Balloons on stamps and over the Stroud valleys.

One thing that visitors to Open Studios like is visiting artists' homes as well as looking at the wide variety of art on show.  Like many of us who live in Stroud, we have the advantage of living in a wonderful area of the country and my own studio, attached to our house,  benefits from a wonderful view.

Yesterday morning, in preparation for the last week-end of this year's Open Studios, I got up early, woken by bird song and another fairly familiar sound, that of an air balloon inflating nearby! Looking out of the window I saw a brightly coloured balloon drifting gracefully across the valley in front of our house,  and then another, and another, and another!

 I grabbed my camera, flung the windows wide open and settled in to a chair to enjoy the spectacle!

Over the period of about an hour I watched them drift by, seeing  twelve following each other at one time.

I won't promise visitors here that they will see the air balloons, as it's often early in the morning that they are launched, but the scenery will always be here to admire!

Can't help thinking this would make a wonderful subject for a stamp collage.  Air balloons have indeed appeared on many stamps over the years and form a subject for thematic collectors. The USA have also recently issued this colourful set.

Multi-tasking - in preparation for this week-end's and next week-end's Open Studios in Stroud

Exhibitions and Studio openings don't just happen - there's a lot of hard work and preparation involved and it's a time consuming but hopefully mostly enjoyable task, and if you are well organised in advance will be a rewarding experience!
Here's a list of all the jobs that have to be done to get ready:
Months in advance - decision making - making sure you will have time to get enough work to show, so getting busy and creating new artwork is a major part of it which can be ongoing right up until the opening day!  Making payments if you're involved in a joint event, such as Open Studios.
- Getting publicity via social media, press or handing out and delivering leaflets and brochures
- Having cards printed, and then putting them with envelopes and packaging them
- Getting prints of original work
_Having pictures framed, either with ready made frames which have to be chosen - involving trips to suppliers, or otherwise having them custom made - also involving trips to framers to choose mouldings etc.
- Sending out invitations by email and snail mail ..
- Hanging pictures and making card displays etc
- Making labels and deciding on prices for all your work
- Composing, typing and printing information which may be of interest to visitors
- Putting up signs
- Cleaning your house and studio ready to receive the public!
- And maybe even arranging flowers!!
- Baking cakes and making sure there will be a constant supply of tea, coffee, refreshments.
Putting up the signs so people can find the studio!

Have I forgotten anything?  Well, I hope I have remembered to do the washing so I've got something to wear!!

Jamaican Flag Stamp Collage

Finally finished my Jamaican stamp collage last night.  Love the bright colours black, yellow (or gold) and green and pleased to get six different stamps with Bob Marley in the black triangles - three on each side. Other stamps include the Jamaican bobsled team, cricketers,  Jamaican landmarks and personalities including Marcus Garvey. Native plants and butterflies also appear.

A Passage of Time - an exhibition by Millie Wood Swanepoel

I've said it before, but Stroud is such a great place to be if you are an artist or an art lover! We have the wonderful Site Festival and Open Studios to look forward to every May as well as regular art exhibitions in the Subscription rooms, Museum in the Park  and Lansdown art gallery.  Several local cafes and art shops also host exhibitions on their walls!
Currently showing  at Lansdown Art Gallery until 26th April is Millie Wood Swanepoel's, "Passage of Time".

It's an  exhibition of a wonderful collection of objects in a variety of media, including ceramics and found materials; an expression of her childhood in Zimbabwe.

If you don't manage to get there before it finishes, you can visit Millie's studio which is listed on Page 22 of the Open Studios Brochure (Venue 28). Unit G4 of The Old Convent, Stroud GL5 4BJ www.milliewoodswanepoel.com

Events coming soon ..Open Studios in Stroud and the Tetbury MayFair Art exhibition

The online brochure for the Stroud Site festival and Open Studios week-ends is now available on
www.sitefestival.org.uk.  You will see both brochures on the right hand side - follow the links to view all the events in the festival starting at the beginning of May and the studios of the 84 artists will be open for the two week-ends of 10-11 and 17-18 May .  Along with several others in Bisley Road, my studio (page 16 - venue no 13) will be open and all details are listed there.  As usual, the yellow and black signs will indicate where studios are to be found.
This year we were asked for square format photos for the brochure and I was lucky to be able to provide an image of one of my Patchwork quilt stamp collages, which happens to be perfectly square!

Lots of interesting work to see all over Stroud and surrounding villages. Brochures to carry around as you visit the studios are now available in many outlets in Stroud including Tourist Information office in the Sub Rooms.

Worth mentioning here that I will be taking part in the Tetbury MayFair Art exhibition  on the last week-end of May in the Dolphins Hall too! Saturday 24th - Monday 26th May.

Waiting for Bob Marley - to include in my stamp collage flag of Jamaica

Canvas prints of some of the national flag collages I've made were exhibited  at The Guildhall in March, bringing  enquiries about other countries' flags, including the flag of Jamaica.  I've started making this beautiful black, yellow and green flag to add to the portfolio. (There are others which are currently works in progress too!) I love to include iconic images in the flags and couldn't possibly leave out Bob Marley! However stamps commemorating this famous reggae star were sadly lacking from my stock books. But today, I'm pleased to say I received just what I've been looking for - a set of stamps issued in 1995, on the 50th anniversary  of his birth, showing portraits throughout his  musical career, so now I can add the final touches to this one!

Other stamps or details of stamps include the celebrated Jamaican bobsled team, the first Jamaicans to take part in a Winter Olympics event, which was in 1988 in Calgary. They subsequently qualified to take part in later Winter Olympics, and the film Cool Runnings told their inspiring story.
1968 cricket stamps commemorate the MCC tour of the West Indies. I remember having  these in my own childhood stamp album. The vibrant green of the pitch against the palm trees and blue sky are quite a striking memory, so I'm glad to see them again!
It's sometimes difficult to find stamps of a certain colour and yellow is always a challenge. So now I am trying to track down a few more to complete the yellow cross - luckily the smallest area to cover! Work in progress .. but still needing a few more stamps!

Boars of Belarus

My recent blogpost about the Boar connection with the Markwick family brought a lovely card from Belarus today! (From Maria, my  friend via Postcrossing! Thanks, Maria!).  She tells me that apparently there were 81,500 wild boars in Belarus a year ago, but now there are only 13,000 as they were said to have caused an epidemic of Swine flu in 2013 and hunters were issued cheap licences, resulting in the drastic reduction of the board population.

However, you can now see wild  boars in the Beloroczskaya puscha, which is an area of protected woodland near Brest, not far from the Polish border.

Closer to home, we've recently heard about the wild boars in the Forest of Dean, which have been causing devastation to gardens in various local villages. But there is a certain fondness for these creatures in spite of their activities.

The attractive stamps on the postcard are from the series, Zoos in Belarus: