What's in the box?

No, this wasn't what was in the box!  

I collected a sealed box today from the agent  who acted on my behalf in obtaining a commission from Japan 5 years ago.  I was excited to see what was inside and found these lovely sample items which had been sent  at the time of the launch, by Afternoon Tea, who produced them,  using my artwork, for sale in their many stores throughout Japan !

 Look carefully and you will see my stamp collage designs on mugs, packaging and labelling on tea bags, bubble bath, body wash and  bath pearls!   I was so pleased to receive this prestigious commission and it's lovely to be able to keep these pretty items now !   And Emerald was just as excited to get in the empty box! 

Mobile Post office near the canal at Brimscombe on its weekly visit

I wasn’t expecting to come across this mobile post office after  a walk along the canal tow path,  but when we reached Brimscombe we found this one  parked near The Ship Inn  on its weekly visit. Since the closure of many village post offices this service has become a vital link for many people. On Thursdays, it starts at Kingscote, 9-10, Shipton Moyne 10.30-11.30,  Chalford 12.30-1.30, Brimscombe 1.45-3.15,  Whitminster 3.45-4.45. Avening, and Duntisbourne among many others.  The post van vists other areas on four days of the week. 
Wearing my face mask, as was the counter assistant, I boarded the van and bought a few stamps! 

Scribbling .. and connecting with Cy Twombly

I had fun recently, scribbling away, testing pens, felt tips, coloured pencils, some of dubious quality,  and sharpening pencils at record breaking speed with  my newly acquired battery  powered sharpener.

A couple of sheets of satisfying  scribble  resulted.

A friend had mentioned the American artist Cy Twombly, whose work is,  to be polite, beyond my understanding  and  I commented  that this may be how he made some of  his work.  But joking apart, I recalled reading that he had lived for periods of time in Italy in a small town called Bassano in Teverina, an hour or so away from Rome where we spent a holiday, 7 years ago, staying  in a very old house full of character.  I  tried at that time  to find out where it was that Cy Twombly  had been living, but I never knew found out exactly where, or indeed if he had ever lived there.  But now, with  time to look back at photos, sketch books etc, and doing  a bit of research with a view to appreciating  his work, as some obviously do,  I finally located a photo of the Palazzo which he had owned and renovated, and where he produced  a lot of his work, some of which I have found a little more interesting, and possibly even inspiring. The massive old building looked familiar, and we had indeed passed it on walks.

We'd been given use of  a swimming pool in a  large garden, which was  a  20 minute walk from the house where we were staying, descending the cobbled streets of the town and meandering along pine tree lined paths. I spent a couple of afternoons sketching and painting the scene from the poolside but I didn't know then  that I had unwittingly drawn the back view of Cy's house - with its three arched tower.  This  revelation is almost as exciting to me  as my newly discovered electric sharpener. 
I'm no closer in understanding his work but for some reason am now becoming more intrigued by it and I feel it may lead me to explore different ways of working,but hopefully something other than  just  scribbling!

Bassano in Teverina

Letters and cards in lockdown .. It's always great to receive letters!

I received a lovely letter today  from an elderly lady, a customer who bought a collage from me years ago, and has  also become a good friend.  Like me, she has been busy, writing letters, phoning friends,  gardening, reading  and she  lives with her family so is well looked after.

As she writes and receives so many letters, she often sends me stamps which I can use in my stamp collages and often buys  a selection of cards.  I hope I've  chosen well this time  :   5 large A5, 5  medium A6 and 5 square cards, all with envelopes in a variety of designs.  There are many more on my website www.rachelmarkwick.co.uk  including ships, flags, flowers, landmarks and some more abstract designs.  I'm offering these at 5 for £10 to include postage within UK.  Please get in touch by e mail :
markwickfamily@aol.com or facebook messenger  if you'd like some too!

What's the story, Morning Glory?

I love Morning Glory, a beautiful deep blue climbing plant, which I remember seeing growing everywhere when we were in Turkey more than 20 years ago ..and had to get the photos out ...

I've tried growing it myself but without any success, but having given my green-fingered friend Beth some seeds, she has managed year after year to produce some wonderful blooms!  And last year she gathered some of the seeds and gave me a packet which I've planted and also some seedlings she has grown, which look decidedly healthier than mine. I'm eagerly awaiting a brilliant show of colour in a couple of months time!

But if not, I'll have to make do with some Morning Glories on a couple of Japanese stamps I came across today .. they're going in my 2021 diary.See previous post of 30th March on how I made a 2021 dairy to put in all those dates cancelled from 2020.  You can find it on my  website, 

www.rachelmarkwick.co.uk  - blog.   You may like to make one too.    I'll be putting one of these stamps on one of next year's pages - and hoping to do that when the first flower appears.

Stamp Rainbows and rainbows on stamps

Children everywhere have been making rainbows tohelp cheer us up during this dreadful time of Coronavirus pandemic and I was inspired to make one too, using stamps.

 Yellow stamps, as always were the most difficult to find, but I eventually found just enough  from GB, France, USA and Japan to complete the yellow band of the rainbow. On a second rainbow I cheated slightly and used gold 1st class stamps!  This was an absorbing activity for a few  hours and while making my collage, I was contemplating the sad reality of how many lives have now been lost in so many of  countries where my stamps have come from.  The iconic US stamp featuring the Statue of Liberty, a proud symbol of New York, is a poignant reminder of how tragically large cities are the worst affected by the virus.  

Teddy Bear on a stamp - Keep Smiling!

We all love Teddy bears, or Teddies for short!  Originally named after the American President Theodore Roosevelt, who on a bear hunting expedition in 1902, refused to kill a bear which had been captured. He said the huntsmen's behaviour was "unsportsmanlike".  When the story became known, an enterprising toy maker produced toy bears, and asked permission to call them "Teddy Bears".
Unsurprisingly, teddy bears also feature on postage stamps of many countries, and the delightful one shown hear is part of a set of Greetings stamps,  issued here in  2000.
Known Smilers, they all feature smiling characters, such as the Mona Lisa, Laughing Policeman, and Cheshire cat, but this is my favourite and will be going in my 2021 diary to brighten up the week.

Cuckoo .. the best ever!

Eagerly waiting to see if this year will bring the Cuckoo back to nearby woodlands. It's years since I heard one loud and clear.  In fact, I have to say that it was back in 2006 when we were in France celebrating my late mum's 80th birthday and we heard what was from then on, always known as "the best ever cuckoo". 
With the Coronavirus Pandemic, less human activity outside, less traffic and pollution, some species of wildlife are more evident in our countryside and also in towns.  We've had a deer regularly visiting our garden, wild goats have been seen roaming the streets in Wales, our cat has brought in a newt and a slowworm, which happily I managed to rescue and re-release, so hopefully the Cuckoo may soon reappear.

I looked to see if I had any cuckoos on stamps, and surprisingly there aren't so many .. other birds are common to find, such as Robins, other garden birds, birds of prey and game birds, but I did track down these two issued in Czechoslovakia in 1972.  One of these will be going into my home made diary sometime in April, hopefully in a week or so ...

Make your own 2021 diary .. and look forward to filling it next year!

Pick a note book, any notebook ... who hasn't got a spare one lying around ??

I chose the one in the centre with recycled hammock fabric!

My 2020 diary is looking very sorry for itself, with cancelled appointments no work, , family events  including a wedding no longer happening and generally a mess of crossings out , but some things are already being rescheduled  for 2021, including the wedding (Yay!!) and I found myself without a diary. Reluctant  to buy online  to save money and delivery problems, I decided it would be easy to make one myself! I wanted to make the diary pages more interesting and looked through my stamps for inspiration!

For each week, I'm choosing a stamp to head up the page and discovering more interesting stories or reviving memories through them. I felt the USA stamp issued in 1961, showing a "Nurse lighting the candle of dedication" issued in honour of Nurses was an appropriate choice in the current Coronavirus pandemic.  I wonder if countries around the world will eventually issue stamps such as this to honour so many people working to help us all.

My notebook is 21 x 16 cms and I've ruled lines across 2 pages for each week.  USA stamp issued in 1961 to honour nurses

 Making a diary could become a yearly event as there are so many stamps to choose from!  Like my collages, stamps have stories to tell  and I hope you will enjoy  reading some of them!  Why not make your own 2021 diary, choosing your own "weekly picture" to add? It could be a small photograph, a fabric swatch, magazine cutting, a drawing, inspirational quote or your own stamps... endless possibilities.   All you need is a notebook with enough pages for 52 weeks and any additional information you may want to include, some glue, a pen/pencil and a ruler.  You could even cover the notebook  if  it's a plain one.  I've used more of my recycled hammock fabric  which has already made several tote bags, and a pair of shorts!!

What are you reading? Among other things, I've been reading about stamps.

Now is a time for catching up on some reading!

This interesting little book was given to me by a friend who visited the British Library earlier this year, and I've only just got round to reading it! I was unaware that The British Library  has many important stamp collections including the entire collection  donated by Industrialist and MP Thomas Tapling (1855-91) .
Stamps have been issued to raise revenue, support disaster funds,  commemorate historic events and people, and are a great way of learning interesting facts about the world.  Included in this little book are some very old and rare examples of stamps, many of which have printing and colour errors making them extremely valuable.

Some of the stamps in this collection are the only ones in existence, but that didn't stop me looking through an old stamp album to see if I had any items which might be rare or valuable. 
No such luck - these Swan stamps issued in Western Australia are worth just a few pence, but I enjoyed perusing my own stock of beautifully designed little artworks and appreciating  the details even more.

If you have a stamp collection of your own, or have perhaps inherited one, now could be the time to  look closely at your stamps and you may  find great treasures too!

R M S Mauretania with Coquet island, Northumberland

RMS Mauretania  - Stamp Collage - by Rachel Markwick 

More time at home, due to the Coronovirus  situation requiring us to Stay Home,  means more time to complete a project which has been a long time in the making, or I should say, mullng over .Previous posts have mentioned  R M S  Mauretania, the beautiful Cunard liner, and the Puffins of Coquet island, as well as a trip to Bristol where I managed to talk my way into the now disused Mauretania pub which contains some of the fixtures and fittings of the ship. The last thing to do was to add the masts and rigging sewn into the paper. I've really enjoyed the research,  reading about the ship's various transformations over the years, in both wartime and peacetime, and have used some artist's licence with the paint colours which were the original ones when she was first launched, and of course the scale of the Puffins!

Detail : Coquet Island off the coast of Amble, Northumberland 

Hope you like it! .





I will have prints available in the near future when life gets back to normal.  Please let me know if you are interested.

Puffins on Coquet Island, on stamps and at Middlesbrough's Dorman Museum .. and in a new collage

My first sight of live puffins was  on a boat trip to Coquet Island in Northumberland from Amble. last July 

Up to 22,000 pairs  were currently on the island, although by the end of July each year they migrate to other climes.  Coquet Island is protected by the RSPB  to ensure that the puffins are relatively undisturbed and able to survive and breed, so our boat, operated by Dave Gray and family was able to get within viewing distance of the numbered nest boxes but not authorised to land.  We also saw Common Terns and the rarer Roseate Terns, of which there are more than 100 pairs on the island.. Expert eyes were able to pick out the latter.  Puffins have featured on postage stamps, including a set of British birds appropriately commemorating the centenary of the RSPB in 1989 and a Post and Go series of bird stamps from Lino Prints by artist Robert Gilmor  also included a puffin.  I'm now working on a new collage, the ship R.M.S.  Mauretania which sailed by the town on Amble, and Coquet island on her last journey and Puffins will feature!  Hoping that with more time at home, this collage will soon be finished! 

As usually happens when one becomes interested in a particular subject, we  also came across a whole room of taxidermy in the Dorman Museum in Middlesbrough, where I was born.

Inspiration .. Mauretania - and the Storms of life ... work in progress

The Mauretania - work in progress

The inspiration for my latest stamp collage came when we visited Amble in Northumberland last year on Mauretania day!











 Every year in July  the people of "the friendliest port" remember  this beautiful ship when she sailed  by the town on her last voyage before being broken up. (see poster on right ).

While there I attended Cafe Church where I was welcomed in with tea and cake and some lovely chat with locals and other holiday makers.
The informal service was held under a gazebo and we  shared stories on a travel theme, and sang this hymn, "Will your anchor hold in the storms of Life?"   I hadn't heard it before, but now it seems a very good message!
 

One hundred and eighty! Dart Board .. in stamps!

Hoping to still be able to go ahead with an exhibition at the Stirrup Cup, Bisley during April and May  where this will be hanging along with other stamp collage pictures.  Will confirm details as soon as possible!