From humble beginnings as a potteries apprentice Arnold Machin rose to become an acclaimed sculptor creating the iconic bas-relief portrait of Her Majesty the Queen used on all Royal Mail definitive issue stamps.
Patricia Machin was born in 1921 and studied painting at Goldsmith's where her tutor was Leonard Applebee. Finding inspiration from the Old Masters and still-life, she was an established painter, illustrator, designer and author.
Architect, sculptor, businessman and painter, Francis Machin was a talented designer responsible for a range of conservatories and garden buildings still seen throughout the United Kingdom, United States and Europe.
Patricia Machin was born in 1921. After war-time service as a Captain in the ATS she studied painting at Goldsmith's finding inspiration from the Old Masters. Her tutor was Leonard Applebee, whose subject was Still-Life, and this became her main focus.
While living in a small flat in Earls Court she met Arnold, and they married in 1949. Patricia continued to paint throughout her life, inspired by the Staffordshire countryside where the family had made their home.
Her work developed into two distinct styles, very defined studies with mainly rural backgrounds, and highly imaginative 'enchanted gardens'. She also painted some Landscapes and occasionally portraiture.
Her main body of work consisted of oil on canvas paintings, but she also found commercial success with a range of illustrated books and reproductions of her work on trays and tea-caddies.
Patricia Machin loved flowers, and wherever she and Arnold lived, she grew them for her illustrations – lilies, oriental poppies, hyacinths, tulips and morning glories, and in particular roses, her favourite being centifolias like Juno and Fantin Latour. Other roses she frequently portrayed in her paintings were the gallicas Rosa Mundi and Jenny Duval, and the damask Madame Hardy.