National Parks of America on stamps and photos

Last week I went to the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich and while there, visited the Ansel Adams exhibition.  We were lucky to arrive just in time for a guided tour which gave insight into the life and career of this great photographer. Many of his photographs were taken in the National Parks and Yosemite was one of his favourites.
I'd recently read an article in Stanley Gibbons Stamp Monthly which featured a set of stamps issued in the USA in 1934 commemmorating the National Parks, and sent it over to a friend in the USA.  At the week-end I received a letter back containing the set of 10 stamps.  Just like Ansel Adams, I think my favourite is the Yosemite 1c green stamp, which has an almost identical view of El Capitan.


Other stamps in the set include 5c blue showing "Old Faithful" geyser in Yellowstone park, and 6c blue showing Crater Lake and Wizard Island.  I will be interested to see if Ansel Adams photographed any of the other locations on the stamps.

Although I use a lot of stamps in my collages, I also collect and these beautiful stamps  will definitely be remaining in my collection!

First Class by Chris West

I was given this brilliant book for Christmas! It's full title is "First Class - A history of Britain in 36 postage stamps", by Chris West.  I have to admit, it was on my wish list, as I like to do plenty of background reading to the hobby of stamp collecting as well as my creative activity of making collages from stamps.

It's a great way to learn about the history of Britain by relating the different eras to the stamps issued at that time, as each chapter is headed by a stamp of that period.  It has also brought the stamps alive as I'm sure I'm not the only collector who has been guilty of collecting for collecting's sake, without always taking too much note of why the stamp has been issued. Some of the stamps are very familiar to me and others not so, but that's probably due to my "gap years" in stamp collecting!

Since I've been making collages and exhibiting them, I've become so much more aware of the stories behind the stamps - not all of them of course, but researching their stories has become an important part of the creative process and being able to tell their stories has also become part of the fun!

Christ West says on his introductory page, "Stamps tell stories. They speak to us across generations - if only we'd stop squeezing them into albums, and worrying about their catalogue values, and just listen to their voices instead."  So very true! I have had so many comments to this effect from viewers of my work, some stamp collectors themselves, and others who are not but are pleasantly surprised by what they see.  I'm often complemented about having them on display rather than shut away in a drawer. One comment from a visitors book read, "I never knew stamps could be so interesting!" I hope along the way that I may have brought a few people back to stamp collecting and also given some youngsters an interest in the hobby.

Rachel Markwick stamp collage cards on ebay shop

UPA (Universal Postal Auctions) now have a selection of my greetings cards on their EBay stamp  shop page.

Currently included are The Union Jack, Flag of Australia, Canada, Unicorn, Colosseum and various ships, and many more popular designs.   The stamp collage Heart card, suitable for both Valentine's day and to give as a Wedding or Birthday Card is also featured.   All cards are A5 size, with the exception of the Heart which is square, and include envelopes and are packaged and priced at £3 each plus postage.

The Sower stamps of France

I've just been reading the latest edition of Gibbons stamp Monthly magazine, and in particular a very detailed article on the Printing of the Sower Stamps of France.  I suddenly realised that I have always wrongly thought that this particular stamp depicted the iconic image of Marianne, and had given one of my stamp collages the title of "Marianne trawler" as I had used these stamps to make up the sails of the boat.  For this reason I am now going to follow a long tradition in the shipping industry and rename this particular vessel, "The Sower", with apologies to any collectors of French stamps for my previous error.

The Marianne stamps have recently made an appearance in another stamp collage of an iconic French landmark, The Eiffel tower!

Star Spangled Banner - Flag of USA Stamp Collage

Work going on in the studio means it gets rather untidy ...  but the latest USA flag collage is almost completed, having searched for suitable stamps to include.

I finally found a stamp showing  Franklin D Roosevelt, mentioned in previous post, as he was an avid stamp collector. He's in the top left hand corner of this detail of the flag.