RETIREMENT doesn’t really seem to suit Graeme Galvin.

Graeme, who is originally from Zimbabwe, has had a stellar career as a puppet maker and artist, which has seen him work with the great Jim Henson on some of his biggest hits in the movies.

In addition to helping to create the Goblin King’s lair in Labyrinth, the 1986 movie which starred David Bowie, he also created the interior of the monstrous human-guzzling plant Audrey II in Little Shop of Horrors. He also worked on 1982’s The Dark Crystal.

But now, aged 73, rather than sit back and embrace a life of leisure, he continues to run his own studio in his back garden in Brecon and is presently working on puppets for a rendition of the nativity which will be shown at Eglwys Dewi Sant in Cardiff at Christmas.

Any spare time he has he also helps at the Tower Gallery, based in Crickhowell, which displays art produced by local artists.

Of his heyday, working with Muppets Show creator Jim Henson, Graeme said: “I did some TV work but it was mostly major films.

“While I was on the set for Labyrinth I got to work on the Wild Things unit and the team creating the Junk People puppets.”

Asked if he actually met and worked with Henson, he said: “I did get to meet him, very much so. He was very hands-on and he had a very close relationship with the workshops. He took his work very seriously.

“I’ll always remember him and Frank Oz rehearsing for the Muppets, which was going to be on TV, while we were on the set for Labyrinth with Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy.”

When asked if he met the late rock star David Bowie who appeared in the Labyrinth, Mr Galvin said: “I did see Bowie, he was around but I didn’t really talk to him or get to know him. He was always present when we watched back our work from the day to see how he had performed.”

Even though Mr Galvin was born in Africa, he has spent his whole life in the UK with a good majority of it in Wales. He lived in West Wales for 10 years and has now lived in Brecon for more than 20 years.

These days he says his work at home has returned to a more graphic form – in particular print-making and etching. He finds his inspiration for his current work in the landscape and mythology of Wales and, especially, the stories from the Mabinogion.

This year that seems particularly appropriate as Wales celebrates its Year of Myths and Legends. During the summer he also opened his studio up to the public during the Brecon Town Open Studios weekend at the end of June.

Of his latest venture, working with the Story Foundation for their nativity in Cardiff, he said: “The puppets are a Japanese style, so the puppeteers will be all in black and the puppets will be specially lit so while the puppeteers won’t be fully invisible, they will be hard to see.”

Part of the building in Cardiff has been made available for the performance which will apparently be able to seat around 100 people.