My Stamp collage prints are in this beautiful holiday cottage in Wiltshire

The owner of this beautiful  4 bedroomed holiday cottage in  Garsdon near Malmesbury, Wiltshire chose several of my stamp collage pictures to decorate the dining room and bedrooms and  it's always great to see how pictures look on someone else's walls!

A large canvas print of The Carp stamp collage looks great against the sage green wall of the dining room, and two framed giclee  prints of garden scenes  all made from stamps decorate the twin bedroom, with the grey frames chosen here toning well with the overall colour scheme, and very much in a cottage style.

Carp - stamp collage 

Secret Garden  Giclee print stamp collage

The property is a spacious 4 bedroom cottage on two floors, with a large garden in a quiet lane surrounded by fields and open countryside, with lovely views. It  is ideal for families of up to 8, with dogs  also welcome.  To see  more photos of the entire property, see www.sykescottages.co.uk  property reference 12186.

And for more information and pictures of my stamp collages including those shown here, www.rachelmarkwick.co.uk .
Pictures are available in various formats including canvas prints and giclee prints, framed and unframed.  Some original work is also available to purchase.

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.

Every picture tells a story

Spent yesterday morning hanging the exhibition of my work at Pegasus Art Shop, London Road, Thrupp, Gloucestershire, and it's looking good!  The exhibition runs until 20th November 2012,  9 - 5 Monday to Saturday.
Pegasus Art Shop is a great place to dispay work as they have plenty of wall space leading along to studios and the shop, so I've been able to create a pleasing show with areas of work in themes including ships, flags, gardens and Gaudi inspired pieces, as well as some individual subjects.

Until recently I've been reluctant to part with my original work, maybe for sentimental reasons, but I've recently  made the decision that it's time to offer what people want to buy and that is original stamp collages - and I can  always keep a print for myself! The quality of the printing is such that you can often hardly tell the difference, but with the stamp collages the texture of the stamps is also very appealing, and there's nothing quite like owning original art.  The majority of the pictures in the exhibition, Stamping Ground, are framed originals, but I've also included some canvas prints and a few framed prints too.

Every picture tells a story and there are so many stories within the stamp collages themselves too.
All the flags, for instance, are made up of the stamps of each individual country and within those stamps are the history, folklore, natural history and characters who make up that country.

Named ships of which there are some originals and some prints have their own histories and are made up of interesting details.  Hope to have a good audience for my work at Pegasus in the next few weeks! Please get in touch if you need more information on any of the work included.

The Colosseum, Original framed Stamp Collage by Rachel Markwick, features in the current exhibition at Pegasus Art Shop, Thrupp










markwickrachel@gmail.com

Stamps blow away in the wind!

One of the down-sides to stamp collage is that I can't work outside! Having spent an hour "filing" my stamps this morning I ventured out into the sunshine, wishing that I could do some of my stamp collage work outside, but it's just not possible. I tried it once and found that all the stamps were blowing all over the garden - such a frustrating experience! Unlike an artist painting "en plein air" I'm just not able to put stamp to paper out in the open, having to make full use of my wonderful studio space, which at least has a great view over the are in Stroud known appropriately as "The Heavens".

Taking my coffee into the garden I find that the yellow tree peony is coming into bloom, and the scented viburnum is covered in blossom. Parrot tulips of various varieties in their planters are a perfect picture, and the sunflower seeds are emerging. Lavender and euphorbia love our hillside garden and don't seem to need much maintenance, just the occasional bit of clipping. Walking round my own garden has inspired me to create another another stamp collaged garden , so now I'm back to filing my flowers, foliage and architectural and landscaping stamps ready to create another garden picture.

With Stroud Open Studios Site 12 festival coming soon, I've also been busy framing, making cards and getting prints ready for sale in my studio which will be open on the two week-ends of 12-13 and 19-20 May or at other times by appointment.