Mabel Pakenham-Walsh obituary

Mabel Pakenham-Walsh
Mabel Pakenham-Walsh made her wood carvings from recycled materials such as breadboards and old ships' timbers

Mabel Pakenham-Walsh, who has died aged 75, was a woodcarver, draughtswoman and campaigner for disabled people. Many of her works were made from recycled or found materials. Her wood carvings were made from ironing boards, breadboards, old ships' timbers and in one case an old wooden toilet seat. Her jewellery was made from a cut-up caravan. Mabel noted that among her influences were naive art, outsider art and primitive art, but she did not consider herself to fit into any of those categories.

Mabel grew up in Lancaster, and trained at Lancaster College of Art (1954-58) and then at Wimbledon College of Art (1958-59). While working as a woodcarver at Pinewood and Shepperton Studios in the early 1960s, she carved the chaise-longue for the film Cleopatra (1963) starring Elizabeth Taylor.

In 1976 she moved to mid-Wales and produced a series of relief carvings relating to local stories, myths and legends. Animals, beasts, folk tales and biblical stories feature in her work, as do celebrities such as the Beatles and Boy George. One series celebrates the marriage of Charles and Diana; another the Queen's jubliee.

A major exhibition of her work was held at Aberystwyth Arts Centre in 1985 and toured Britain. In 2012, Ceredigion museum organised a retrospective of her carvings and drawings. She donated more than 40 of her works to Plascrug leisure centre, Aberystwyth, where she went swimming every day to fend off arthritis.

Throughout her life she suffered from ill health, mainly as a result of a car crash in 1957 and a bout of cancer in 1968. She continually campaigned for improved access to public buildings. Arthritis limited her artistic output in the later part of her life, but she still managed to draw every day, mainly postcard-size pen-and-ink sketches. Many of her works were purchased by the National Library of Wales and are held in its collection.

Mabel could often be found on Aberystwyth promenade enjoying the sea, chatting or testing out the freely available mobility scooters. She once came in to Ceredigion museum, a stone's throw from the beach, to report that she had exceeded the speed limit and thought she would be banned. She usually had a twinkle in her eye.

Three brothers, Andrew, Patrick and Tommy, survive her.