The Creative Network Set & Sheet Set

This is the ideal opportunity to own a set of ten distinctive stamps that embody rich Manx art and culture. Designed by committee member of The Creative Network, Carola Rush and assembled from ten different artworks, this collection of ten stamps marks the tenth anniversary of the collective. 

The Stamps

This selection of ten stamps showcases a wide cross-section of creative endeavours and styles: ceramics, glass-making, embroidery, wood-turning, digital illustration, photography, textile art, dress-making, drawing and painting for the first time in a single set.

Stamp 1 – 73p value – Sugarloaf Rock (Oil on canvas) – Graham Rider

This accomplished and dynamic large scale painting features a well-known landmark in the south of the Island. Unusually pictured from the sea it is a dramatic sight and refuge to hundreds of seabirds and numerous species.

Stamp 2 – 73p value – Three Boxes (Turned wood vessels) – Graham Hall

Graham makes objects from local timbers, each is unique and highlights the joys of the colour and texture of the wood. These bowls are keepsake boxes made from burrs with the natural edge retained, with finely finished wood to display the intricate patterns. The lids are ebonised oak and made to be in deliberately stark contrast to the complex colours and textures of the bowls/boxes.

Stamp 3 – 73p value – Child’s Hand Sewn Dress (Tissue and pressed flowers) – Myra Gilbert

Hand-sewn gampi silk tissue with pressed wild flowers by Myra Gilbert. Myra’s background and practice is in the three dimensional discipline of fashion design. She has always been drawn to the textures and patterns in the natural world around her.

Stamp 4 – 73p value – Wren (Illustration on music score) – Dawn Kennaugh

Dawn loves to use old paper as it gives beautiful muted tones when painted on with acrylic paint. She also relishes the challenge of re-purposing old things. When painting her illustrations of birds on old music scores, she loves to create an interaction of the new bird with the old musical notes. Hunt the Wren is an ancient Manx custom still performed each Boxing Day where this song is sung.

Stamp 5 – 73p value – Gateway at Ballagyr (Oil on canvas) – Sarah Devereau

Sarah has evolved a fascination with traditional Manx gateways to old farmsteads across the Island. Sadly these gateways with their white stone posts are decreasing in number rapidly. Having seen Sarah’s interest in gateways, a friend told her of a pair of gateposts to a farm on the coast road from Peel to Kirk Michael. Sarah drew them several times, getting attached to their almost sculptural appearance. They were not in good repair, but recently driving past, Sarah was sad to see them gone, demolished, and no sign of them or their gates anymore.

Stamp 6 – £1.04 value – Black Rhino (Ceramic stoneware) – Erica Kermode

Erica Kermode is a ceramic artist, who is inspired by wildlife and the natural world. She creates animal and bird sculptures in stoneware clay, based at her studio in the wilds of the Isle of Man. This Black Rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis), is one of a series of pieces of work showing critically endangered species.

Stamp 7 – £1.04 value – The Gift (Digital illustration) – Bruno Cavellec

The artwork and the title were inspired by a letter Bruno’s mother wrote to him, which he found after her passing. The image illustrates the saying: "You mean the world to me”.

Bruno began to explore digital art several years ago with the intention of creating a wider range of illustrations for music and films. The process allows him to play with multiple layers of colours, designs and textures in order to achieve the desired effect. Behind every images lies a story.

Stamp 8 – £1.38 value – Sea Kale (Free-machine embroidery) – Maureen Kennaugh

Maureen came across this Sea Kale on Castletown shoreline in the south of the Island. She photographed and sketched the beautiful plant and then interpreted what she had captured using free-machine embroidery with some hand stitching on a felt background. Maureen looks upon her work as painting with needle, stitch and thread rather than paint.

Stamp 9 – £1.38 value – Leaf (Kiln-formed glass) – Debra Tracey Carney

Debra is a member of the Contemporary Glass Society. Creating kiln formed glass, she is constantly captivated at how transformative and versatile glass as a medium is. This piece was created entirely from powdered glass and spent approximately fifty hours in the kiln, over 3 firings.

Stamp 10 – £1.38 value – Bridge Street, Peel (Photograph) – Eric Glithero

This image reflects a painterly approach to Eric’s surroundings in Peel. He explores the colours and textures of the three dimensional architectural forms to express his fascination with forms as we perceive them within local spaces. Moving from abstract painting to photography has enabled him to reflect this aspect of the rugged, jumbled charms of Peel.