A Propmaker’s Story – About me
So who the heck am I, anyway?
I’m Becky. A big “Hello!” and thank you for visiting my little place on the internet. This is me with my bestie, Jelly.
I was born in the UK, and relocated back to the UK after many years in New Zealand, so I am just a little bit Kiwi too.
I’ve worked in theatre, film, TV and events in New Zealand, predominantly in props, set dressing and construction, but with a hint of costume thrown in for good measure. I also designed dressing rooms for internationally touring music artists when they performed in New Zealand. A jack-of-all-trades, indeed.
I started off in the creative field many years ago, having completed a bachelor of science at University College London. I started making and selling hand made jewellery at dance parties, and also provided hand painted decor. Being a propmaker wasn’t something I even knew existed back then.
During my time in London I also taught basic computer skills and then ran a vinyl sign shop. I then took a break to visit New Zealand and – quite accidentally – fell into life there. And stayed for 21 years!
At first, I worked with other creatives as a performer and worked up to producing my own special effects fire and blacklight performances for corporate events. But as clients got to know me and my skills, I was offered more and more design work instead.
So, I slowly carved out a niche for myself, and before I knew it, I had spread into other sides of the industry and was the go-to props master and prop maker for most of the professional theatre (and opera) companies in Auckland. Through my theatre contacts, I was eventually invited to work casually on film props, and so I also became a film propmaker too.
Turtle puppet made for “The Sea” by Red Leap Theatre Company
Large Crystal Geode – made for Power Rangers Dino Charge – TV Series.
2.5m high Indian Archway – for corporate sponsors of the Diwali Festival in auckland.
As well as my hands on fabrication and design experience, I have always used the computer as a tool, and create all my own imagery, design my website, and I still enjoy drawing digital plans and drawings if required.
Working in the creative field is an joy, and making, adapting and designing things is what I’ve been doing for over 30 years.
As for taxidermy, I was lucky to grew up among nature and animals and have always loved their beauty and character. It all started when, many years ago in New Zealand, I found a deceased duckling, but felt it too beautiful to “just throw away”. I found a basic taxidermy workshop, learned how to preserve it, and I still have that little duckling. Though I have taxidermied a few found creatures since, I am rather squeamish and moved away from it until I discovered how much beautiful fabric goes to waste and experimented with that instead. We used to make stunt props in a surprisingly similar way to taxidermy , using a polyurethane foam form, and textiles were cut and formed to create he outer skin. I create my own master forms and use real antlers and horns to create moulds, so my previous propmaking experience has come in handy.
I am very lucky to know wonderful local upholsterers who save their offcuts for landfill for me to collect. Anything I cannot use (a surprising amount) is delivered to schools, colleges and institutions.
In addition to my menagerie of beasts, I also make and supply decorative mouldings that are perfect for furniture upcycling projects and adding a bit of pizzazz to craft and decor projects. You can find them here.