Latest landmark stamp collages

I sometimes spend hours searching for suitable stamps to complete a picture and add the final touch.
As all artists will agree it's sometimes hard to know quite where to stop .. but I just had to find a dove to finish off the Brandenburg Gate to my own satisfaction.  Having finally placed the eagle on top of my version of the Quadriga - the chariot pulled by four horses, I wanted also to include a dove as a symbol of peace now that the gate is no longer a dividing line, but a sign of the unification of East and West Germany.
It proved a long search and I found several contenders for the role, but finally settled on the South African stamp, which has a strong illustration of a white dove which stands out against the blue sky.

Brandenburg Gate, Berlin    Stamp Collage

And the camels arrived too .. in fact there were so many in the end that I was spoilt  for choice, and used several to give an idea of scale and distance, using some of the smaller ones nearer to the Pyramids, with some of the larger ones in the foreground. Luckily I managed to find most of them from my own stock of stamps, and promised myself that very soon I will have another sort out and filing session to make life a bit easier next time. I recently purchased a very strange assortment of stamps from Libya, and purely by chance they included a couple of nice camel stamps which I've used in my picture.     Both pictures are now being copied for limited edition prints and cards and the originals will shortly be framed for my forthcoming exhibition in March at Gloucester Guildhall Arts Centre.  Further information to follow!

Camel image cut from Libyan stamp 

Pyramids of Giza stamp collage

Postcrossing - I love it!

I've been a member of Postcrossing.com for just a few months but already I've made some great friends in all corners of the world.  We may never meet but it's really nice to exchange news and information and also swap postcards, stamps and .. er, beer labels! It's so lovely to receive interesting post and if you send postcards to others, you will receive cards back too and you can specify what you would prefer to receive.
Take a look at the website for further details.  It costs nothing to join, just the price of a stamp and the postcard of course, but if you are anything like me, you probably have some you've gathered on your travels and you can sometimes find something that someone else will really appreciate. Currently it's  88p to post a card to most parts of the world for a postcard - but do check first, and be sure to attach an air mail label or it may take some time to arrive!

I received this card from Berlin, which gave me the final push to create my own version of the Brandenberg gate (see previous post - work in progress).                I've been hard at work trying to finish my stamp collage, and trying to track down the horses to make my own version of the Quadriga on the top of the gate.  Also searching for suitable stamps to make up the visitors - still lots to do, and I still haven't found a suitable sized John F Kennedy stamp!

Images of horses on stamps - JS Bach and JF Kennedy - all with a connection to the Brandenburg gate

Crowd of visitors to the Brandenburg gate - not sure if Sir Rowland Hill ever visited!

Back to Postcrossing - since receiving the cards from Berlin, I've exchanged some cards with the sender, and have received many more from countries including Russia, Belarus, New Zealand, Lithuania, Ukraine, Singapore,  China, Taiwan, Austria, the Netherlands, Germany and the USA.  Some of the cards I've received have been beautifully hand crafted and I will post separately about this!

Happy New Year .. new work in progress: the Brandenburg Gate stamp collage

After a short break over the Christmas period, I have now spent three days, so far, on my latest stamp collage, the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. One of my FAQs (frequently asked questions) is "How long does it take you to do a picture?" and the answer is never the same! This is my fourth landmark subject and the first one, the Colosseum took about a month  although I wasn't working on it 24/7!
I've never visited Berlin, but recently have felt a great interest in doing so as I've received correspondence and German stamps from a couple of Berliners via Postcrossing, of which more in another post! Postcards showing the Brandenburg gate gave me added inspiration!
 Making one of these landmarks is quite complicated, from choosing the image to  finding all the suitable stamps to use and my filing system doesn't always work!  I'm using  German stamps for the main structure of the gate - pre and post unification as I felt that was the right thing to do. The wall was once a symbol of division between the two states but now it has become a symbol of peace.I'm still trying to work out how to do the Quadriga (bronze statue on the top). I've found a few possible horse candidates but others may be more suitable if I can find them .. this is the time consuming bit!
Like other well known tourist sites, there is always a huge crowd around  and many famous people including President Kennedy visited the Brandenburg Gate. Size also matters in this case too, as within reason the figures need to be in some sort of acceptable proportion! (artist's licence does come into play here up to a point though).    So, on with the job! Scissors and glue at the ready to deal with crowd control!