Art Sunday. Art: On Australian Stamps.

Designs in connection with postage stamps and coinage may be described, I think, as the silent ambassadors on national taste.

This weekend in all but one state of Australia, that being Western Australia and they celebrate later in the year, we are celebrating the Queen"s official birthday on June the 9th. Making this a long weekend here.

Actual Birthday

The Queen of Australia was born on 21 April 1926 at 2.40 AM to the Duke (later King George VI) and the Duchess of York at 17 Bruton Street, London - the home of the Duchess of York's parents. She was given the names Elizabeth Alexandra Mary, after the Duchess of York (Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother now deceased) and two Queens. 

Recipients of the Order of Australia are announced twice a year; the first list on Australia Day(26 January) and the second list on the Queen's Official Birthday. The Queen of Australia is also the Sovereign of the Order of Australia.

 Now this is where the Art part of the story begins.

 Queen's Birthday Stamp

Each year, Australia Post issues a stamp commemorating the Queen of Australia's birthday. The issue date for 2008 is unknown at this stage. Further details about the Queen of Australia's birthday stamp may be obtained from Australia Post.

Queen's Birthday 2008

Stamps (one x 50c, one x $2.00)

 

Stats for these stamps.

Issue date: 18 April 2008

FDI withdrawal date: 16 May 2008

Denominations: One x 50c, one x $2.00

Designer: Daniel Wenn

Printer: SEP Print

Paper (gummed): Tullis Russell

Printing process: Lithography

Stamp size: 26mm x 37.5mm

Minisheet size: 106mm x 70mm

Sheetlet size: 156mm x 101mm

Perforations: 14.6 x 13.86

Sheet layout: Sheetlet of 10

Windsor NSW 2756

 

I used to collect stamps back in the 90s and am always thrilled at the sight of the art work involved on our Australian stamps.

The variety and the quality are second to none and I will attempt to share a few with you here now and you too can tell me what you think? 

The Artwork on Australian Stamps.

Up, Up and Away

Stamps

The Up, Up and Away stamp issue celebrates the 150th anniversary of the first successful hot air balloon flight in Australia. The honour of being the first to fly a hot air balloon in Australia belongs to William Dean who successfully flew 13 kilometres across Melbourne on 1 February 1858. Dean followed up his triumph by flying across Sydney Harbour in December of the same year. Stamps designed by Beth McKinlay

 

Cocos (Keeling) Islands - Visiting Birds

Stamps (two x 50c, one x $1.00, one x $1.45)

This stamp issue, beautifully illustrated by Christopher Pope, features four of the visiting birds to the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. Of the approximate 60 species of birds recorded, 25 have been seen on North Keeling Island (Pulu Keeling National Park) in recent times. The bird population of Cocos (Keeling) Islands can be classified as endemic; birds that breed on the island; migratory non-breeding visitors; and vagrants; irregular visiting birds that periodically “drop in” on their migratory route. Featured on the stamps are: Black-winged Stilt Chinese Pond Heron White-breasted Waterhen Saunders’ Tern

Gorgeous Australia

Stamps (one each $1.35, $2.00, $2.70, $4.00)

This international issue showcases four spectacular gorges occurring in different landscapes types in Australian The gorges featured on the stamps are: Grose River Gorge, NSW - $1.35 Wa lpa Gorge, NT - $2.00 Katherine Gorge, NT - $2.70 Geikie Gorge, WA - $4.00 Australian Legends of Philanthropy Stamps (4 x 50c) The 2008 Australian Legends are philanthropists Dame Elisabeth Murdoch AC DBE; Victor Smorgon AC and Loti Smorgon AO; Lady (Mary) Fairfax AC OBE and Frank Lowy AC. Dame Elisabeth Murdoch AC DBE (b.1909) Born Elisabeth Greene, she married Keith (later Sir Keith) Murdoch in 1928. As Mrs. Murdoch and later Lady Murdoch, Elisabeth became involved with numerous community organisations including the Royal Children's Hospital. She was a member of the Hospital's management committee from 1933, serving as its president from 1954 to 1965. In 1963, over ten years after the death of her beloved husband, Elisabeth Murdoch was awarded the Order of the British Empire - Dames Commander. Dame Elisabeth Murdoch is Patron of the Murdoch Children's Research Institute and a life governor of the Royal Women's Hospital. She supports 110 charitable organisations annually. Victor Smorgon AC (b. 1913, Ukraine) and Loti Smorgon AO Victor Smorgon, industrialist and philanthropist, is the former chairman of Smorgon Consolidated Industries. Smorgon emigrated to Australia from Ukraine in 1927. His father ran a kosher butchery with his two brothers in Lygon St, Carlton. Over the ensuing decades the family built a vast family business empire encompassing steel, meat, paper, plastics, forestry and commercial property. The Smorgons' enormous contributions to a wide range of medical and arts institutions in Australia include the Smorgon outpatients' wing at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital; The Smorgon Family Building at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne; and the Smorgon Family Plaza at the Victorian Arts Centre. Loti Smorgon is one of Australia's leading art patrons. Her contribution to Australian art galleries is recognised in the Loti Smorgon Fund at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne; the Loti and Victor Smorgon Gift of Contemporary Australian Art, at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney; and the Loti and Victor Smorgon Gallery at the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra. Lady (Mary) Fairfax AC OBE (b. Poland 1922) Lady Fairfax was born Marie Wein in Warsaw, Poland, immigrating to Australia with her parents in the late 1920s. She became a businesswoman, the owner of several dress shops in Sydney. Her first marriage was to family law solicitor Cedric Symonds, her second to Sir Warwick Fairfax in 1959. Lady Fairfax was awarded in AC in 2005 for her services to the community through her work in a wide range of social and economic activities including medical research, health care, nurturing artistic talent in young performers and preservation of diverse cultural heritage. On receiving the award Lady Fairfax said "I believe that those of us who have been blessed with good fortune should try to assist others in our community". Frank Lowy AC (b. Czechoslovakia 1930) Frank Lowy is Executive Chairman and co-founder of Westfield, the world’s largest shopping centre owner. He is the founder and Chairman of the Lowy Institute for International Policy and chairman of Football Federation Australia Limited. He is chairman of the Westfield Group Nomination Committee. A noted philanthropist in a country not used to that tradition, Lowy's enduring legacy may be the establishment of the Lowy Institute, the independent Sydney think tank to which he has generously contributed $30m. Lowy has recently donated $10m to the building of the Lowy Cancer Research Centre at the University of NSW. This is the largest donation in the history of the university. Lowy has received an honorary doctorate from the University of NSW and was recently named by the Bulletin magazine as the most influential figure in Australian business Australian Wildflowers Stamps (four x 50c) There are some 18,000 species of flowering plants native to Australia, grouped in about 200 families. Like the continent distinct fauna, the flora has evolved in isolation for 50 million years, and many plants and flowers are not found anywhere else on earth. This is the third issue in the Australian Wildflowers series Australian Native Wildlife Stamps one x 5c, one x 25c, one x $1.25, one x $1.85, one x $2.50, one x $3.70 Six native Australian animals are featured as part of this definitive international stamp issue. With some 358 mammal species native to Australia, the six animals depicted in this issue are: 5c - Platypus 25c - Short-beaked Echidna $1.25 - Common Wombat $1.85 - Tasmanian Devil $2.50 - Greater Bilby $3.70 - Dingo Australian Wildflowers Stamps (four x 50c) There are some 18,000 species of flowering plants native to Australia, grouped in about 200 families. Like the continent’s distinctive fauna, the flora has evolved in isolation for 50 million years, and many plants and flowers are found nowhere else on earth. THE STAMPS 50c Sturt’s Desert Pea (Swainsona Formosa) This prostrate biennial or annual plant grows in arid regions of the Northern Territory and all mainland states except Victoria. The leaves and stems are covered in downy hairs and the vivid red flowers are about nine centimetres long and arranged in clusters of six to eight on short, thick erect stalks. 50c Coarse-leaved Mallee (Eucalyptus grossa) A small mallee from three to six metres high, this eucalypt is distinctive for its large, thick glossy leaves. The bullet-shaped buds are red and the attractive yellow to yellow-green flowers appear in axillary umbels of up to seven from August to November. 50c Common Fringe Lily (Thysanotus tuberosus) Blooming in spring and summer, this lily is an erect perennial herb growing up to 60 centimetres high. 50c Swamp Daisy (Actinodium cunninghamii) This plant is a small shrub growing up to a metre in height, with wiry, erect stems. It is not a true daisy, but belongs to the myrtle family. DESIGNER Janet Boschen has been with Australia Post for 18 years. Her many stamp designs include Australians in the Antarctic 1901-2001(2001), Bush Tucker (Jo Monie Design Award 2002), independent East Timor’s first stamps (2002), and the 150th Anniversary of the Eureka Stockade (2004).

Nature of Australia: Rainforest Butterflies

Stamps (one each 5c, 10c, 75, $2.00)

Bush Wildlife

Stamps (one x $1.00, one x $1.10, one x $1.20, one x $1.80)

 

Heavy Haulers

Set of 5 stamps

Lest We Forget

Stamps (5 x 50c)

 

To earn a bit more about the history of our stamps

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Art Sunday Tour Starts Here.