Today’s blog features Teigh-Anne’s workspace as part of my Home/Work project. I visited Teigh-Anne at her wonderfully colourful home to photograph her workspace.
What type of business do you run?
I’m currently creating a couple of books at the moment so I’m not sure that falls under the category of a business. I’m an artist. I do run a non-profit community organisation though – which focuses on laughter and happiness.
When did you start working from home?
I used to work from home in my previous role as PR and communications Lead for Involving Essex until the project lost funding and I was made redundant in 2009. This job had needed to be flexible and they had allowed me to work from home because of family/carer commitments looking after my son. He has special needs so when I was made redundant I set up my own organisation continuing some of what I’d been doing previously around mental health.
Creativity is very important to me and so I’ve been developing that side of my life and an opportunity came up to focus a bit more on this area.
What made you decide to work from home rather than in premises off site?
I had a studio space at Hylands House for a short time but it really didn’t suit me at all. Mostly it’s about time, and being able to work flexibly. I couldn’t really afford the rent – plus the travel there and the commitment to covering it when it was open to the public was impractical for me with my son and meant less time spent on actual creating. I decided the best solution would be to invest my redundancy money in building a studio at home. I needed resources to be able to create and little by little, one step at a time I started to build these – so when I left Hylands I needed an alternative. I used the kitchen until I finally had the log cabin built which was a much more cost effective solution.
What do you like best about working from home?
The flexibility and that I can work it around my son. I am able to work an hour at a time, and sometimes late after my son has gone to bed so I can focus. I need to be in the right environment to thrive and this allows me to do that.
Are there any difficulties in working from home?
It can get lonely – when I worked in an office I enjoyed mostly making people laugh. I have joined some networking groups and this enables me to get out of the house and learn other aspects of business that I’ll need along the road and running laughter workshops helps to add in that people contact with much needed connection and positivity.
What is your favourite feature of your workspace?
When I was planning what the ideal space would be for me I really wanted to have various areas. I wanted somewhere to sculpt, have numerous paintings being created simultaneously and somewhere to draw. I also wanted to be able to be messy without worry. It’s just all about flexibility really and being able to create something that puts all of my training and experience together into a resource that will help others.
Teigh-Anne’s websites are being updated but you will soon be able to find out more at www.tashave.co.ukand www.giggletogether.co.uk
Home/Work is my current project documenting people who work from home. ‘Home’ is a recurring theme in my work – I am fascinated by our interactions with objects and spaces, particularly our homes, and with the number of home workers on the increase I thought this would be fascinating to investigate.
According to the Office for National Statistics, “There were 4.2 million home workers in January-March 2014, or 13.9% of those in work. This was the highest rate of home working since comparable records began in 1998.” Visit www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lmac/characteristics-of-home-workers/2014/sty-home-workers.html for further information on these statistics.
I am hoping to photograph the workspaces of lots of different people, working in a wide range of industries, but all of whom work from their home or within the grounds of their home. I am interested in how people create these workspaces and how the lines between home and work are defined or blurred. If you work from home and are interested in participating in the project please get in touch!