Hobbies

I suppose I'm one of those people who tries out loads of things and has the debris all around to prove it. (My Dad was just the same.)

My latest forray is pottery. Something I wanted to do ever since I was at school, but wasn't allowed to because I was in the fast stream and we weren't allowed to do fun things like pottery - even though the school was in Stoke on Trent, centre of probably the most important pottery making area in the world.

But still, I signed up for a course just recently and surprised myself at how I got on with the wheel. Maybe having done quite a bit of woodturning helped, and yes I had a couple of disasters to begin with, but success breeds success and I'm starting to plan what I want to make now, rather than just accepting what turns out. (And yes, it is a lot harder than it looks!)

I've been into photography for many years, but more recently video. Partly it has to be said with the ehlp of my good friend Tim and his company Datavision. I've made promotional videos for Mercedes Benz and one of their off-road vehicles, a video backdrop for a fashion show at Wella hair studios in London and a promo for my friend Tammy Sear, the No 1 champion figure skater based here in Milton Keynes. Add to that a few travel features and events and there you have it. I work entirely in digital so I can generate broadcast quality footage and special effects no problem at all.

And I can't not mention woodworking, thanks largely to my Dad who used to make things for me when I was little and I used to stand in his workshop and watch him. I've made a few bits of furniture, although not so much recently due to lack of time. But woodturning too which is a great way to relax, especially when you don't really know what it is you want to make and you just let the wood guide you.

I guess I'll continue trying different things as time and energy allows. One thing that takes a lot of my energy right now is my club C'est la Vie. I live in Milton Keynes which is something of a hard place to live if you're single, but you have to make the best of the circumstances you find yourself in and that's my way of building and keeping a circle of friends.