Afternoon Tea in Japan .. my designs are used on giftware in Japan!

So pleased to show you the range of items produced by the Japanese company Afternoon Tea LIVING, who have many outlets in Japan, and launched in their shops this week! See Youtube video  Smile at Gift, which the company has made.
Last year I was commissioned to produce designs for Afternoon Tea - see my blog post of 11th July 2104.

 These designs have now been used on gift items  including mugs, bags,  boxes for chocolates and jellies, and decorative packaging for soaps, bath fizzers, spoons,  wrapping paper and the popular Japanese item, Washi tape! Even the carrier bags have my Heart design on!

The patchwork quilt stamp collage design which incorporates both stamps and envelopes,  has been used in its entirety on some items  and elements of it have been adapted for use on on two different mugs, with the colours adapted to suit. Just wishing I could be in Japan to see the displays in the shops, but hoping that I will have some samples here soon too!

Mount Fuji stamp collage - Fujisan - Deliberations and alterations .. finishing a picture

Funny how some pictures come together immediately and very spontaneously and others take an age to complete.  This has been the case with my picture of Mount Fuji, or Fujisan, in Japan.

One View of Mount Fuji - stamp collage by Rachel Markwick

Looking back at a couple of previous mentions of this stamp collage, I  find that I first had the idea in March 2014, when it was suggested to me that it might be a good subject.  I spent a lot of time researching and reading about this beautiful mountain,  which is much venerated in Japan, and admired by tourists from all over the world. It has always been so,  and the Japanese artist Hokusai produced a series of wood block prints called Thirty-six views of Mount Fuji, also completing more than a hundred.  Artists have depicted it in many ways, from simple line drawings to colourful and intricate works of art. It features in paintings and prints, on porcelain, lacquer work, furniture, textiles .. the list is endless.  As for stamp  collages .. well I haven't found any others apart from the one I've just now finally finished, although I thought I had finished it a few months ago.  On re-examining it, I wasn't happy with a few aspects and have altered it accordingly. It's always tempting and often useful to ask opinions  it can also confuse matters. At the end of the day, I have to go with how I feel about it. The majority of the stamps I have used are Japanese but there are a handful from other countries and I've used some of my clippings to make the snow capped peak!
www.rachelmarkwick.co.uk

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!

Romanian musical instrument - the tulnic

I came across a Romanian stamp today which has brought back memories.  It's a stamp issued in 1961 and I feel sure it was probably in my collection as a child, which sadly I don't have any more. Many of the stamps went the way of so many childhood collections, probably sold for pocket money to buy other things more interesting to teenagers .. but things have a habit of coming round again! Other Romanian instruments are also featured in this set - will repost if I find the others too!

The other more recent memory  is of the Haute Nendaz Alp horn festival we went to last Summer in Switzerland. It was a gathering of alp horn players not just from Switzerland but also from other parts of Europe, including Romania.  These beautifully dressed ladies came from a remote village with their unique instruments, which are apparently best played near water - in this case the Lac de Tracouet! The wood from which they are made comes from a particular Romanian forest.  To hear this wonderful instrument, there are several Youtube videos available, and many more of the traditional Swiss alp horns we saw at the Nendaz summer Alp horn event.

Another Brick in the wall ..

My latest challenge is a commission to make a collage based on East Mill in Belper, built  in red brick in 1912 by the  English  Sewing Machine Company.
Research has been needed as I had not previously heard about this mill.  This is what I love about my "job" if you can call it that, as an artist! I'm learning all the time .. and the latest fact is regarding brickwork! This mill is made of  Accrington red bricks,  in the English garden wall pattern - three rows of stretchers and one row of headers! And look what turned up in the box yesterday ..

Stamps from The Netherlands, Belgium and Poland .. 

.. well, it's a start!

Art collection in a cardboard box ..

One of my regular activities is searching through boxes of stamps ..  I have several in my studio and there may be hidden treasures within! My latest search is for stamps of a certain colour which I can transform into brick walls for a collage I will soon be working on! I'm also looking for people on stamps to make up crowds, and for trees .. the list goes on. However, as usual I get distracted and find interesting stamps  I wasn't really looking for!  Here's one such stamp!

This Polish stamp issued in 1989 features a painting by Stefan Nacht-Samborski who was  born in Krakow in1898 and died in Warsaw in 1974. You can read about his life and artistic career on
culture.pl/en/artist/stefan-artur-nacht-samborski

As the writer of the above biography says, it's not easy to define his work, but he's known as a Polish colourist. Subjects in his work include plants and still life paintings, and are simply decorative. I find them very appealing!

This is one of a set of art stamps and I may come across the others in my box as there seem to be a lot of Polish stamps in this one!