When the recession began to hit the television industry in London, where Hannah Galvin-Horne worked, she returned to Ireland to put her fine art training to good use in fabric design, writes BRIAN O'CONNELL
HANNAH GALVIN-HORNE was living the media life in London, having started out working as a receptionist in a design agency and progressing from there.
Her primary degree was in fine art, and she found herself drawn to creative environments, where suitable roles were often hard to come by.
“The type of industry I wanted to work in was very competitive and a popular choice for a lot of people,” she says, “I came out of college and worked bar jobs in order to pay the rent. I was lucky to get the first design job and from there it was stepping stones to the type of work I wanted to do.”
Galvin-Horne next applied for, and got a role as, a PA in advertising and fusing the experience she got there, she made the move into television.
“The role involved working as a personal assistant to three executive producers at a company called Wall to Wall television. I got it through a recruitment agency, who were looking for similar skills to those I had built up.”
It was a time when the company was enjoying considerable success, culminating in an Oscar for best documentary for the film Man on Wire.
“It was hectic work, really very busy. I was managing diaries for four people by the end, and no two days were the same. We worked on some interesting projects and I had all sorts of people to deal with.
“You never knew who was going to call. I could have contributors on the line looking for problems to be sorted out. It meant I had to be fairly creative a lot of the time to deal with tasks thrown at me.”
While the hours were large, the remuneration didn’t match the effort. “The salary was a lot lower than it would be in a more professional business such as a law firm. The hours were a standard 9am to 6pm, but depending on what was going on, it would often be 7pm or 8pm when we finished.”
As the economic climate changed over the past year, Galvin-Horne says that expectations and work pressures increased. The annual pay review was put on hold and promotions were given without any change to salary.
“It got really stressful as the recession kicked in. Knowing that other people lost their jobs, you realise the balance between working and living in London all becomes a bit precarious. There was a feeling that you were expected to work a lot harder to keep your job really.”
As 2008 progressed, Galvin-Horne began to notice that better qualified candidates than her were sending in CVs looking for any type of work available.
“I was interested in staying in television, but it is a very competitive industry. I was working with the head of talent at the company and saw the types of CVs arriving into the office. One person had been an assistant producer, very experienced and was willing to work for free because there was no work available and she wanted to keep her CV current.”
Late last year, Galvin-Horne began to think about a move from London to west Cork, where her parents live. She was anxious to return to some form of creative work relative to her degree in fine art.
“I came back after Christmas and thought it would be a really good time to try to establish myself and be in control of my own work for a time.
“My parents have a large studio space in Cork and that was something I would never have been able to get access to in London.”
A visit to Cork Printmakers, where Galvin-Horne began to experiment with print designs on fabrics, led to an unlikely career change and the beginnings of her own business.
“The Cork Printmakers is a fantastic facility. I joined it and began doing some screen-printing.
“Then I thought, why not do it on fabric? So I did a test piece and from there decided I could make cushions out of the resulting design.
“I made a few samples and the response I got was really positive, and a shop in Kinsale began to stock some of my designs. Suddenly, I found myself setting up as a sole trader and was very encouraged by the Crafts Council to turn my efforts into a business.”
Galvin-Horne formalised her artistic endeavours, and set herself up as Dark Dog Studio, designing everything from cushions to laptop bags for sale in local outlets in west Cork.
“When you’re trying to set yourself up as a small business, you have to be one-man band. I didn’t quite realise how many roles I would have to do. Things I haven’t done before like the selling side of the business, such as approaching and explaining what I’m doing to shops and businesses. But you learn to adapt quickly.
“The work is contemporary and encouraging handmade and locally produced products which is one thing shops found appealing.”
It’s early days, but Galvin-Horne is making a modest living from her small line of original design products.
As time goes by, she hopes to expand and be able to produce larger quantities of her work for commercial markets.
At some point, she says, she will have to think about buying her own equipment, to enable her produce on a large scale.
“I don’t think this is something I would have been able to do in London. The facilities I have access to here, including a large studio, are just not available in a big city where you might have to wait weeks for access to print facilities.”
The current financial climate has given her cause for concern, yet the chance to work for herself is maintaining her momentum. “Starting a business in a recession is nerve wracking as no matter how good the product is, it still may not sell.
“I think, though, that I have come across a niche in the market and am just taking things one step at a time. I’m remaining positive and am loving the lifestyle change.”