People In Their Homes - Leah Goren

I think that this blogpost will be more personal than I usually am about my work but seeing as this is personal AND professional practice, I think what I am learning here about is relevant to my development. I have been following 'People in their Homes' on Instagram for a while now, it is a series if photographs and interviews about how practitioners exist within their own personal space. It is only recently that I visited their actual website and read through the complete interviews. 

An interview with LEAH GOREN - by Vivien Lee

When asked about the difference between working at home and in a separate studio space she responded that it feels good for her to wake up and having a place to go. It allows her to be sociable with her studio mates and try and keep her life separate from work, even though they still intertwine sometimes. I found it interesting that her studio mates aren't solely based around illustration as a practice, one is a graphic designer and the other works with textiles and sewing. 

When speaking about rituals and routine she said she was inconsistent. It gives me some confidence to read this because it makes me think that its okay not to work a 9 to 5 day because I know this doesn't work for me. 

Ladies Drawing Night is a project that Leah runs alongside Julia Rothman and Rachel Cole. She describes it as 'a break from work without considering it work'. They are working on a book based on the ladies drawing night sessions. This made me think about what I do to take a break from work and the truth is I don't think I take a break enough. I need to invest more time in doing work for myself and my own development rather than restricting myself my saying that I don't have time to work on anything other than the course briefs. I think this will help to keep me sane and not get so stressed, and it will still be a productive exercise. 

Looking at the photographs accompanying this interview, I have realised that I need surround myself with more creative material at home, both things that I have made and like and also work by other people who I admire or inspires me. 

I am going to continue reading these interviews because I find them interesting and enjoyable. So far I have always used PPP to look at practitioners' ways of working but I think it can be equally as beneficial to see their ways of living as this creates the environment that inspires them.