Name: Justus Hayes

Email: justus_hayes@bc.sympatico.ca

Education: M.A. in Forensic Psychology from the University of British Columbia

Current Occupations: Computer graphic artist, head Scenic Painter and Set Decorator at the Metro Theatre (Vancouver), set dresser (IATSE 891 permittee), set designer, proofreader, copy editor

Non-Virtual Stomping Grounds: South-Western British Columbia (Vancouver, Victoria, the Gulf Islands)

What I Do

Computer Graphic Design

The graphics on this website are entirely my own and, I think, speak for themselves. I'm a PC-based designer, working on web page graphics, CD covers, posters, and a variety of personal projects. Have a look at some of my pieces on my Portfolio page.

Proofreading and Copy Editing

I knew my years at university were good for something! Proofing and editing are a great way to make a little extra cash on the side - flexible hours that can be slotted in around one's schedule. Of course, I wouldn't dream of advertising the fact that I do this on a freelance basis and have been for the last eight years. After all, this is a personal webpage that doesn't allow such advertising.

Scenic and Theatre Work

At present, the majority of my bread and butter is earned by working at the Metro Theatre as the head Scenic Painter and Set Decorator. I also freelance in film, television and corporate events staging. I am skilled as a set decorator, scenic painter, set designer, drop painter and running crew member. I've designed a total of nine shows to date, most for the Metro Theatre. Click here for a look at my resume.


Below are links to photographs of some of the sets I have designed and/or painted and decorated:

Blood Brothers



Arsenic and Old Lace



Dick Whittington, a Traditional English Pantomime



Appointment with Death




Still to come: Photos from Steel Magnolias, Social Security, Dangerous Obsession, The Kingfisher, and Mother Goose

Regarding My Art

I've always been a drawer. When I was a wee lad, my mother soon learned that she could keep me happily and quietly occupied for hours with a pad of paper and a bag of felt pens. As I got older, I continued drawing but began to realize that I didn't have the representational knack. My pen and pencil work became very stylized. In my teens I seized on collage, shredding many a hapless Omni magazine to produce many pieces. Collage was great - I could move shapes and objects around until the relationships among them satisfied my aesthetic intuition without actually having to create the ingredients. These outlets served me well until a few years ago when I upgraded my computer to a 486 and acquired a whopping 100 megs of hard drive space (ah, those were the days - now even my 6 gigs seem cramped and crowded). For the first time I owned and used a graphics editing program. It was a beautiful thing. Within a day of exploring (looking up from the computer and realizing that seven hours had just evaporated) I knew I had found my medium. The system I use has upgraded since then and so has the satisfaction I get from creating digital art. Put it this way: given a choice between a good computer game or a painting program (a choice I've had to make a few times as disk space waned), I choose the painting program.

Ironically, at the same time that my skills in computer art were (are) developing, I began to paint more than I ever have. This has been due to my growing involvement in the theatre (Metro Theatre, to be specific) and drop painting. I've designed and painted a total of fifteen full drops to date, most of them for children's pantomimes.