Life in Theatre before Garden Design
For over a decade I worked in Theatre, Events and even sometimes Rock 'n Roll...
You will have to forgive me.
When the proceeding photo's were taken I had no idea I would be using them for this purpose, for the most part, my program headshot was the same- this one here, so I considered that a variety photos of me 'at work' would better tell the story of a varied life in theatre, as it almost invariably is. So what follows is are photo's of me working on projects of all shapes and sizes, sometimes in the lighting world, sometimes in video, and occasionally having fun with some pyrotechnics and stage sets or props. My notable work in theatre included Head of Video for a couple of theatre festivals, working on product launches for clients such as Peugeot and Citroen and events for clients such as Adobe and Facebook. I had the privilege to work in venues such as world renowned dance house Sadler's Wells, the Barbican and the Royal Court Theatre in London's Sloane Square, to name but a few.So why the change?
Well I do love the world I used to work in, my partner still does, you work with some amazing people, create some truly beautiful moments, experiences and spaces, often you can be up against the clock as you move towards show opening and you pull off what may have seemed impossible- and thats always an amazing feeling, you also got to travel a fair deal and see some far flung places. However, I always felt a draw to the landscape, to being outside. Initially the decision wasn't conscious- I did my RHS training because I was interested, not because, at the time I had in any way, planned a career change. My training at Regent's park was more considered, and being freelance in my theatre work, I could easily manage the demands on my time. Now I wouldn't look back. I love creating exciting and interesting places, responding to the land, the site and my clients. Taking a garden with lawn in the middle borders pushed to the side with one path up the middle and creating something special, or taking a difficult site with levels or planning restrictions to deal with and finding creative solutions to the garden dilemma. Creating richly diverse planting and ecology has is own private reward towards my personal sensibilities on sustainability and landscape responsibility.
Above you have a photo of me on the Iron Throne from a show I rather enjoyed- Games of Thrones, then some light programming, followed by some casual laptop and radio action- I spent quite a bit of time on a computer and a radio, particularly when working as head of a technical department for a festival.
Below you have a fabulous series of photos of me testing some pyrotechnics. They worked- Phew! Then finally some shots of me working with some truss rigging, and saying goodbye at the end of a the Edinburgh Festival at the Edingburgh Free Mason's Hall working for Universal Arts. I had some good times, there will be more, just with more plants to them now.
Take a look at some of my Garden Design projects here...
HGD Projects
... and if your interested- Take a deeper look at my Theatre and Events work here.
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