Open Studios Stroud - my studio in Bisley Road open on both week-ends 6-7 and 13-14 MAY

With a working studio comes a lot of mess and general untidiness and I always feel I have to sort it all out in readiness to open to the public on the Open Studios week-ends! And this is about as good as it gets!  Those in charge always say "People like to see it how it is"! but they wouldn't get through the door if I left it exactly as it usually is!  I've been busy hanging framed original stamp collages, prints and  canvas prints. Full details of access to my studio appear in the Open Studios brochure www.sva.org.uk  on page 31  and mine  is listed as venue no 21. The Lawn, 132 Bisley road, Stroud, GL5 1HL .  Please park in the main part of Bisley road as we are on a narrow lane with no additional parking places. It's short, picturesque walk along and only takes a few minutes! Black and yellow signs point the way!

Valentine Cards from all over the world this year!

Not only did I receive a Valentine card  from my husband this year, but also several other cards from all over the world! It seems that it is now the custom to send cards to friends as well as romantic partners and there is a huge card industry around this special day, February 14th.  Being a member of Postcrossing, where I send and receive cards from people all over the world, I was lucky to receive these lovely cards this year from  Turkey, Belgium,.Germany, Australia and Great Britain with some actually arriving on Valentine's day!  Many countries now issue stamps for Valentine's day including France - see earlier blog posts of January regarding the Designer hearts I've used in some of my recent Heart collages!  Cards will be coming soon and judging by popularity of the Heart cards I've made in the past, they are not only for Valentine's day!

Sticker on a Belgian card

This card and stamp were issued last year, but received in time for this year's Valentine's day!

Commissions .. and some newly available cards

The Barbados flag was recently commissioned and is shown here as a canvas print ready to hang! You can see from my Flags page that I've made many countries' flags and am happy to attempt others if anyone has a special request. Prices vary according to availability of stamps and this one took a while to put together as I had to find suitable stamps and subjects to include from various sources. Also shown are some new cards including one with the Barbados flag - possibly not a potentially  huge seller but I have had a few printed and these will be available at my next Open Studio on 1st and 2nd November - see previous blog post for full details.   Also shown here are the flag of Germany, The Blue Lady, Flower Heart and Christmas Robin.

Saint Martin of Tours - 326-397 AD

In Oxford last week-end and I noticed a small statue of St Martin of Tours I had not previously seen.  It is located next to the Carfax tower, which is the only remaining part of the old St Martin's church demolished many years ago to make way for street alterations in the city centre.

Some time ago I was working on  a series of stamp collages featuring Saints and St Martin was one of the small number I completed. Having researched his life I discovered that his father was a high ranking officer in the Roman army and encouraged his son to enlist at the age of 15, the terms being that he would stay in the army for a minimum of 25 years. Although Martin was not happy to be in the army, he was said by the biographer Sulpicius to have been a model soldier. Martin encountered a beggar outside the gates of Amiens and cut his cloak in half to give to him.  Soon after this, he had a dream in which he was called to give up life in the Roman army to become a soldier of Christ.  Happily he was allowed to leave the army and subsequently became Bishop of Tours in 371.  He is the patron saint of beggars, outcasts, horsemen, soldiers, tailors and innkeepers.

Statue of St Martin next to the Carfax tower in Oxford city centre

Mixed media collage with stamps, showing St Martin cutting his cloak in half to give to a beggar outside the walls of Amiens

This image is also as a card and high quality print on paper. 

Other Saints in the series currently include St Francis of Assisi,

St Nicholas of Myra and St Joan of Arc. 

This is as tidy as it gets! Open Studios in Stroud this week-end and next. See Brochure.

Tomorrow is the first day of the first Open Studios week-end in Stroud and my studio will be open to the public.  The organisers of the event always say that people like to see us as we are and not to tidy up too much, but I don't think they realise just how untidy I can be, and it would be a job to get through the door some days.  So here it is ... pictures on the walls, cards on display and prints to browse through and the kettle and coffee at the ready! Since last year, I've made quite a lot of new work including more flags, famous buildings, ships and boats and gardens, all made from stamps. I've also made a quiz for children to do. As always, looking forward to meeting new visitors as well as old friends and answering questions about my love of making stamp collages!  Hope to see you if you're in Stroud either this week-end of next, and if not, and you'd like to come over, just get in touch! Details on my contacts link page.

Greetings Cards from my own designs

My work has been featured in various magazines and papers, most recently in our local newspaper, Stroud Life.  Stanley Gibbons Stamp Monthly and The American Philatelist, Stroud News and Journal and The Gloucester Citizen have also covered interesting stories and included some of my stamp collage pictures over the last 12 months.   I'm often asked  where people can purchase cards and the answer to this is that you can e mail me direct or visit my studio to see the complete range during the forthcoming Open Studios Festival in Stroud (Site 13)  which will be on Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th and Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th May from 10.30 until 6 pm.   My cards are also on sale in Made in Stroud in the centre  of Stroud itself. Torbay Stamp centre have some on show too, as does the Taunton Stamp shop on Bridge Street, Taunton.  Please check their hours of opening as these do tend to vary.  Ten designs are also currently available to purchase on ebay on UPA's pages (just google Rachel Markwick Stamp collage cards and you will find them easily!)and you can use paypal in this case.

Setting out my stall .. at the Glamorous Garden Party

I was invited to have a stall at a recent fundraising event for Breakthrough Breast Cancer http://www.breakthrough.org.uk/  in the beautiful garden of Laurence and Jackie Llewelyn Bowen.  The weather was kind to us and guests turned out in vast numbers  to support the charity, with other stalls sellling jewellery, soaps, kitchen wares etc and of course a raffle with great prizes.  On my stall are stamp collage cards, prints and framed originals - card stocks happily depleted by the end of the evening! My daughter Heidi helped on  the stall and we both enjoyed looking around the wonderful garden and  sampling the delicious canapes! 

Olympic torch coming to Stroud on 23rd May

Stroud is certainly looking extremely festive with Olympic banners all all over the town, great shop window displays and  Union Jacks and bunting for the Diamond Jubilee too!  What a year!  And Stroud Site Festival 2012 continues until the end of May with the second of the Open Studios week-ends tomorrow and Sunday as well, so the distinctive yellow and black Site 12 or Open Studio signs add to the colour!    My Union Jacks featuring the Queen's portraits on stamps is proving popular among studio visitors and Canvas prints, cards and larger prints are available. I also have other versions of the flag as a stamp collage with the word LOVE in the centre, which makes a great gift!   As well as our own wonderful flag, I've created flags of many of the other nations from their own stamps and many of these are on display here in my studio at the moment, along with pictures of ships, gardens, birds and more abstract stamp collages.

See http://www.sitefestival.org.uk/ for details of all the studios open this week-end - some artists' studios  may also be open at other times if you phone them for information.  See Page 20 venue 35 for my own studio information.

Artshape Artshop Open in Beechwood Shopping Centre

Unit 15 in Beechwood shopping centre, Cheltenham is now the Artshape Artshop until at least Saturday 5th November, with the possibility that this time may be extended.

A wonderful variety of work is on sale in the shop, made by artists and students who work for Artshape or who attend classes run by the charity. 20% of sale price will be donated to Artshape, and it's well worth supporting them. Visit http://www.artshape.co.uk/ to find out more about classes and courses run by Artshape and to see some of the work on sale.

I have several of my stamp collage canvas prints and pictures on sale, as well as cards and a couple of very eye catching A1 framed Union Jack and US Stars and Stripes posters! You can also visit my website on http://www.rachelmarkwick.com/