**Maxine is the inspiration behind how we meet our new teachers**

we were *very* strongly encouraged to go through the lesson with her - which was bloody great, and gave us opportunity to take photos of the whole process, and of Maxine doing her thing.

So, now we ‘Meet + Make’ with new teachers, taking photos + videos both for the upcoming events, and for them to use in their own marketing. Thanks to Maxine!

Anyway enough about us, let’s hear from Maxine...

Give a lil taste of how you’ve landed where you’re at...

I moved to Liskeard in 1981 where I raised my 3 children. I moved to Plymouth in 2006- I am an East Londoner, (Cockney) by birth.

I studied **film** at Sheffield and then completed my BA hons degree at Dartington College of **Art**, as a Community Arts **Activist** and **Animateur**.

animateur
/anɪməˈtəː/
noun: animateur; plural noun: animateurs
a person who enlivens or encourages something, especially a promoter of artistic projects.

Since then I have made and screened several short/animated films, often on a Super 8mm Cine camera [SWOOOOOON]. I taught at Saltash FE (now Cornwall College) as a visiting Artist for several years, and I have enjoyed teaching new lens-based skills to lots of young people, such as pin-hole cameras and cut-paper animation.

I spent 12 years in a craft retail specialist shop, where I started teaching punch needle, rug making, lampshade making, rag rugs, kid’s sewing crafts, simple felt items, etc.

A very capable woman! We’re gonna have to pin you down for more classes!

In 2020, I volunteered to do admin for PAT - Plymouth Artist’s Together, becoming their official fundraiser. I have contributed as an advisor on Plymouth Culture’s Public Art Steering Group for the last year. I also still dabble with Dub Cinema, which does large scale outdoor projected installations on buildings, in unexpected places (!)

...say, like, on a 300 year old barn?!

Also, from 2014 I ran a successful hospitality business, that I sold last year.
Soooo here I am, back out in the world and looking for some new creatives to inspire...

Which leads us nicely on to Developing Natural Arts...

D-N-A was established to help people improve their creative skills and outlook, offering additional pathways into further education and employment.

We all need to survive. We all need to relax...

Ain’t that the truth!

I left home at 16 with few prospects or support. Then, as a late starter to education, I discovered the wondrous realm of Arts, academia and semiotics. It opened up a whole new world to me. I realised how much difference being creative can make to one’s outlook, doing a 6 month research project with a group of local women to explore these ideas. I strongly felt “If I can do it, so can you!” and I suppose that I set out to establish Best Practice in the community arena, from the early 90’s onwards.

Hero!

With alllllll of that, what has been the best moment of your ‘career’ so far?

Having two of my films put into the ‘100 Years of Women’s Film’ collection at the Watershed Media centre in 1997.

Wow! Congratulations!

Let’s talk more about your punch needle creations - what inspires you?

My inspiration is most certainly colour. And light! My work seeks to explore the beauteous hues of moorland, of stormy skies and natural landscapes, often very stylised, favouring vintage colour palettes. The workshop pieces are just a microcosm of that.

What materials do you work with, how do you source them and do you consider sustainability?

I have always been of ‘Make, Do and Mend’ stock. Endeavouring to find ways to make things, simply, then exploring repurposed/free alternatives. I think it is practical to use up odds and ends and punch needle is very suitable for this.

For the workshop, we will be using a traditional colour palette of Axminster Carpet yarns and my favoured (for their ease of use) Amy Oxford hand tools.

Now, for a BIG finish:

Do you have a goal for where you’d love your business to be in the future?

Running free or low cost classes for local people who need a break.

If money wasn’t a factor what would you be doing with your life?

Setting up a South West Rug Making Studio and teaching people how to use Carpet Tufting Guns :)

HELLLLLL YEAH! COUNT US IN!

Join Maxine at our upcoming Botanical Punch Needle workshop, or if you’re a teen in Plymouth, join her classes at Greenspace on Mutley Plain on Thursdays, via hello.developing.natural.arts@gmail.com.