The Crown Jewels - in the Tower of London

Perhaps the highlight of a trip to the Tower of London for many tourists is seeing  the Crown Jewels.  Years ago tourists were  moved along by the guardians in case they lingered for too long in front of the dazzling displays of ceremonial jewels, including the Imperial state Crown pictured here.

The Imperial state Crown, 1937 

Nowadays, there are travelators on either side of the main attraction but I did managed to go round twice to get a really good look! Photography is strictly prohibited in this area of the Tower, so postcards were duly purchased, and I also found Universal Mail stamps on sale  for use on international postcards. Priced at £4.99 for 5 stamps it's just a little more expensive than the current 97p to send a postcard overseas, and not something  always easily found.   

The above stamps feature a Yeoman Gaoler, A Raven, The Imperial Crown of India, 1911, and two views of The Tower.

In 2011 Royal Mail issued a set of eight stamps featuring  details from the Crown Jewels collection.

I name this ship ..????

My latest stamp collage is now finished and the difficult task of naming her now faces me ..

She is a three masted clipper, like the Cutty Sark, shown here on a recent GB stamp:

In my picture I've used stamps from all over the world, but predominantly US stamps for the hull and French stamps for the sails.  The sheet of stamps with the White Ensign featured in a previous post together with the signal flags also came in handy.  The crew are international and there are some passengers too!

Another ship collage used the same French definitive stamps in shades brown and rusty red.  This stamp is known as La Semeuse, the Sower.  However, although the owner of the other ship suggested "La Semeuse Bleue", The Blue Sower, I have slight reservations as I feel that this one is definitely of English origin, built of course in Stroud!! So my final decision is The Blue Lady .. but of course, another owner would be free to rename her, as has been the tradition  for many famous ships over the years!

The Haywain by John Constable - another one from my miniature art collection!

I'm a member of Postcrossing.com and today received a lovely card showing The Haywain from a student in Newcastle, who had recently visited Constable's home and the place where he painted many of his famous works. I've not been there yet but have seen  this painting on many visits over the years to London's National Gallery.  Completed in 1821, it's  one of Britain's favourite pictures and probably Constable's best known.

The 1/9 stamp is part of the British Paintings set of four stamps issued in 1968.   Coincidentally it was part of the set which included the Ruins of St Mary le Port by John Piper which I featured in my previous post earlier this week!

Other stamps in the same set are: Pinkie by Thomas Lawrence, painted in 1794 and in the Huntington Library collection, which I have used in at least one of my stamp collages as part of a crowd scene - see if you can find her near the Leaning Tower of Pisa ..and also Queen Elizabeth I by an unknown continental artist - National Portrait Gallery,London 

John Piper's painting of St Mary le Port, Bristol

One of my favourite artists, John Piper, painted an evocative  picture of St Mary le port, Bristol, which suffered severe damage during the bombings in November 1940, when the painting was completed.

 This image appears on the 1/6 stamp, part of a set of four paintings by British artists,  issued in 1968. I have a mint set in my childhood stamp collection.  It was great to be able to see the actual church yesterday while in Bristol.  The tower was undamaged, but the rest of the 15th century church is in ruins and preserved as a memorial in Castle Park,across the road from Bristol's Cabot Centre shopping mall.

Paintings by Winslow Homer - also on stamps

A couple of weeks ago I picked up a  book called Swimming Studies by Leanne Shapton - I'm very keen on swimming - and go to my local pool several times a week. It tells the story of Leanne's attempt to be selected for the Canadian Olympic teams of 1988 and 1992,  and although not successful, she retains a lifelong love and interest in swimming. As well as a fascinating and well told account of her experiences she is a talented artist and includes several series of illustrations connected with everything to do with the sport, from portraits of fellow swimmers to photographs of her costumes, and small paintings of swimming pools all over the world. And she also includes some art references, which I personally can never resist looking up!   I've discovered several paintings new to me, by the American artist Winslow Homer, whose former home Leanne was lucky enough to stay in on a visit to Maine.

Gulf Stream by Winslow Homer (1899) 

Sharks, The Derelict by Winslow Homer 

I'm not likely to ever own an original Winslow Homer, but as a stamp collector, I have a smaller example in my own collection - not quite as sinister as the first two shown above, this one is called Breezing Up( A Fair Wind) 1873-1876 - the stamp was issued by US Postal service in 1962!

I am dragging my anchor .. and other naval expressions!!

Still working on my latest stamp collage ship and wanted to include some signal  flags on this one. Among my stock of useful stamps I found a single 1st class White Ensign flag stamp. A sheet of  20 of these including signal flags was issued in June 2005. I  suppose I could use these to post my letters with, but chances are I will hang on to this one  .. it's so interesting it could even be put in a frame! Several of the signal flags are indicative of how I feel at the moment .. Z : I require a tug,  or perhaps V: I require assistance, but hopefully before too long, P : The Blue Peter - about to sail!!  Just need to decide which ones to use on my "work in progress".

Anyone going to Barbados?

Lucky you if you are off to Barbados for a holiday, but if not, perhaps the next best thing would be a flag like this, all made of the stamps of Barbados!  What a colourful flag it is, originally adopted in 1966 when the island became independent. Its colours represent the blue of the ocean and the golden sands  of Barbados with the broken trident in the centre, taken from the original colonial badge.  I was commissioned  to make this  Barbados flag stamp collage as a Christmas present and will be getting some canvas prints made from the design too.  I've really enjoyed putting it together, sourcing suitable stamps to conjure up the atmosphere of the island. I've including stamps with flowers, fish and birds of Barbados, coral reefs, blue skies and some of the famous landmarks and, of course, cricket, lovely cricket!