Flags of many nations - all made from stamps

We all love flags!  

  Here are a few which have been made up into canvas prints in a variety of sizes and have gone  as far away as Australia,New Zealand, USA,Canada and Japan, as well as closer to home!   Shown here are my LOVE version of the Union Jack,

Welsh flag, Stars and Stripes (USA),

Australian flag, Swiss flag and German flag, all made from the stamps of each country.

The largest I've had made was a Union Jack  100 x 60 cms but generally they are approximately 30 x 40 cms according to the format of the flag itself.They can also be produced as giclee prints. 

These are just a few of many I've made from stamps - others can be seen on www.rachelmarkwick.co.uk    and I'm always happy to discuss commissions for more unusual flags such as one made in the colours of the Ugandan flag, including Ugandan stamps but also other themes from countries and subjects associated with the recipient. Possibilities are endless .. just ask! 

Raphy Dalleves - 1878-1940 - Swiss artist from Valais canton at the Sion Art Gallery

detail from Two women from Evolene, around 1920

Visiting small local galleries can be very enlightening and the the Sion Art gallery in the Valais region of Switzerland is a little gem! The rooms are well lit and the gallery just the right size to be able to spend an hour or two discovering the delightful works of local artists as well as some more internationally known ones.  Here we found work by Oskar Kokoshka and Felix Valloton, but what stood out for me were the paintings by local artists including  Raphy Dalleves, who specialised in portraits of peasants from the region, dressed in their everyday clothes, and going about their work. The women in the above portrait are from the village of Evolene, where to this day people proudly wear similar colourul costumes.

Les Laveuses, Heremence, by Raphy Dalleves, 1907 - Tempera on canvas

details from Les Laveuses, Heremence

Barry the heroic St Bernard dog - special exhibition in Bern Natural History Museum

 I visited the Natural History Museum in Bern, at the end of a rather stressful  trip to Switzerland's capital city - unfamiliar roads, heavy traffic and trams seemingly coming from all directions. I'd arranged to meet up there with my daughters, but they'd   mistakenly gone to the History of Bern Museum instead, so I had a pleasant hour  on my own! The highlight of the visit was the exhibition  about Barry, the legendary  St Bernard dog.  I was alerted to this when I heard a Japanese tourist  asking where he could find the "famous dog".

There is a whole area devoted to the story of Barry's life as a working St Bernard who saved the lives of more than 40 people lost in snow  in the mountains of Switzerland.  I'm a little surprised that he doesn't appear on any Swiss stamps, but found two others featuring this breed of dog, with a miniature barrel of brandy attached to its collar - although I read in the story that this is a  myth and the barrels don't contain any brandy after all!   To read more about Barry and the Natural History Museum of Bern, visit their website www.nmbe.ch.

Sherlock Holmes and the Reichenbach Falls

During our holiday in Switzerland we visited the Reichenbach Falls, scene of the struggle to the (apparent) death between Sherlock Holmes and his deadly rival Professor Moriarty, as told in The Final Problem.

An X on the cliff face even  marks the spot where he is said to have fallen into the abyss below. An ancient cog railway carries tourists up to a viewing area and steps further up to the falls, where the obligatory figure of Sherlock Holmes awaits. You just can't avoid poking your head through the cut out! In nearby Meiringen the legendary detective is ever present, with  hotels, shops  and bars named after him,  and the Sherlock Holmes museum in the little church next to Conan Doyle Place.

Inside are artefacts from the era in which Sir Arthur Conan Doyle based his stories as well as Memorabilia including the British stamps issued in 1993. These feature illustrations by Sydney Paget of some of the better know tales, including The Hound of the Baskervilles, and of course The Final Problem (in which Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson go to Switzerland. The Rooms at 221B Baker Street, which Sherlock Holmes and his colleague Dr John Watson rented from Mrs Hudson are also faithfully reproduced with furnishings, pictures and decorations from the period.  More information about the museum  in Meiringen,  and the Sherlock Holmes stories can be found on www.sherlockholmes.ch

Correspondence addressed to Sherlock Holmes  is still received from all over the world!