Eisteddfod yr urdd
In 2023, I had the opportunity to work on a 10ft Merlin puppet for the Eisteddfod with artist Rhianna Yates. It was the first time I had ever worked on a puppet of this scale that someone would physically wear, offering large opportunity to learn and enhance my skills in this area. Working on the crafting aspects, developing and learning how to create the base strucure before adding the cladding and shapes on top. It was a very rewarding experience to create a 3D puppet from a sketch.
| painting
| worbla
| picture analysis
| 3D structure
| papier mache
| material work
| puppetry
| large-scale work
| painting | worbla | picture analysis | 3D structure | papier mache | material work | puppetry | large-scale work
Peter Pan
| sourcing
| adaptable
| hand tools
| modular
| imagination play
| recycling
| problem solving
| sourcing | adaptable | hand tools | modular | imagination play | recycling | problem solving
Sustainability is crucial in set design, ensuring materials are reused and waste is minimized. I had the opportunity to repurpose elements from Oh, What a Lovely War!, where I was the set designer and constructor, for BOW Productions panto of Peter Pan. The carousel segments were bolted together to form the curve of Captain Hook’s ship, while the extended forestage was used to raise the back of the stage to give the ship height. Leftover material and rope were creatively incorporated to dress the ship and add sails to enhance the nautical feel, demonstrating how resourcefulness can enhance both design and environmental responsibility. For this set, the only sections that were purchased was the pirate flag, as well as the fish netting on the sides, everything else seen was repurposed and borrowed which I appreciate and strive for within my practise.
Walk the PLank
Dragons breath was a walking immersive experience around the National Botanic Garden of Wales in Carmarthen which was an after dark experience that worked to merge poetry and performance, fire, set pieces and music. It acted as a festival to celebrate Welsh culture illuminating the landmarks and I had the opportunity to work on supplementing the making of some of the set pieces. The area I worked within was bringing to life the designs for listening posts that would be spread across the garden to guide the audience and engage them in the storytelling. I focused on the construction of a steampunk puffin that had to hang from a tree and hold a small wireless speaker that needed to be removable. This was done with a block of polystyrene where I traced the front and side profile before carving away sections with a hot wire tool and sand paper to smooth harsh lines. To seal the polystyrene, as it would be outside in the adverse Welsh weather, I used flintex before painting and glossing it with a clear coat spray and adding dressing, sustainabley sourced, to bring in the steampunk element.
