JAYNE LLOYD

PHOTOGRAPHER

Photograph of a garden office with wood-panelled interior with a desk with computers, pens, pads and personal possesions, printing equipment and storage units, and a view through a window into the garden.

HOME / WORK Project: NEL MOOY

Nel Mooy is an artist who creates lino prints as well as working in her employed job in insurance from her garden office at home. I met Nel through her wife, Angela, whose ceramics studio I also photographed. It was wonderful to visit Nel’s purpose-built office/studio to see how work, home and artistic practice all come together.

I asked Nel:

When did you start working from home? I actually started before COVID because I had a global role in insurance, so I was based at home for that. During COVID I was in the back room and that was very depressing, so we had the shed built. I used it for work during the day and my son used it during the night to do his gaming so he also had some space for himself.

What made you decide to work from home rather than in premises offsite? I never really considered going offsite. For my employment I also had an office, the work I was doing from home was at my desk and doing my art is my hobby. Where the shed is used to be a sort of playground building for my son, when he didn’t fit in it anymore it was a chicken hutch, but it was a bit dark so we decided to remodel that and there was just enough space for an office. We could do it at home so we did do it at home.

What do you like best about working from home? I really like that it gave me a different feeling about where I live. If you commute you go in the morning and you arrive home at night and you don’t really feel part of the community. I sometimes felt invisible in my own town, but now, working from home, because I look out on the road, I see people, I feel much more part of where I live, so I really, really like that. I like the freedom in the morning to be able to go for a walk rather than jump on the train, I like that it makes it easier to see my wife, or walking the dog, all those sorts of things, so it gives you flexibility that you would never have otherwise.

What aren’t you so keen on/are there any difficulties in working from home? The shed is sometimes a little bit cold in the winter! No, I do really, really like it. I do go into the office as well, so I have a good combination. Office work is becoming more and more encouraged of course, but because my office is in Edinburgh I’m not expected to come in every day. Every other week I do go up to Edinburgh so I do see people and I can combine that with the freedom of working from home. I only work 4 days a week so I think I’ve got it sorted!

What is your favourite feature of your workspace? The window looking out on the garden. It is quite amazing to be able to see the garden through the seasons. Then beyond the garden is the road, and because we live in quite an open area I can engage with the world. I also have a really nice wide desk that’s multifunctional so it’s my office during the day and just by moving the screen away it’s a print studio, so it’s versatile.

Nel is taking part in The Wivenhoe Art Trail 2 – 5 May, which you can find out more about here: https://www.wivenhoearttrail.com/artists/nel-mooy and you can see Nel’s print work on her Instagram: @InParkRoad.

Visual Portfolio, Posts & Image Gallery for WordPress
Photograph of a wooden garden office painted dark green, with glass double door in the centre of the right-hand side, with two windows either side. The left hand side has a window and a climbing plant. Behind is a brick wall to the left are the tops of houses and to the right is a trellis and brick wall and window of a house.
Photograph looking into the window of a green-painted garden office, with printing equipment and a piece of paper visible inside. A blurry reflection of two kayaks can be seen on the window pane.
Photograph lof the window of a green-painted garden office, with the reflection of two kayaks on the window pane. Out of focus inside is printing equipment and a piece of paper.
Photograph taken from outside the door of a garden office, looking into a wood-panelled interior with a desk with computers, an office chair, printing equipment and storage units, and potted plants behind.
Photograph of a garden office with wood-panelled interior with a desk with computers, pens, pads and personal possesions, printing equipment and storage units, and a view through a window into the garden.
Photograph of printing equipment, an angle-poise light, personal possessions and a potted plant on a desk in a wood-panelled interior of a garden office.
Photograph showing a linoprint in progress.
Photograph of a desk top with a pad with notes and doodles in the centre, a computer setup with mouse, mousemat, monitor and keyboard to the right, glass of water and personal items behind and printing equipment to the left.
Photograph of objects on a desk including a ceramic pot holding pens, pencils and tools, hand cream and a lipstick and a potted plant behind, in front of a wood-panelled wall.
Photograph of a garden office with wood-panelled interior with a view through a window into the garden. A roller blind is on the window at the top, an angle poise lamp can be partially seen to the lower left and a monitor at the bottom of the frame in front of the lower part of the window.
Photograph taken from outside the door of a garden office, looking into a wood-panelled interior with a desk with computers, an office chair, printing equipment and storage units, and potted plants behind.
Photograph of pieces of paper with prints in progress pegged to a line along a wood panelled wall, with a shelf unit below holding vintage tins and ceramic lamp bases.
Photograph of a piece of paper held on a line with a wooden peg, with a row of pegs to the left. A wood panelled wall is behind and a wire shelf above.
Photograph of a shelf unit topped with vintage tins and ceramic lamp bases, with a wood panelled wall behind.
Photograph of a wood-panelled interior with slanted ceiling with 2 lights in, two framed artworks on the wall, 4 plug sockets halfway up the wall and the top of a sofa and plants visible at the bottom of the frame and a view through a window to the right of a brick wall with climbing plant.
Photograph of a wood-panelled interior with framed print and packaging materials at the bottom of the frame and a view through the window to a brick wall with climbing plant.
Photograph of a dog bed on the floor of a garden office, with cardboard pieces behind and to the left, drawers to the right and a desk above with printing equipment on top.
Photograph taken from outside the door of a garden office, looking into a wood-panelled interior with a desk with computers, an office chair, printing equipment and storage units, and potted plants behind.
Nel Mooy's garden home workspace
Photograph of Nel Mooy sitting at her desk with computers and print equipment visible behind. She is smiling into the camera and wearing a grey woolen top, blue jeans and a colourful scarf.

Thank you so much to Nel for letting me photograph her lovely garden office! Nel is taking part in The Wivenhoe Art Trail 2 – 5 May, which you can find out more about here: https://www.wivenhoearttrail.com/artists/nel-mooy and you can see Nel’s print work on her Instagram: @InParkRoad.

Home / Work is a project documenting people who work from home/live where they work. It’s a project I started in 2016 when I was meeting people running a wide range of fascinating businesses from their homes. 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.

Posted

in

,

by

JAYNE

Tags:

, , , , , , , , ,

COMMENTS

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *