Flags of many nations - all made from stamps

We all love flags!  

  Here are a few which have been made up into canvas prints in a variety of sizes and have gone  as far away as Australia,New Zealand, USA,Canada and Japan, as well as closer to home!   Shown here are my LOVE version of the Union Jack,

Welsh flag, Stars and Stripes (USA),

Australian flag, Swiss flag and German flag, all made from the stamps of each country.

The largest I've had made was a Union Jack  100 x 60 cms but generally they are approximately 30 x 40 cms according to the format of the flag itself.They can also be produced as giclee prints. 

These are just a few of many I've made from stamps - others can be seen on www.rachelmarkwick.co.uk    and I'm always happy to discuss commissions for more unusual flags such as one made in the colours of the Ugandan flag, including Ugandan stamps but also other themes from countries and subjects associated with the recipient. Possibilities are endless .. just ask! 

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!

Latest Commission - a personalised flag of Uganda

I'm always happy to consider commissions, and the latest one was a pleasure to make! I was asked if I would  create a personalised flag of Uganda as a 70th birthday present.

 My first thought  was that it would be difficult to find enough stamps of the right colours, Black, yellow and red, from  Uganda itself, to make up the six bands on the flag.  For other stamp collage flags I've chosen only to use stamps of the country concerned.  However, I was told that this was not essential and I could use practically any stamps, but maybe keep to countries holding some significance in the life of the recipient, so that made it a bit easier!

I thoroughly enjoyed the search for elements connected with family, work and travel  in countries including Australia, New Zealand, the USA,  South Africa, Great Britain and the important connections still retained with Uganda. I was also  told he enjoys crosswords,is a fan of the Beatles, is a Capricorn, and was also born in the Chinese year of the pig! The national bird of Uganda, the crested crane,  appears in the central disc of the flag - that was probably the hardest thing to track down, but I found a stamp with one on which fitted the bill!

Now that the flag has been framed and presented at the birthday celebrations, I can also reveal a tiny secret addition, a fountain in Naples, the destination for a surprise holiday!

Other personalised commissions have included the flag of Barbados, made into a slightly larger canvas print, and a Union Jack also featuring many personally chosen themes. This was reproduced as a huge canvas print more than 1 metre wide, and sent to Australia!

If you'd like to commission a personalised flag, please get in touch!

Boring "labels" on your letters? .. Single use only?? Recycle them is what I do!!

It's quite difficult to find stamps that are predominently white so I've been hoarding these rather boring "labels" which the Post Office put on Special Delivery envelopes in anticipation that they might come in useful sometime ....

 "Single Use Only" is printed in the bottom right hand corner, but I've managed to recycle them effectively I hope,  into the sails of my latest boat.


Almost finished .. just a few  details  to add, including a crew and a flag to hoist!

S S Great Britain stamp collage complete with flags

Following a recent trip to Bristol docks where we explored I K Brunel's wonderful S S Great Britain I've finally completed my latest stamp collage.  It's been such fun!  For her hull I've used  QEII black definitive stamps, most of which show our present queen, but I have also included a few  of the 20p "double head Machins" issued in 1990 commemorating the 150th anniversary of British postage stamp. Queen Victoria was on the throne at the time of the launch of the S S Great Britain, and HRH Prince Albert was present at the launch. I It would have been nice to include a stamp bearing his image, but very few were issued and sadly none are in my possession! My post of  7th September showed the Smilers sheet issued in 2010 which included 20 1st class White Ensign stamps together with ships signal flags and having used up the stamps on my postcards, I've used the little flags to decorate the masts of the S S Great Britain, as she was decked out on her launch.
 Other flags have also been taken from stamps issued worldwide, and the "Great Britain" flag miraculously came to light in a bundle of old postal covers, just when I had given up the search!  Also note the date on the Bristol postmarks - lucky to have found these!

 I found a wonderful image in my guidebook which showed the launch from Bristol as painted by the artist Joseph Walter and have based my own collage loosely on this version.

The S S Great Britain was launched from Bristol docks on 19th July 1843 and I've managed to find Bristol postmarks for 19th July .. but for a different year.  This original stamp collage will be available to see at my forthcoming Open Studio in Stroud on Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd November, along with some other recently completed stamp collages.  Full details coming shortly!

I name this ship ..????

My latest stamp collage is now finished and the difficult task of naming her now faces me ..

She is a three masted clipper, like the Cutty Sark, shown here on a recent GB stamp:

In my picture I've used stamps from all over the world, but predominantly US stamps for the hull and French stamps for the sails.  The sheet of stamps with the White Ensign featured in a previous post together with the signal flags also came in handy.  The crew are international and there are some passengers too!

Another ship collage used the same French definitive stamps in shades brown and rusty red.  This stamp is known as La Semeuse, the Sower.  However, although the owner of the other ship suggested "La Semeuse Bleue", The Blue Sower, I have slight reservations as I feel that this one is definitely of English origin, built of course in Stroud!! So my final decision is The Blue Lady .. but of course, another owner would be free to rename her, as has been the tradition  for many famous ships over the years!

Self imposed deadlines ..

Managed to complete the German stamp collage flag in time for the world cup final on Sunday 13th July 2014 in which Germany will play Argentina.  I set myself a target for this one and it worked!!  But who will win?  These and many other flag stamp collages are available as prints, canvas prints, cards and some originals are also for sale ..  various sizes,   and you can also commission a flag if you don't see what is already there ..

The flag of Argentina in stamps was made a while ago:

Cotswold Essence (Summer edition) features my stamp collage work

I was delighted to be be invited to feature in Issue 39 of Cotswold Essence,  which came out at the end of May, for the June/July/August issue. It's a great free magazine which can be found in and around Gloucestershire and the Cotswolds. I've only recently become aware of this interesting and informative magazine through friends who recommended it and then just by chance Sue Smith, the editor, got in touch with me.
I've reproduced the article which appears on pages 66 and 67, and you can't find a hard copy of the magazine, you can  also read the magazine online  at www.cotswoldsessence.co.uk and click on the link for the latest issue with the pretty cover, by Gemma Dawks, a local photographer also featured in this month's issue.  So much to read in this lovely colourful magazine!

This is as tidy as it gets! Open Studios in Stroud this week-end and next. See Brochure.

Tomorrow is the first day of the first Open Studios week-end in Stroud and my studio will be open to the public.  The organisers of the event always say that people like to see us as we are and not to tidy up too much, but I don't think they realise just how untidy I can be, and it would be a job to get through the door some days.  So here it is ... pictures on the walls, cards on display and prints to browse through and the kettle and coffee at the ready! Since last year, I've made quite a lot of new work including more flags, famous buildings, ships and boats and gardens, all made from stamps. I've also made a quiz for children to do. As always, looking forward to meeting new visitors as well as old friends and answering questions about my love of making stamp collages!  Hope to see you if you're in Stroud either this week-end of next, and if not, and you'd like to come over, just get in touch! Details on my contacts link page.

Every picture tells a story

Spent yesterday morning hanging the exhibition of my work at Pegasus Art Shop, London Road, Thrupp, Gloucestershire, and it's looking good!  The exhibition runs until 20th November 2012,  9 - 5 Monday to Saturday.
Pegasus Art Shop is a great place to dispay work as they have plenty of wall space leading along to studios and the shop, so I've been able to create a pleasing show with areas of work in themes including ships, flags, gardens and Gaudi inspired pieces, as well as some individual subjects.

Until recently I've been reluctant to part with my original work, maybe for sentimental reasons, but I've recently  made the decision that it's time to offer what people want to buy and that is original stamp collages - and I can  always keep a print for myself! The quality of the printing is such that you can often hardly tell the difference, but with the stamp collages the texture of the stamps is also very appealing, and there's nothing quite like owning original art.  The majority of the pictures in the exhibition, Stamping Ground, are framed originals, but I've also included some canvas prints and a few framed prints too.

Every picture tells a story and there are so many stories within the stamp collages themselves too.
All the flags, for instance, are made up of the stamps of each individual country and within those stamps are the history, folklore, natural history and characters who make up that country.

Named ships of which there are some originals and some prints have their own histories and are made up of interesting details.  Hope to have a good audience for my work at Pegasus in the next few weeks! Please get in touch if you need more information on any of the work included.

The Colosseum, Original framed Stamp Collage by Rachel Markwick, features in the current exhibition at Pegasus Art Shop, Thrupp










markwickrachel@gmail.com

2012 London Olympics - National Flags in Stamps!

I was set a challenge last year and that was to create stamp collage flags of all the nations taking part in the 2012 London olympics. Of course, I should have started an awful lot earlier as here we are in March 2012 with just under 5 months to go and I've completed flags for about 25 countries. Rather a lot to do ...

It's been fun, but much more difficult for some flags than others, due to a number of factors.

Red, white and blue flags are relatively easy to make dependent on their design of course. Our lovely Union flag, or Union Jack as it is popularly known, is one of the more complex designs and very distinctive and we've issued plenty of stamps which are predominantly blue or red, as have France, and the Netherlands. Availability of stamps is a big factor - shown above are the flags of the Beijing Olympics highest Gold medal winners - third came Russia, but I've yet to make their flag due to a shortage of stamps!

The flags of 22 different nations currently appear on the Flags page of my website and I've recently completed flags of Spain and the Netherlands so will shortly add those. At the moment I'm working on the flag of Greece, which is blue and white. Greece was the country where the Olympics began and the challenge is to complete this one by the end of this month - and I can award myself a treat, if not a Gold Medal!