Sara Barker is a jewellery maker who designs and makes her own jewellery and runs every aspect of her business from her home studio, in addition to being employed part-time as a lecturer at Colchester School of Art.
Sara and I had a really interesting conversation about the balance of working from home, her experiences and also the issues around who has the option to do it and who doesn’t, or even who wants to. Having sons in their early twenties and teaching students aged 16-19, Sara is around younger people a lot and observes that it doesn’t suit them to be on their own too much. Particularly in creative roles, where you need the energy of being around other people, she feels it’s hard to see how that can work longterm. Aside from the more academic elements like learning how to particular tasks that you pick up from other people on the job, workplaces are where you meet people of different ages to you, talking about things in different ways than your friends do, which is really interesting and really good for us. “The attitudes and expectations of a thirty year old compared to people in their late fifties/early sixties is wonderful, it’s so good to be with a range of people, which is why I think working from home as a young person must be awful, I can’t believe it’s good for you. You need to get used to people.”
I asked Sara:
When did you start working from home? It was roundabout the year 2002, though not in this studio.
What made you decide to work from home rather than in premises offsite? The big change for me was having children, particularly having two kids quite close together, so I moved everything into the classic shed at the end of the garden. The sheds got bigger and better, but since we’ve lived at this address, since 2009, I commandeered what we think was supposed to be the dining room, but in terms of domestic living it makes no sense having a dining room in this little room at the front of the house, so I just announced that was going to be my studio, and nobody objected.
In an ideal world, if I could afford to have a studio outside of the house I would, but there are lots of reasons to have the studio here. It’s convenient, there’s something very nice about being able to work from home and I can just down tools at the end of the day and of course then pick them up again whenever I want, just wander in there and maybe do a couple of hours here and there if I want to. It’s cheaper and it’s warmer. Basically this is the warmest, nicest studio I’ve ever had. I know it’s a cliché but most of us creatives do tend to suffer in these leaky, freezing cold, occasionally overpriced spaces, so it does feel quite luxurious. So yes, I’d say it’s overheads. When you’ve got a self-employed element to your income you need to keep your overheads down, so that was a big part of the decision, but now that I’ve been working from home in this house I’ve got suckered into the warmth and the comfort.
What do you like best about working from home? I think it depends on other factors, and what I like best is also what I dislike. I like the fact that I can just pop off and do some laundry, or to the shop to get something that we need, I really like that convenience. I like the peace and quiet, the sense of my own space, the Virginia Woolf ‘room of one’s own’ expression. But those are also the things that I can really dislike about it, because sometimes I don’t really want to be thinking about the laundry and I don’t want to be interrupted by my family who might want to pop in with a perfectly innocent question and they’ll get their heads bitten off because they’ve interrupted me, which is really unfair but I’m just being honest. So it’s really interesting that all the good stuff can on occasion be exactly why it can be quite tricky.
You’ve already touched on this but is there anything else you’re not so keen on/are there any other difficulties in working from home? I had my first studio in August 1992 at Cuckoo Farm Studios, and of course I loved it because I had a proper journey to work and I’d be there all day, very focussed. I met and made some great friends who I’m still friends with, it was wonderful, just what I needed, and of course I don’t get any of that now.
What is your favourite feature of your workspace? I love it now and it’s really nice that I’ve met you this year rather than 18 months ago. Just over a year ago I managed to save enough money to get my studio designed and built exactly how I wanted it. That makes it sound really fancy but I just knew exactly how I needed the benches, the levels, shelving and so forth and I got a local carpenter to do it. I am so proud of it, I love it, it’s just a really nice looking, and importantly, very functional space. Before it was some old tops on some funny legs with some cupboards and shelves that people were throwing out so really cobbled together, not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I think it gave me a bit of a boost, working in a space that looks really fit for purpose. So really my favourite bit is the whole space, I love it all now.
As I currently work 3 days a week as a lecturer I do get that blast of adrenaline and noise and stress and interaction with students. I’ve got lovely colleagues, I’ve got all that noise and activity, rushing around for three days so I think at the moment, looking forward to my Thursdays and Fridays, and often a little bit over the weekend as well, it feels like a real luxury and I do wonder how I would I feel if my studio was my only workplace. I’m interested in the idea that as people we need three spaces: work, home and somewhere completely separate to those, whether it be a place that you go walking regularly, or the pub where you meet your friends on a Thursday night. At the moment I have my home and my employed workspace and my studio feels like my third space, even though it’s held within the house, because of what happens to me emotionally when I’m in there. If/when I stop teaching, the studio will become my second space, and I’m going to need a new third space!
You can learn more about Sara’s work and browse her online shop on her website or follow her on Instagram. She’s also taking part of a number of events where you’ll be able to see her work in person, which I’ve listed at the bottom of the page.
You can learn more about Sara’s work and browse her online shop on her website or follow here on Instagram.
Sarah’s current stockists are Firstsite in Colchester, CraftCo in Southwold, Caxtons in Frinton, The Stour Store in Manningtree and Church Street Gallery, Saffron Walden.
She will also be taking part in the following events:
- ‘Curated Colours’ exhibition: 13 – 14 September, 14, Erskine Road, Mistley, Manningtree, CO11 1LU
- Rural Magpie Fair Lavenham Jewellery Fair: 27 September, Village Hall, Church Street, Lavenham, Suffolk CO10 9QT
- Heart of Suffolk: 21 – 23 November, Thorpe Morieux Village Hall, 2 Bury Road, Thorpe Morieux, Bury St Edmunds IP30 0NR
- The Winter Wivenhoe Art Trail: 28 – 30 November, throughout Wivenhoe, Essex CO7 9JR
- Made in Colchester Winter Fair: 6 December, Colchester Arts Centre, Church Walk, Colchester CO1 1NF
Home / Work is a documentary photography project featuring people who work from home/live where they work. I am interested in how people design these spaces and how the lines between home and work are defined or blurred. If you are interested in participating in the project please get in touch.