Jeff Adams Photography

A place to relax and wander around, swap skills, learn, create, and produce art

This garden workshop, was built by the gentleman this story is about. It is a community hub for meeting, constructing and relaxing.

Whilst visiting the gardens one day, seated in the shade of a rustic, exotically decorated workshop, amidst the many vibrant gardens of flowers, food and art, a gentleman sat smoking a rollup.

He squinted into the bright spring sunshine, listening to traditional Turkish music. As I extended a greeting to him, complimenting his place, he smiled warmly and offered me a chair.

I sat down and we chatted for quite some time, frequently interrupted by his friends dropping by to say ‘Hi’ - sometimes sitting for a while and joining Selim and I in conversation.

He had time for and seemed to express an interest in everybody that dropped by…

I learnt that Richard Sleeman or ‘Selim’ to friends, is a skilled artisan. He combines his lifetime of experience of construction and materials to create costumes and props for the London Carnivals and Arts of Carnival workshops.

He waved his arm towards his workshop and told me to take my time and have a look around.

His workshop was filled with an eclectic mix of costumes artwork and sculptures of his own creation

Outside in the unseasonably warm Spring sunshine, the gardens bustled with locals and tourists, but inside it was cool and quiet.

Selim’s foremost creation in London is the Sarastro restaurant (check it out! http://www.sarastro-restaurant.com/). The garden workshop, he built himself. Before I depart, Selim tells me to call in any time. Many thanks Selim!