to the lonely sea and the sky - The Dispatch

Finally completed my stamp collage of the Dispatch, a two masted schooner which has ended her days on the banks of the River Severn, at Purton Ships' Graveyard. Built in Scotland in 1888, this beautiful old ship had a long history of voyages as far as Newfoundland for cod fishing, before being beached in 1961. Not much remains now as the ship has been burnt, vandalised and pilfered over the years but is now protected by the association formed to conserve the remains of the ships at Purton.

This framed picture will be exhibited at The Old Passage Inn at Arlingham in May 2012 as part of the Walking the Land Exhibition. Prints and cards will also be available from my studio which is detailed in the Site 12 Open Studios brochure Route 04 and will also shortly be on line.

" to the lonely sea and the sky" seemed an appropriate title for this tall ship, the quotation taken from John Masefield's poem, Sea Fever.

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,

and all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by".

Tea with the Queen?

This Diamond Jubilee Union Flag canvas print looks at home next to a typically English blue and white china tea service! Tea anyone?

Canvas print flags 40 x 30 Cms available at £70 each - a great Diamond Jubilee souvenir with a difference. It features stamps issued during the Queen's reign and has that touch of nostalgia too! email: markwickrachel@gmail.com

The Dispatch - Purton Ships' Graveyard

Sketch

Name Plate

My first visit to Purton was over three years ago when I went there with my daughter, currently in her final year of a Photography Degree. She had been told about the Purton Hulks and thought it would be an interesting place to go and take some photographs. We've returned there together and separately several times since then and I've also taken photos and made sketches of some of the remains of the ships and boats that are on the banks of the Severn.

The Dispatch fired my imagination, and having made a sketch recently I then managed to follow this up with some research on how this ship originally looked.

I'm currently working on a stamp collage of the Dispatch in full sail and will post this shortly. In the meantime more details about this magnificent Schooner built in 1888 can be found on the website http://www.friendsofpurton.org.uk/ which also has information about the other vessels in the Ships' graveyard.

Greece and the Greek Flag

I achieved my goal of completing my Greek flag by the end of March. Olympic gold?

The 2004 Olympics took place in Greece, home of the very first ever Olympic games event in Olympia in 776 BC, and my latest stamp collage flag includes some stamps showing Olympic events, such as basketball, high jump and hurdles. The rich culture of Greece is also shown on stamps depicting Greek myths and legends. Sculpture, architecture and the beautiful landscape of the country also feature. Aphrodite, Narcisus and of course, Hermes, otherwise known as Mercury, the messenger of the Gods. Hermes is depicted on the 1 drachma blue stamps and Hermes is the symbol of the Greek Post Office. The very first stamp issued by Greece was a Hermes head.

The shade of blue used in the Greek flag has apparently changed over the years according to the political regime of the country and my own take on the flag, contains stamps which include many shades of blue. The five blue and four white stripes represent the sea and sky and the justness of the Greek cause recalling the historic battle for independence from the Turks during the time of the Ottoman empire. The white cross represents Christianity. As with all the other flags it can be ordered as a canvas print, or greetings card in various sizes, priced accordingly.

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!

So excited to receive a letter from Buckingham Palace!

I sent the Queen one of my greetings cards, a special Diamond Jubilee version of the Union Flag all made of stamps - all British and of course every one of them has her on it!









As you can see from the letter, she liked it!

Rainbow Trust and Stamp Collages

20% of sale price of these pictures on show in Waterstones / Costa in Cheltenham will be donated to Rainbow Trust helping families of children suffering from Leukemia.

These three prints are beautifully framed in gold coloured wood frames with the verse for each ship printed within the mount.

All depict the ships of John Masefield's poem, Cargoes : The Quinquireme of Nineveh (above).


The Stately Spanish Galleon
(centre right)








Dirty British Coaster
(left)












Canvas prints of three of my flag collages including the latest Diamond Jubilee Union Jack Stamp collage are also in the exhibition and for sale.


Call in to Waterstones, and enjoy the exhibition along with your coffee!

Exhibition on until early/ mid April or contact me for more details.