Caitlin Atherton - The artist behind Marley the mammoth

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Marley The Mammoth Mural

Caitlin Marie Atherton is an environmental artist from Stockport, currently working with Plastic Shed. Over recent months, Caitlin has collaborated closely with Redbridge Council, Ilford Lane Primary Schools, and the local community to create London's largest public bottle lid mural on Ilford Lane.


Caitlin Marie Atherton

Caitlin shares her experience:

"My name is Caitlin Marie Atherton, environmental artist at Plastic Shed, from Stockport. I have been working with Redbridge Council, local Ilford Lane Primary Schools and the local community over the past few months to create London's biggest public bottle lid mural, in Ilford Lane.

This entire piece is co-created with hundreds of people from the Ilford community, from design to lid collection, the community has been at the heart of this creation.

Marley the Mammoth was designed over the course of a week during my first visit to Ilford Lane. I spent days in the local primary schools working with hundreds of amazing children, as well as running open community sessions for everyone to have the chance to come and contribute their ideas. We talked about how the Bee being the mascot for Manchester and the frog is the mascot for Stockport, we then moved on to what we felt was Ilford’s Mascot and quickly Marley The Mammoth was brought up. The children told me all about Marley – when he was found, where he was found, and how they felt that a Mammoth was a ‘really cool mascot’ to have! I knew then that this iconic and fascinating story was what I wanted to bring to life for the community of Ilford. We did drawing games and exercises where I got the people to close their eyes and think of the colours that represent Ilford Lane to them, the places they think of, the history of Ilford, their favourite memories and animals here. I shared my own stories about the delicious food, wonderful parks filled with wildlife and the incredible clothing shops I saw here. Very quickly a colourful and vibrant selection of drawings were gathered, showcasing the local parks, animals, clothing, shops, food, spaces etc that was thought of when people thought of Ilford Lane.

Using both the idea of the Mammoth and the colours from the drawing exercises the children and community then designed their own Marley, filling him with colour in creative and playful ways, each drawing different but with the colourful nature repeating throughout.

We had hundreds of drawings by the end of the week, with vibrant colours and fabulous and creative ideas. I took all of these back up to Stockport and used them as the inspiration for the final design.

During this time and over a few months the local children, parents, families, community and businesses all got to collect their plastic bottle lids, with thousands and thousands collected and donated to me over this time. I also built connections with local eco groups who donated lids for the piece, spreading out our work all across Ilford Lane. I believe there is a real power in creating art from 'waste' that is collected by the people, showing them in practice how their personal plastic 'waste' can be transformed into art, changing how people perceive waste and hopefully creating lasting positive behaviours around recycling. During installation I already had enthusiastic children coming over and pointing out the lids that they collected themselves and telling me their plans to collect and donate more, it was fantastic!

This piece is made up of around 8000 plastic bottle lids, and secured onto 100% recycled plastic backing boards with each lid attached to the board with a metal outdoor screw. We make sure that our process does not contaminate any of the plastic (we do not use glue or chemicals), so that at the end of the piece’s life we have the option of taking the plastic back, unscrewing all the lids, recycling the metal and using the plastic tops again for other work. Every part of this piece can be reused again and again.

After the design was set and all lids were collected I got to work! Drawing Marley out onto the plastic boards then placing and screwing in each lid individually in exactly the correct spot. Using a variation of lid colours, shades and sizes to give a full effect. Adding in a grassy floor covered in flowers for him to walk along, all entirely inspired by the drawings from the community. After Marley was made I packed him up, headed down to Ilford and the lovely company 'Active Signs and Designs' installed the piece ready for the public.

Overall this entire experience has been wonderful, the children have been fantastic and so creative, the community has been so welcoming and enthusiastic and I can not wait to showcase this finished piece and celebrate together with the community that made it possible.”

Marley The Mammoth Mural

Caitlin Marie Atherton is an environmental artist from Stockport, currently working with Plastic Shed. Over recent months, Caitlin has collaborated closely with Redbridge Council, Ilford Lane Primary Schools, and the local community to create London's largest public bottle lid mural on Ilford Lane.


Caitlin Marie Atherton

Caitlin shares her experience:

"My name is Caitlin Marie Atherton, environmental artist at Plastic Shed, from Stockport. I have been working with Redbridge Council, local Ilford Lane Primary Schools and the local community over the past few months to create London's biggest public bottle lid mural, in Ilford Lane.

This entire piece is co-created with hundreds of people from the Ilford community, from design to lid collection, the community has been at the heart of this creation.

Marley the Mammoth was designed over the course of a week during my first visit to Ilford Lane. I spent days in the local primary schools working with hundreds of amazing children, as well as running open community sessions for everyone to have the chance to come and contribute their ideas. We talked about how the Bee being the mascot for Manchester and the frog is the mascot for Stockport, we then moved on to what we felt was Ilford’s Mascot and quickly Marley The Mammoth was brought up. The children told me all about Marley – when he was found, where he was found, and how they felt that a Mammoth was a ‘really cool mascot’ to have! I knew then that this iconic and fascinating story was what I wanted to bring to life for the community of Ilford. We did drawing games and exercises where I got the people to close their eyes and think of the colours that represent Ilford Lane to them, the places they think of, the history of Ilford, their favourite memories and animals here. I shared my own stories about the delicious food, wonderful parks filled with wildlife and the incredible clothing shops I saw here. Very quickly a colourful and vibrant selection of drawings were gathered, showcasing the local parks, animals, clothing, shops, food, spaces etc that was thought of when people thought of Ilford Lane.

Using both the idea of the Mammoth and the colours from the drawing exercises the children and community then designed their own Marley, filling him with colour in creative and playful ways, each drawing different but with the colourful nature repeating throughout.

We had hundreds of drawings by the end of the week, with vibrant colours and fabulous and creative ideas. I took all of these back up to Stockport and used them as the inspiration for the final design.

During this time and over a few months the local children, parents, families, community and businesses all got to collect their plastic bottle lids, with thousands and thousands collected and donated to me over this time. I also built connections with local eco groups who donated lids for the piece, spreading out our work all across Ilford Lane. I believe there is a real power in creating art from 'waste' that is collected by the people, showing them in practice how their personal plastic 'waste' can be transformed into art, changing how people perceive waste and hopefully creating lasting positive behaviours around recycling. During installation I already had enthusiastic children coming over and pointing out the lids that they collected themselves and telling me their plans to collect and donate more, it was fantastic!

This piece is made up of around 8000 plastic bottle lids, and secured onto 100% recycled plastic backing boards with each lid attached to the board with a metal outdoor screw. We make sure that our process does not contaminate any of the plastic (we do not use glue or chemicals), so that at the end of the piece’s life we have the option of taking the plastic back, unscrewing all the lids, recycling the metal and using the plastic tops again for other work. Every part of this piece can be reused again and again.

After the design was set and all lids were collected I got to work! Drawing Marley out onto the plastic boards then placing and screwing in each lid individually in exactly the correct spot. Using a variation of lid colours, shades and sizes to give a full effect. Adding in a grassy floor covered in flowers for him to walk along, all entirely inspired by the drawings from the community. After Marley was made I packed him up, headed down to Ilford and the lovely company 'Active Signs and Designs' installed the piece ready for the public.

Overall this entire experience has been wonderful, the children have been fantastic and so creative, the community has been so welcoming and enthusiastic and I can not wait to showcase this finished piece and celebrate together with the community that made it possible.”

Page last updated: 01 Apr 2025, 09:44 PM