Welcome to our latest Meet the Maker post with Lisa Claire Stewart owner of the joyful Studio Lowen. Here at épanoui we love discovering new artists and the story behind their work and so we are delighted to welcome Lisa and her designs to our shop.
Lisa’s beautifully tactile pouches are created for many an occasion and are made from carefully sourced materials from her studio located in West Cornwall. Her objective is to create pieces that bring happiness through aesthetically pleasing tones combined with well thought through functionality. The name “Lowen” even means happy and joyful in Cornish. Grab a cuppa and read on to find out more about Lisa and her studio.
Can you offer us a little glimpse into your daily routine?
I always start my day at about 7am with a cup of earl grey and fruit, yogurt and granola for breakfast. Then I’ll take our dog (a sock mad spaniel!) for a walk on the dunes before heading into the studio. Usually my first job of the day is printing off orders, ordering in any stock and going through any urgent emails. I’ll spend the morning picking all the orders from stock and personalising any customer orders. The afternoons are spent making wholesale orders and topping up stock levels, I have a lovely team who then help with packing orders and making stock. I’ll head home about 4 with the post and finish the day with another dog walk with my husband Sam. I spend my evenings catching up on admin or working on the website.
What made you start your creative business?
It’s always been a dream to run my own business but I never really knew what it would be. I spent my twenties working in house as a designer in various different roles including interior design, graphic design and fashion design. When I hit 30 I just knew it was time to make a change, I had a “now or never” moment! So I quit my full time job and started a freelance design business, I loved it but found my work would all come at once and then I’d have a couple of quiet weeks with not much to do!
In the early days of my freelancing I was going to lots of networking events and needed a business card holder so I decided to make my own. I sourced a recycled white leather and painted a navy and gold spotty design on it. I shared my new business card holder on my Instagram and my friends loved it, so I opened an Etsy shop. The business just grew from there, and that was almost 6 years ago in 2018!
Do you have any exciting projects in the pipeline?
There’s always lots going on in my head and lots of ideas going around! I’m launching lots of new colours over the next few months and hope to develop some new product shapes soon too!
Now for a few quick fire questions...
Happiness is… a hug with a loved one, a purring cat on my lap, splashing on the shoreline with my dog on an empty beach, a cup of earl grey tea, a swim in the sea, the warm sun on my face, bird song, a tropical adventure, a swim in the ocean, the smell of cut grass, freshly picked flowers from the garden and a good curry with poppadoms!
The song to get me on the dance floor is… it’s always a challenge to get me on the dance floor! It would probably be something with a funky beat or a throw back. I enjoy dancing around the studio when nobodies looking ;) one of my favourites at the moment is “You Want the Sun” by Niki & the Dove.
I’m most proud of… This little business, seeing my products being loved by all our customers across the world and reading every lovely review.
My dream dinner guests would be (dead or alive)… my grandma and grandad, I’d love to see them again and ask them more about their lives.
I’d be lost without… aside from my family, it would probably be tea and the sea! One of my favourite questions to ask people is what fruit or vegetable would they miss from life, mine would be bananas, there’s just nothing quite like a brilliant banana, they’re so handy with their own little packaging and everything. I know that’s controversial one as some people don’t like banana’s at all! Ha!
If I could tell my younger self one thing it would be… stop worrying about what you look like, what others think, have confidence, go out and have fun!
You can shop a range of Studio Lowen's must have pouches at our Bedfordshire shop & studio or online at www.epanoui.co.uk
Follow @studio.lowen on insta for snippets from Lisa’s creative space too!
