Partly inspired by a visit to the massive, ancient castle in Carcassone near Toulouse, France, my Chateau-inspired stamps combine three of my favorite visual themes; theatricality, history, and elegance.
My illustrations were sparked by a make-believe chateau, complete with rounded turrets, a reflecting moat, mullioned windows, gothic doorways, and intricate ironwork. One of my designs is a hand-lettered sentiment: “all ART is, I suppose, a kind of Exploring”; and as I time-traveled throughout the passageways and winding staircases of the Chateau, I uncovered plenty of inspiration.
I thought of all the lavish bygone surfaces contained in a rare old structure... including hand-forged escutcheons, locks and keys... as well as vintage leather-edged ledger books full of inscriptions recording the details of the fine home... and polished armoires filled with refined textiles and linens, elaborate clothing, hats and tasseled trims.
The lady of such a grand castle was known as a “chatelaine”, and she kept all of her household necessities right at hand, dangling from a beautiful belt also known as a chatelaine.
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Chatelaine Victoria and Albert exhibit September 2020 |
These elegant accessories typically included endless locks and keys, silver-mesh bags, finely-crafted sewing implements, time pieces, and more. One can imagine m’lady traversing the corridors of the chateau, attending to all the household details with every implement at her fingertips.
This imagined scenario inspired several of my new stamps, with characters embellished with intricate accessories and jeweled adornments.
I envisioned the Lady of the House at her paneled writing desk, attending to the household ledger books, correspondence, and social invitations all replete with steel-engraved lettering, flourishing handwriting, and official stampings and seals.
I love including elements of old typography and hand-writing in my stamps, and like to invent labels, imprints, and faux ephemera; remnants from a neglected desk blotter, or a forgotten secret drawer.
Every collection should have a wild card, and I have always been fascinated by French automatons. My image of a found-object angel evokes the look of an intricate mechanical figure made of pen points, silver ware, dials, and a dangling hourglass.
I raided a set of old French encyclopedias, and borrowed snippets of typography and numerals. And a bird’s eye diagram of an old Chateau, on brittle aged paper, sat on my drawing table throughout the design process, providing endless inspiration. PaperArtsy’s manufacturing process always captures every subtle detail of my designs, reflecting the intricacy of vintage documents and archival source materials.
Doing research on my chosen themes always enriches my ideas and expands every topic. One idea leads to another and deepens the design process.
I wanted my new stamps to reflect the regal beauty of ancient castles, their contents, as well as the mythic inhabitants – and I wanted current day artists to welcome a chance to “Explore the Chateau”!
Perhaps these designs will inspire you to find your inner Chatelaine.
Best, Lynne