My mother, Joy Fleischmann, who has died aged 93, spent many years working as an assistant to her husband, the Hungarian-born sculptor Arthur Fleischmann, before branching out as an artist herself after his death.
Born in Dawley, Shropshire, Joy was the oldest child of Leslie Burtonshaw, an area manager for the Gas Board, and his wife, Lucy (nee Summers). Her first job was at Beatties department store in Wolverhampton, after which she was transferred to Selfridges in London in 1951. She found lodgings at the Wigmore hostel on Wigmore Street, and her room-mate there took her along to a party in Chelsea, where she first met Arthur, who was twice her age.
