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Maxine Relton

Maxine came to us with a formidable reputation as an artist, and huge experience as a teacher. Educated at the Slade School of Art, her painting, sculpture, printmaking and artistic bookmaking have been exhibited widely. Venues such as The Victoria Gallery, The Royal Academy and Whitechapel Gallery have housed her work, and demonstrate her level of ability, while lecture tours to Europe and the States speak eloquently of her teaching skills.

The children at Clifton were obviously excited by the prospect of working with an important artist, and completed some essential investigation on underwater themes in preparation for the workshops. Maxine began by drawing on relevant previous experience, recounting how she chanced upon a book of electron micrographs of minute sea-dwelling diatoms at the Natural History Museum.

'I became particularly absorbed by the intricate structures, exploring and experimenting with the geometric complexities of the tiny creatures, and making a series of sculptures and watercolours. I realised that much of the fascination I felt in studying these organisms lay in the other-worldly quality of the highly magnified images. These images, plus the diving I took up to gain first-hand experience of the underwater world informed my work and influenced my art practice, and continue to provide inspiration to this day.'

Maxine provided the Whitechapel Gallery with a series of sculptures from this theme, and also became involved in a project to provide Billingsgate Fish Market with a huge sculpture for its new site on the Isle of Dogs. In the Hornby Centre however, she proceeded to use fish designs as starting-points, instructing children in the use of lightweight materials like willow canes and tissue paper and demonstrating how large kite-like structures could be formed. Children in 7HB, and 7MB, worked intensively in teams for a whole day in order to create their sculptures.

The work that Maxine completed with Sally Nuttall's art groups (5SN and 4JW) later in the week, employed the same theme, but generated entirely different outcomes. The children were to study artistic bookmaking, and became involved in the intricacies of paper engineering - folded and stained watercolour paper, watercolour washes, acetate transparancies, collage overlays and printed surface effects. The books the children produced were truly animated and illustrated a diving adventure, the discovery of a shipwreck, and hidden treasure. Her visit was most productive and inspiring!

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