My name is Paul Allen. In 1994 I graduated from the University of Tasmania as a Mechanical Engineer. Four months after beginning my professional career as Development Engineer with Ardmona Foods, my skull was crushed during a white-water rafting trip, leaving me comatose for 3 1/2 weeks. The cost of gaining severe head injuries was the loss of 1/4 kilogram of brain tissue from mostly the RH Frontal lobe.
Severe head injury finished my formal Engineering career, but I was thrilled beyond words to discover I could still design and build my own furniture pieces. I was eventually convinced to take on something I realised I always preferred – designing and making furniture. Formal study began with a Diploma in Wood Design, followed by taking on a Fine Arts in Furniture Degree, once more at the University of Tasmania.
In between these studies I also wrote an autobiographical book: My Life as a Fish, reliving my horrific comatose journey, recounting the lead-up to the accident, and the sometimes hilarious recovery that has totally renewed my life aspirations.
I also have a site on YouTube: My Life as a Fish V2 QuickTime, only made possible from the incredible generosity of Kickstart Arts!
I have in addition begun working more seriously as a designer/maker under the name of pallendesigns. (At this early stage it is only a trade name).