IN A small workshop at the back of a terraced house in Milnthorpe, the Kendal-Rinteln mural destined for the town's Elephant Yard is slowly coming together.

A 'jig-saw' of ceramic squares in glowing colours is propped up against the wall.

Not all the pieces are there yet, but there are glimpses - the figure of a man sits beside a river, a young girl dances.

There is a book, a lute, and other symbols from the twin towns whose relationship is celebrated in the mural.

But this is no tribute to the past alone.

Look carefully and you will see that the young man in classical pose by the German river has a portable computer.

His counterpart in the Kendal panel may have a mobile phone, and somehow there must be a reference to table tennis - an important part of the Kendal-Rinteln connection.

Ceramicist Maggie Angus Berkowitz is enjoying the challenge.

It is a Thursday morning and she has just had an inspiration.

The problem was how to depict Kendal mintcake - obviously an important part of life in the town, but not necessarily an item that lends itself to artistic interpretation in a mural.

"I suddenly thought of doing it as 'mint' the plant!" she smiles.

The problems are not all about artistic interpretation.

There is the slight problem of space.

"It would be lovely to be able to see the whole mural at once," she explains.

"I don't need to see it all the time, but just now and again I need to stand back and look."

For an artist whose work is nearly always on a large scale, this is not a new problem.

From a dragon coiling its way around the edge of a Cotswold bath, to the rich patterns and colours now incorporated into her own living room floor, the scale of Maggie's work must make working life difficult at times.

"No! the bigger the better!" she says.

"Now, what I'd really like to do is an apartment building, or a department store ..."

It is the thrill of discovery, and of a new area of work and life, that seems to have been with her since the beginning of her career, which began as an art student in Lancaster just after the war.

There were very few pictures and images around then, she recalls, and college regulations meant she was not allowed to do pottery.

But it was the start of a working life which led her to study and work in London, Cambridge, and eventually at the prestigious Istituto Statale per la Ceramica in Italy - a period of life that is still very much with her, both in its influence, and in her language - she finds that she recalls the chemical formulas for glazes in Italian.

Oh yes, and there was also Africa ...!

Teaching - preferably without too much of a restrictive 'marking' policy - has nearly always accompanied her life as a working artist, and the encouragement of young people is obviously another 'calling'.

She recalls her times as a teacher at Milnthorpe School and at the Brathay Centre, with great enjoyment.

Her personal journey seems to have been as rich and challenging as her artistic influences - marriage to an American while in Africa and the birth of her first child there.

A move to New York followed but: "I insisted on coming home for the birth of my fourth baby - after having a baby in Africa, the medical intervention in births in New York was just horrific."

The family is grown up now - leading to more work and travel experiences, this time in Japan where she has a daughter living.

It is interesting to speculate what happens to Maggie's projects eventually.

Some she can keep track of - the dragon in the Cotswold bathroom has just had to be moved slightly to accommodate a new bath tap.

Others are less easy to follow.

A ceramic work for a company at Coniston seems to have disappeared when a building was demolished.

But it lives on in art books where her work is described and illustrated.

But as from May, when the Mayor of Rinteln comes to see the Elephant Yard mural put in place, Kendal will have its history officially on view - from the days of the packman to the mobile phone, including, of course, its mintcake.