Open Studios Stroud - my studio in Bisley Road open on both week-ends 6-7 and 13-14 MAY

With a working studio comes a lot of mess and general untidiness and I always feel I have to sort it all out in readiness to open to the public on the Open Studios week-ends! And this is about as good as it gets!  Those in charge always say "People like to see it how it is"! but they wouldn't get through the door if I left it exactly as it usually is!  I've been busy hanging framed original stamp collages, prints and  canvas prints. Full details of access to my studio appear in the Open Studios brochure www.sva.org.uk  on page 31  and mine  is listed as venue no 21. The Lawn, 132 Bisley road, Stroud, GL5 1HL .  Please park in the main part of Bisley road as we are on a narrow lane with no additional parking places. It's short, picturesque walk along and only takes a few minutes! Black and yellow signs point the way!

Haute couture on the Eiffel Tower

Haute Couture, or High fashion takes on a whole new meaning!   I'd been thinking about the Eiffel Tower as a possibility for a stamp collage, and having drawn it out, took some time to get started. Quite a daunting but indeed challenging project! The next stage was to search through the stamps to find suitable ones to make up the structure, but I hadn't really considered the complication of the iron-work and no French stamps I had seemed quite right.  Then I realised I would need to cut the stamps to resemble the metal structure of the Eiffel Tower. In my search  I found several of the 1953 - 55 National Industries and Literary Figures issue which includes a 30F illustrating the Haute Couture industry, showing a model with the Place Vendome in the background.  You may be able to spot her leaning over the tower platform! Her dress also makes up some of the ironwork.
Trees  in the form of the green definitive Marianne stamps from 1945 to more recent issues have been used to resemble the trees that line the avenue leading up to the Tower.
It's funny how things come together!

 
E