Sharon Kulhavy and Final Touch Art Studio added a unique corner to the facility with the grand opening of an art supplies store inside the studio on March 2.
The store is managed by Sharareh (better known as Sheri) Motaghi, a student at Final Touch who has been attending classes for the past few months. Motaghi said the idea to open the art supplies store came about relatively quickly.
"As part of my psychology background, I'm very connected to souls and I'm a very spiritual person ... I'm always painting. I went to Sharon's (Kulhavy) studio because I had some different experiences at previous studios that I was at," Motaghi said.
"What was missing from those prior experiences was we would paint, but we wouldn't have the supplies in house in order to continue our work unless we went elsewhere to gather supplies. So I came to Sharon and said 'this is missing in your studio and I think it'll make it better' and she was hesitant at first because she's a very busy person as is, but I told her I'd do it in order to make it easier on her. She's always there for me ... she helped me pick colours, a distributor and I think it'll be a good addition to the studio."
Motaghi felt it was important to partner with Kulhavy in order to make the store work.
"When I entered her studio my first day, I could feel the atmosphere that she had created and with my psychology experience and the fact that I'm a life coach, I could tell she was a very honest person," she said. "Trusting her was very easy because of the place she has created for others. It's a place of comfort, where everyone is welcome and she makes it easy to trust and like her. I'm quite happy to have that partnership with her."
The store will feature everything from oil and acrylic paint, three different kinds of canvases, markers, alcohol ink and even supplies for pottery making.
"If there's something a person needs that we don't have, we'll put in an order to make sure that we're stocked up with whatever supplies the people want," Motaghi said.
"Cochrane is a very artsy place and the biggest benefit of having an art supplies store right here in town is that people don't have to make the trip out to Calgary in order to get what they need. It's all right here and makes it much more easier and accessible for those who are interested in being artsy."
"The best part of having this store in Cochrane is that you don't need to be a member of Final Touch in order to have access to these supplies. People from the community can come into the store and get what they want without being a student (at the studio) ... it's available for everyone."
