A couple of weeks ago I spent my Friday evening holding a paintbrush and sipping prosecco at Hive – the new arts space on the edge of the leafy rec in the heart of Sanderstead, founded by friends Jo Davis and Felicity Taylor. I was there to try out their popular Paint & Sip workshop, which is where attendees are guided through the stages of a painting over a relaxed two and a half hours, by a workshop host. For my visit it was local artist, Ciara Flood, who made the evening engaging and welcoming – especially for someone who was there on their own. The studio itself (which used to be Priscilla’s Tea Room, for those of you who know Sanderstead) is an intimate setting, and in my workshop, there were 12 attendees sitting at three tables – mainly groups of friends on an evening out, wanting to try something different from heading out for dinner or drinks. Founders Jo and Felicity were on hand as well – attentive to all the attendees needs, whether it was more paint, snacks, another drink, or simply a chat. It was a fun evening, and it was great to see the progression of the paintings and how everyone’s were similar but unique, as we all of course interpreted Ciara’s guidance in our own ways.

I caught up again with Jo and Felicity post workshop, to chat further about Hive.

Croydonist: Firstly Croydon natives or converts and what area do you call home?

Jo and Felicity: We’re both Croydon natives, and grew up in Selsdon/South Croydon/Sanderstead so definitely call Croydon home.

Croydonist: How, when, and why did you start Hive? 

Jo: The idea for Hive came about towards the end of last year when Felicity saw that Priscilla’s had shut down and the building was for sale by the council. We went to have a look and very quickly prepared a bid and a business plan (almost overnight!).

We eventually won the bid and purchased the building. It took nearly 7 months to get the keys so we were researching for the beginning of this year and got the keys towards the end of May. Our previous experience working together had been fundraising for our children’s primary school (St Peter’s in South Croydon) so we knew we could work well together and both wanted a new personal challenge.

We undertook a speedy renovation and turnaround to get things up and running for the start of the Summer Holidays with our children’s and teens sessions. Since September we’ve been welcoming adults for classes and courses.

Croydonist: Do you both have backgrounds in the arts?

Felicity: I’m an art-college graduate and product designer by trade. Creative arts are a passion of mine as well as of my 9 year old, Phoebe. I wanted to create a space for all ages as there was not much on offer in the area and workshops all required travelling much further afield. Sanderstead is a multi-generational community and a thriving area of the borough. We both wanted to do something that all ages could experience and benefit from.

Jo: I have more of a hospitality and events background and love meeting and connecting people so it felt like a good fit to start a business combining our passions – art, craft, connect, create!

Croydonist: What’s the ethos of Hive? 

Jo and Felicity: Our vision is to ‘nurture your creativity’. We think that particularly during Covid a lot of people discovered art or craft hobbies at home. Either by revisiting former passions that they didn’t have time for previously or discovering new ways to relax and ‘escape’ from the stress of the time.

Many people have forgotten that joy that can come from doing something different. And you don’t have to be ‘good at art’ to try something and enjoy it.

Hive Design Studio is about giving people a creative experience and perhaps they’ll come and try something and spark their creativity. We are thinking of ourselves as a sanctuary in the park where you can come and forget your troubles and the busy day-to-day and relax and create something.

There have been a lot of studies lately about how good art and craft hobbies are for mental health and well-being. We think anyone can benefit and feedback so far has been that we’ve created a friendly and welcoming space and are having a lovely time so we think we’re doing something right.

Croydonist: In addition to Paint & Sip, what other workshops do you regularly run and what other events have you got coming up?

Jo and Felicity: We’ve got so much going on between now and Christmas!

Coming up we’ve got more Paint & Sips, including a festive one and we’re also running Paint & Dine where you paint and then we get food delivered from Med Kitchen (which is just across the road). We’ve got crochet workshops, cartooning, Indian block printing, lino cutting, watercolour courses, floristry and from November we’ve got Bauble hand-lettering, Christmas card illustration, Christmas hand-sculpting pottery and of course Christmas wreaths! These are on in the evenings, daytimes and weekends.

For our younger customers during half term week in October we’re also running children’s (age 7-11) and teens (11-17) 2-hour sessions for Halloween/Autumn themed arts & crafts with a different activity each day.

We also are available for private hire for parties and social events… we’re never sleeping!

Croydonist: I know you haven’t been open that long, but so far what have been your highlights?

Jo: Seeing people surprise themselves with what they can do. Many people come who are not confident in themselves or perhaps haven’t done any art of craft since school and leave having made something really good!

I’ve also really enjoyed discovering local creative talent – we’re trying to use local tutors (I’m sure there are many more who we haven’t met!)

Meeting all the lovely people who come to the door and see what we’re up to. There has been so much local support for our new venture so that’s making every day really fun.

Felicity: Meeting and discovering the local creative community in Croydon. So much talent right on our doorstep.

Hearing how people feel that The Hive is what’s been missing from the local area.

And of course adding more and more choice to our programme!

Thank you to Jo and Felicity for chatting with us. Find out more about Hive on the website and Instagram. Jo and Felicity are also on the look out for more creatives, either to deliver workshops or run their own classes at Hive, so do get in touch here if that’s you.

Images 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6 courtesy of Hive (header illustration by Rob Matthews). Image 2 by the Croydonist.

Posted by Julia