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.  

Renaming a ship .. "The Blue Lady" could be renamed " La Semeuse Bleue"

La Semeuse - Stamp Collage by Rachel Markwick 

A few years ago I made a stamp collage ship using the iconic French stamp called "La Semeuse" or in English, "The Sower".  I used them to make the sails and my original vessel duly sailed off to a new home in Bologna, Italy.  Limited edition Prints are also available! 

  Subsequently, with a dearth of Blue "La Semeuse" stamps in my stock, a new ship emerged and was named "The Blue Lady". 

The Blue Lady - Stamp Collage by Rachel Markwick 

 She also found a new home in West Virginia, USA.  I have prints available, a framed version of which is currently on show in the National Waterways Museum, in Gloucester Docks.  She still goes by the name of The Blue Lady, but new owners of ships often rename them, so who knows, perhaps she could become "La Semeuse Bleue".


See more ships on my website
www.rachelmarkwick.co.uk

Stories of sailing and the sea .. The Jolie Brise, a new stamp collage in progress

The Oxfam shop in Stroud has some great bargains! I picked up an interesting book last week called "Jolie Brise - A Tall Ship's tale" by Robin Bryer.
Briefly, she was launched in 1913 at Le Havre and was in her time a pilot boat, and carried the Royal Mail, rescued the crew of a burning ship and won the Fastnet race three times!

The very first chapter starts with a quote I love, "What people really like are stories about sailing and the sea!"  I have found this to be so true.  Over the years, I've made several stamp collages based on boats and ships of many types and although most of these have now sailed off to new homes, you can still see them on my website www.rachelmarkwick.co.uk  under the SHIPS heading!
I thought it was rather appropriate that Jolie Brise at one time carried the Royal Mail, as my version is of course made from stamps!

I hope to have the picture finished in time for the  Open Studios festival in May in which I will be taking part, opening my studio along with many others in the Stroud area on Saturday 6th - Sunday 7th and Saturday 13th - Sunday 14th  from 11 - 6 . Hope to see you!

New Ship to be launched soon (Stamp Collage)

A sneak preview of my latest ship - it's based on the clipper ships which sailed the seas in the 1800s.

I  recently bought a large collection of old stamps which included  many  old French stamps - known as La Semeuse (the sower). I used some of these stamps in shades of red and brown  in the sails of a previous ship and thought blue would be nice this time!

Trawler - The Marianne

There have been no blogs for a while due to problems with internet connections etc, but I've been busy making collages and this is one which has recently been completed.  It's a trawler and I've named her The Marianne, due to the use of the French stamps I've incorporated in her sails!  The collage has been mainly made of stamps, but there are also some envelope backs in the sea!