I'm not Carping ... but it would be good to see the Guildhall, Gloucester packed like a tin of Sardines!

Carping is an ancient expression meaning to complain about something .. and I'm not!  In fact, I'm very happy to say that you can see my Carp, looking quite beautiful in a silvery frame in the exhibition, Stamping Ground 2, at Gloucester Guildhall, Eastgate Street, until 30th October. (Next to TSB in case you miss the tiny entrance to this tardis like building). The print on show is a limited edition, and has proved very popular. My husband Geoff says it's his personal favourite!  Take a look for yourself!  Alongside the Carp, in an identical frame, is a can of sardines, inspired by a trip to a Portuguese post office.

People regularly ask where I get my inspiration so the blog posts are an ideal way to tell the stories.  See my blog posts of  10th and 15th January  for the story of the Sardines, with several pictures. You can access the posts by going to my website www.rachelmarkwick.co.uk and click on the blog at the left hand side. You can sign up to receive the blogs if you'd like to!

Packed like Sardines - Launch party of "Fish & Ships" at The Amberley Inn

A large crowd  of visitors enjoyed the launch party last week  at The Amberley Inn of Diane Young's acrylic paintings and my own stamp collages in our exhibition entitled, "Fish & Ships".

Sardines - Stamp Collage by Rachel Markwick

Sedna - Acrylic  by Diane Young

 As well as Fish collages and paintings by both artists, and collages by Rachel, featiuring many types of ships,   on show in the main dining room, there are also animal and bird paintings by Diane,  and a heart, a Union Jack and Stonehenge landscape stamp collage  by Rachel displayed in other downstairs public areas of the hotel.

The Amberley Inn, Culver Hill, Amberley, GL5 5AF (01453 872565) is located in stunning surroundings between Stroud and Nailsworth near Minchinhampton common and is a great place to stay, dine, and explore the wonderful local countryside. You are welcome to call in any time and the exhibition runs until 30th October 2017. If travelling from a distance, it would be advisable to check times just in case there is another event in the dining room.

Sardines .. Hungry? (and Hungary!)

Committing ideas to a blog post is a good way of keeping myself on track with a project. I've finally completed my stamp collage tin of sardines, using a variety of "ingredients" in the form of stamps from the Netherlands, Great Britain, Canada, Australia .. and Hungary .. and a little help from the inside of a box of chocolates and a foil coffee bag!  The background is old pages from a Stanley Gibbons stamp catalogue.  

Starting a new stamp collage.. and looking for ingredients to make sardines ..

Work is in progress now on some new stamp collages.  My current obsession seems to be with Sardines,  so I've made a rough sketch  of a can of sardines and will be basing my collage on this.

The background is already prepared using some pages from a very old small Stanley Gibbons catalogue,  which have a pleasing aged appearance. I made a similar design with the subject being a Carp and people commented that it looked like newspaper for fish and chips .. I try to keep some link to the stamps and associated paraphernalia so used the catalogue instead of newspaper ..but I'm currently hunting for the ingredients for my collage and the 80c Netherlands stamp is what I need to complete the sardines ..it looks a bit like fish scales ..  I know I have a quantity of these somewhere .. but it's like looking for a needle in a haystack!

Packed like sardines .. from the Post Office??

I went in  the Post Office on Camoes square in Lisbon, Portugal, to buy a few stamps for my postcards. The lady behind the counter asked me if I would like to buy a can of sardines instead and get the same amount of stamps included in the price.At least that's what I thought she said!   It sounded like a good deal so I purchased the little can only to find that it actually contained six stamps but not sardines after all! I really need to learn Portuguese next time I go!!

 These stamps were issued in November 2016, celebrating the  Fish canning industry in Portugal and they show the different processes as well as the various types of fish, including Sardines, Eel and Tuna, which you can find attractively packaged in colourful cans in food stores and souvenir shops everywhere in Lisbon!I spotted this display shown below on the left, and another shop in the city centre has been selling canned eel exclusively since 1942.  I was offered a sample to taste, which I did, somewhat reluctantly, but have to say that it was quite delicious!

I used just one of my stamps from the Limited edition stamp can (above)   .. and now I wish I hadn't as the intact tin will surely be a future collector's item! But it's certainly a talking point!  And I came back from my holiday with several brightly coloured tins of real sardines as well!!

I've since made a colourful collage  incorporating the lid of the opened can as well as the lid from a real can of Sardines, alongside other bits and pieces collected while in Lisbon.

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