Artist's work features on 10 rose-themed stamps

A botanical artist's work has been featured on a set of 10 stamps celebrating the beauty of roses.

Marie Burke, from Glastonbury, was asked to paint the roses, including the Constance Spry, the first English Rose bred by David CH Austin in 1961.

Burke designed the stamps over the past eight months by going into Somerset gardens and taking inspiration from the flowers there, including Bishop's Palace in Wells and Durham Park near Bath.

"I go out and about all the time, looking for inspiration from local gardens. People's gardens and the growing they do, just wandering around locally, you come across amazing flowers. It's really varied," Burke said.

She has said it "feels pretty cool" to be featured on a stamp collection.

"I never decided to paint flowers, I actually started out doing forge steel metal work, and I still took my inspiration from the natural world but it was abstract," Burke said.

"It wasn't until I had two children, working in a forge was really difficult. I started painting at my kitchen table," she added.

"I never thought I would watercolour but I loved it. That was about 15 years ago and I never looked back."

Burke now teaches botanical watercolour at online workshops.

David Gold, director at Royal Mail, said: "Roses are a familiar part of many British gardens, as well as holding a special place in British culture and heritage.

"These beautiful stamps bring together art and horticulture through original illustrations of 10 distinctive roses, each carefully interpreted to capture its unique character."

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