Cork Animal Welfare Group’s Christmas Cards and charcoal sketches of the architecture of Skibbereen for the Heritage Centre. Dunmanway Arts Weekend gave Cecilia the opportunity to mix with local artists and planted the seed for having a creative space for local artists to display and showcase their work.

The success of a pop up shop gave her the confidence that a more permanent French retail space could succeed. And boosted by the support of her community and partner, Le Cheile Arts became a reality. In this episode, we discuss the inspiration behind Le Cheile and her ethos about keeping it local. Cecilia chats about the importance of setting up shop in Dunmanway and the need to get people to stop and shop in the town she loves so much.

We also discuss the challenges she faces as a shop owner and the importance of a good work life balance. So you’re very welcome to the Cork Creation Podcast, Cecilia. 

Cecilia Scholte Lubberink: Thank you for having me, Geraldine. It’s lovely to be here. 

Geraldine Hennessy: So can you tell us a bit about your craft shop and the inspiration behind starting it?

Cecilia Scholte Lubberink: Okay, the craft shop began in October 2022, after discussions with other local artists in Dunmanway. It began, I believe, in the, the idea started during the Dunmanway Arts Weekend in August 2022 when I met a lot, a lot of local artists in Dunmanway and crafters and makers, and there was nowhere, we discussed it between us, there was nowhere locally to show our work. There was the Arts Weekend and Culture Night. There’s no outlets, there’s no creative resources for us in Dunmanway. So the idea began to brew from that. And after the Arts Weekend, a couple of people sent me links to the Creative Startup Grant Scheme and after reading that, it just seemed to click and fit very perfectly with the situation in Dunmanway, and I began to mull it over a lot. And then during Culture Night in September, I used that opportunity to network and meet other artists. We held a craft fair in the towns in  St Patrick’s Hall, and after speaking to those artists, I had, I think, about 12 artists who were on board who wanted to get behind the idea of running a pop up shop.

So after that, I put all of my efforts into applying for the Creative Startup Grant, because without that grant, it wouldn’t have happened at all. So I worked for a month on applying for that grant. There was a lot of effort put into it. I wanted it to succeed. I just, I was very excited by the prospect of having a pop up shop to show my own work and to show the other artists work. It was just, it was very exciting. 

And that was in October, start of October 2022, I put in my application and then it was a very long period of waiting and wondering how to make it happen, whether I’d be awarded the grant. One of the biggest, I think, struggles there was deciding which building in Dunmanway to use. We knew we wanted a pop up shop. There’s quite a lot of vacant properties. But Kerr’s Pharmacy, it used to be Kerr’s Pharmacy, which is where the shop is now, it was mentioned to me as a possible location and at the start I thought, oh no, can’t happen there, you know, that’s too nice. I nearly expected a small little rundown place somewhere, but the owner was very, very supportive of the idea and I started planning for the shop before I knew I was getting the funding.

I really had all my hopes pinned on this. And thankfully I was awarded the funding, and from that moment at the beginning of October, I put all my effort into doing up the shop. So it was an old pharmacy, and we were very lucky because there was a lot of, a lot of equipment left there, there was a counter, there was shelving, there was an old cash register, you know, there was a lot there to work with, and we really spent a lot of money on paint. It was myself and my partner, we stayed up all night painting the shop. 

Geraldine Hennessy: How romantic. 

Cecilia Scholte Lubberink: We made them signage. I wanted it to stand out and be really colourful and bright and fun. So we called it Christmas Elves Pop Up Shop. And I wore an elf hat every day and dressed up as an elf occasionally because I felt that it needed to have a fun aspect to it as for being a pop up shop. So that was where the beginning, the beginning of the idea started, yes. 

Geraldine Hennessy: Okay. And how did you transition then from going from a pop up shop to full shop?

Cecilia Scholte Lubberink: There was such a good reception, I never imagined I would run a shop. I really thought, let’s try this out, let’s showcase local artists’ work, and at the start of the pop up shop there was 12 artists, including myself, who I had on board, but more artists just kept approaching me to show their work. I approached other artists to ask if they would display their work, and actually I’ve lost track of the number that I had at the pop up shop at that time. But at the moment as a permanent shop, it has over 70 local artists and crafters showing their work. After the pop up shop closed just on Christmas Eve in 2022, I took a little bit of time mulling it over and I was just kind of blown away by the experience and by people’s reaction to it. But I spent Christmas and January and February thinking about it as well, really doing a lot of research, wondering how it would go if I was to make this a permanent shop. I knew it would be very different. You know, a pop up shop is, it’s very exciting. There’s an urgency. People have to get in quickly before it’s finished.

Well, I knew that running in a permanent business would be a little bit slower than running a pop up shop. So I decided to just go for it. My partner was very supportive and he encouraged me to go for it as well. The landlady was supportive. And yeah, we called it Le Cheile Arts and started, and we opened up our doors in March, on St.Patrick’s Day, in March, 1923, yeah. 

[00:06:43] Geraldine Hennessy: And why Le Cheile? Why did you pick that name? 

[00:06:46] Cecilia Scholte Lubberink: When it was a pop up shop everybody talked to me. I really absorbed the feedback of people in Dunmanway and visitors, and there was a lot of speaking of how businesses should pull together. Artists should pull together. And there was just a lot of togetherness. There was a lot of people saying about getting together. It was the artists getting together, the crafters getting together, the public getting together with the artists and the businesses getting together as well. 

Geraldine Hennessy: Yes. So a fitting name. 

Cecilia Scholte Lubberink: It seemed a fitting name. 

Geraldine Hennessy: And it’s a super location. It’s a great location, isn’t it?

Cecilia Scholte Lubberink: I could never imagine that I would have had that exact location, right on the main street of Dunmanway. I love its location, I love its big window. 

Geraldine Hennessy: Very good, very good. And what first sparked your interest in art and how did you develop your own skills over the years? 

Cecilia Scholte Lubberink: I’ve always been interested in art. I grew up without a television. My parents insisted on no television. They felt it would be better for my creativity. And I thank them for it because, I think it was in times of boredom, utter boredom, that I would go through a very vast record collection of old vinyl records, and I loved going through those records as a child. I was blown away by their illustrations, by the artwork on them, and I started to copy them when I was quite young. I did art up until my Junior Cert, where I think, regretfully, I decided not to continue art because I didn’t believe there would be jobs in art, so I chose other subjects that would have me, give me a foot into every possible career path. But I always loved it. I always loved it. 

Geraldine Hennessy: And what was your favorite medium of choice or what, do you like painting or? 

Cecilia Scholte Lubberink:  When I was younger, definitely drawing. I just did a lot of drawing and a bit of painting. And I went through my Leaving Cert, I didn’t do art, but I kept writing. So I’ve always loved writing as well. And I wrote poetry and short stories. And while I was doing my Leaving Cert, I gathered a collection together and it was suggested to me that I should publish my poetry. So I sent my poems off to a few different publishers and one publisher accepted the chance to publish my work, which was never published.

But, I put the book together and then that publisher approached me and said, you know, will we get an artist to illustrate your poetry? And I said, absolutely not. I’ll do that myself. And as I started illustrating it, I felt I could do better. So then I went to art college, I joined Crawford in Cork, and there I definitely developed my skills a lot more and I discovered ceramics, which I now love as well.

Geraldine Hennessy: And were there any pivotal moments or challenges in your journey to opening your own shop? 

Cecilia Scholte Lubberink: There was a lot of important moments 

and pivotal moments. I never imagined I’d do it. I think that sadly, I lost my parents a few years before. And then while I was working, I lost a colleague and they were all quite young. And I always had it in the back of my mind that I’d like to try out being an artist. Would I succeed being an artist without a steady job? Should I take that risk? And when you lose people close to you who are quite young, you feel life is too short and you need to go for that. I think that was very important in the journey to me starting a shop.

First it encouraged me to leave a secure job and to try to be an artist on my own and develop a body of work, which I was doing as I started opening the shop,yes. And that then led me. to meet other artists locally. 

Geraldine Hennessy: You got, you got inspired then completely. 

Cecilia Scholte Lubberink:Absolutely. 

Geraldine Hennessy: And you have a very strong focus on selling Irish, original and handcrafted items. And you have been mentioned previously by other guests like Orlain Armand from Farraga as being instrumental in helping artists get their products out there. Is this ethos important to you and do you find this limiting in any way? 

Cecilia Scholte Lubberink: It’s definitely not limiting. There are so many talented artists and crafters around West Cork and Cork County, which is the ethos of my shop, is only show Cork County artists. There have been a few times where artists from Kerry or from Waterford or Dublin have approached me and their work is beautiful and I do a little battle with myself because they are incredible artists, but my shop is full and everything is local and I love to sell pieces to customers and say this has been made in Clonakilty, this has been made in Dunmanway, or in Macroom, or Ballineen and Orla and Manda are amazing. I love their art. I love meeting people who I’ve grown up close to, people who are close to me, and see their process, discover what they’re doing in their free time. I would have met Orla while she worked before she started out in her seaweed business, but I didn’t know her, I didn’t know what she did, you know, it’s lovely, there’s a great community feeling within the shop of meeting, meeting people locally and close to you and discovering what they do.

Geraldine Hennessy: I suppose you form very close relationships and you help each other and support each other in a way that possibly wouldn’t be as possibleif the artists were from further afield. 

Cecilia Scholte Lubberink: Absolutely. I would get a lot of commissions through the shop. So customers come to me and they might like a print that is there by Orla and Armand of Farraige but they want it a little bit different. So it’s really easy for me to contact those artists and those crafters and ask for a commission piece or a special piece. And I don’t have to get it shipped from abroad, I don’t have to get it shipped from Dublin. If something is not right, it’s very easy to change something and to have that connection.

Geraldine Hennessy: Okay. And as well as the craft shop, you have a workshop area. Can you tell us a little more about that? 

Cecilia Scholte Lubberink: The workshop area is brilliant. I love it. I’m very lucky because as well as the shop, I’m renting the entire building and not a lot of people have that. I don’t think I could have built the business as I have in any other location because I have this beautiful space above the shop.

I can fit eight people, which keeps the classes and workshops small, which is very important. And we have had a lot of workshops. We’ve had needle felting, seaweed pressing workshops, painting, drawing. There’s a lot, there’s been a lot of workshops. Yes. And then I also do art classes. I do children’s weekly art classes and I also do art camps in the workshop space.

I’ve had the feedback from people who go to the classes that as well as learning new skills or trying out crafts for themselves, they get to socialize. Yeah. It’s a very social experience, I believe. 

Geraldine Hennessy: It’s a great thing for the community of Dunmanway as well, isn’t it? Like to have that space available, that they can do things that probably wouldn’t be available otherwise.

Cecilia Scholte Lubberink: Yes, absolutely. And it was told to me in the pop up shop time that there wasn’t any resources for learning art in Dunmanway. Or if there were, the Dunmanway Library is fantastic. They do a lot. And the Dunmanway Family Resource Centre is very good as well. It wasn’t really enough, we needed a little bit more.And this allows artists to come into the shop and share what they do, how they make it, with anyone who’s interested. 

Geraldine Hennessy: And that probably increases the interest in the individual artists and the understanding for the work behind these crafts. Yes, it might be a little bit more expensive than something you get in another, say high street shop, but there’s a reason behind us and that they can fully understand the work and effort and craft that goes into it.

Cecilia Scholte Lubberink: There’s so many hours put into every piece inside the shop. I think people need to understand that in art because you’re buying an original piece and possibly the artist has spent weeks on that piece. They have bought the canvas, they have bought the paint, they have framed it through art classes, through painting classes, for instance. A lot of people have reported at the cost of art materials, how expensive it is to buy a tube of paint. And they haven’t realized that. 

Geraldine Hennessy: And being born and bred in Dunmanway, was it important to you that you set up shop in the heart of town and do you feel enough is being done to promote Dunmanway compared to the other main towns in West Cork, like Clonakilty and Skibbereen?

Cecilia Scholte Lubberink: It was very important to me to open up in Dunmanway for family reasons as well. I didn’t want to commute. It makes looking after my family easier, but the main reason was that there was nothing available in Dunmanway. There wasn’t a place to show it. I feel Clonakilty and Skibbereen and other towns already have these outlets. Dunmanuay didn’t. It wouldn’t be the same if I opened anywhere else. No, I think Dunmanway needs support. It’s a beautiful town. You can look back on YouTube to videos of Dunmanway in the 1960s and it was bustling. It was always the center of Dunmanway. It was the heart of Dunmanway. And there’s a lot going on here that people don’t realize. I feel there is a particular attitude towards Dunmanway in people in neighboring towns, they don’t see the value within it. But I think lately that’s changing. You know, we’ve had the Feel the Force Festival. We’ve had my shop. We’ve had a lot of businesses opening here and people are going to value it. Brook Park Business Centre is very good. People are working here. Yes, Dunmanway needs support. I think we need more parking in the town. That seems to be a big issue because everybody drives through Dunmanway, but the ability to stop and walk around and look is limited and possibly more signage indicating the car parks that we do have.

Geraldine Hennessy: It’s little things that can make a big difference. Absolutely. I think parking is huge. How would you select the artists and crafters whose work you display in your shop and gallery? 

Cecilia Scholte Lubberink: It’s very organic. It’s a very organic experience. So at the beginning, I had most of the same artists that began as a pop up shop. I met the people that I did in Culture Night and they had beautiful work. And then other artists heard about it and approached me. I guess I have standards in that the work must be well presented. It must be finished nicely. It can’t be, it needs to be of good quality. But I do, I have an inclusive nature in that I do want to show it if it is good, if it is beautiful, and if it’s made well then I’ll try to find a place for it because I want to showcase what’s local, I’m not using based upon name or status, although I have a few well known artists as well and they do help a lot, absolutely, yes.

Geraldine Hennessy: And I suppose your fine arts education in Crawford must help as well in you knowing what’s good and what’s not maybe as good. 

Cecilia Scholte Lubberink: Absolutely. I have the fine art education in Crawford was very, very good. It really was very conceptual and it makes you question every aspect of art and why you’re doing what you do and I loved that. I worked in curating through that course as well. After that, I worked as a sign maker and I did heritage work. So I have helped design exhibitions for the Misenhead Visitor Center. And you know, I’ve, I think I have a good eye in laying work out and seeing what goes well together. 

Geraldine Hennessy: Okay. Yes. And how would you balance running a business with your own creative practice and personal life? 

Cecilia Scholte Lubberink: My own creative practice I’m still working on. It is hard. It is. There is a lot of work in running your own business, but I believe that running my shop is my creative practice. I am designing the shop every day. I’m painting it, I’m choosing colors, I’m laying out, I’m curating, and that is a creative practice. And I’m also learning so much. I do try to squeeze in a little bit of drawing and a little bit of painting when I can, but ultimately I’m learning. And I believe as the shop grows and establishes itself, I’ll have systems in place which will allow me to have a little bit more time to make my own work. But also through my art classes with children, I’m creating every week with them, and I’m playing, which I think play is very important for creativity. 

Geraldine Hennessy: That must be great craic.

Cecilia Scholte Lubberink: It’s great fun. I love it. 

Geraldine Hennessy: You must be exhausted. 

Cecilia Scholte Lubberink: It’s exhausting, but it’s very, very rewarding. Yeah. Yeah. There are two hours a week and the children are so happy. You know, they can help themselves to whatever materials are in the room. They can choose if they do clay, if they do painting, if they want to stick stickers or build something out of cardboard, and that’s very rewarding. They have a happy two hours every week. 

Geraldine Hennessy: Children have no inhibitions, like they just, you know, they’re not limited by anything and sometimes they, I think they can be so amazing, the art that little kids can produce. 

Cecilia Scholte Lubberink: And some of the best artists in the shop, their work is amazing because they have that freedom to play. They’re not, they’re not just painting, they’re adding a bit of newspaper here and there, or they’re experimenting to see what works, and that, that’s the basis for creativity.

Geraldine Hennessy: What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced as a small business owner, and how did you overcome them? 

Cecilia Scholte Lubberink: I think one of the biggest challenges is the need to do everything yourself. You have everything, you don’t realize that running a business and getting started, but everything you have to do yourself. You open the shop yourself, you see after the customers, you do your accounts, You clean, you curate, you plan art classes. I’ve overcome that by picking on an employee, that helps a lot, a very part time employee. But also I’ve had some of the artists that I’ve made really good friends with and they volunteer. So that has helped a lot. They come in when they can. They might help me do some painting if I need it. 

Geraldine Hennessy: Oh, super. 

Cecilia Scholte Lubberink: And they just help out when they can and I cling on to every, yeah, every inch of help I can get. 

Geraldine Hennessy: Well, that’s, that’s good luck that they kind of give back. They appreciate what you’ve done for them and they’re kind of giving back. It’s a real kind of collaborative, I suppose, relationship you have with the artists. And you have over a year now of running your own business. What advice would you give to someone looking to start their own craft business? 

Cecilia Scholte Lubberink: Do lots of research, but then go for it. I think you have to go for it because like me, I had a lot of thoughts in my head. Would I do this for a long time? No, it wasn’t running a shop. It was being an artist and working on my own. Can I, can I make a financial living out of that? But you’ll never find out unless you try it. But then I guess if you go for it, you need to plan it out. You need to have a plan. But you need to be able to adjust that as and when you need to. You can’t be too rigid. You need to listen to people. You need to be receptive to what’s needed, what people want, but yet you have to look after yourself. And yes, I think one of the biggest things for me that I’m learning is to switch off at the weekends when I’m not working, I put my phone away. I don’t do any work and I’m with my family. And then when I’m at work, I give myself fully, fully in the day. And from the moment I finish at six, I’m finished. 

Geraldine Hennessy: That’s a good balance though, isn’t it? 

Cecilia Scholte Lubberink: Absolutely. So balance, balance off time and work time.

Geraldine Hennessy: Thanks so much, Cecilia, for joining us on the Cork Creative Podcast. If you’d like to learn more about Cecilia and Le Cheile Arts, you can find links on corkcreative.ie

Cecilia Scholte Lubberink: Thank you Geraldine.