Kudu

1966: Wildlife (Design - Rena Fennessy)

The distinctive patterns of a kudu appear in all their glory in this stamp, these 'pencil' stripes can vary in number from 4 to 12. The artist is Rena Fennessy who created art for most of the post independent East African countries for about 25 years. She also drew birds and animals for field guides while creating her own art work of East African wildlife and scenery.  The only other thing I could find out about her was she lived in Nairobi and was possibly British. Must be quite a thrill to be able to stick one of your own stamps on a letter.  Well you see one Kudu and then two more come along at the same time...

1964-66: Definitive (Design - Victor Whiteley)

An alert kudu in a forest of young trees showing off its spiraling horns and

1998-2000 Endangered species (3rd Series)

South Africa also chose a similar front view when they issued 'standard postage' booklets of antelope definitives.

While browsing my Ks I came across these which I thought would be rather topical this week with the talks between North and South Korea just ending.

1966: Reunification of North and South Korea

Lets hope for a more peaceful coexistence and something less bellicose.  Build and not destroy.

1965: Drawings of Kim Hong-do

The artist Kim Hong-do (1745-c1806) painted beautiful landscapes but also everyday life, the stamp features his drawing of building a house.

An entry to Sunday Stamps II prompt of the Letter K - for Kudu, Kenya and Korea - See It On A Postcard
  

Sycamore Line

Autumn, sycamore leaves and creativity combine to form a beautiful bronze, gold and green splash of colour brightening up a peaty green Scottish beck near Glenfiddich. This is one of the ephemeral artworks created by Andy Goldsworthy called 'Line to follow colour rhythms in sycamore' in October 1990.

More pictures of Andy Goldsworthy's Land Art can be found here.

Postcard's for the Weekend theme - Patterns and Prints - Connections to the World

Japan

2006 Prefecture Stamps (Shizuoka) : Kawazu Cherry Blossom (Design: Kentaro Taki)

The tree blossom is looking lovely here at the moment, the white being slightly ahead of the pink this year but both bringing joy and promise of the coming season.  To see early blooming cherry blossom then travel to the home of these stamps Shizuoka in Japan which is famous for the earliest bloom with the largest bright pink petals. Millions will travel to gaze at the 8000 cherry blossom trees celebrated in the February Cherry Blossom Festival.  The first stamp has the treat of both blossom and bird which is a Japanese White-eye (Zosterops japonicus) a bird often portrayed in Japanese art and indeed also on Japanese stamps.


After meditating peacefully surrounded by the beauty of the blossom maybe the next experience

1995: World Sports Championship

  would be to watch some judo at the World Judo Championships in  Makuhari, Chiba City, Japan.

2009: The 13th Games of the Small States of Europe (Design - Daniel Mangani)

Travel to Europe and Malta issued a set of stamps for the 2009 XIII Small States of Europe Games which was held in Cyprus. I think the judo stamp is possibly the least successful  stamp of the set with its subdued colouring, however for a polar opposite put on your shades

2009: Olympic and Paralympic Games 2012 (Design - Studio David Hillman)

for one of the many stamps GB issued in the run up to the 2012 London Olympic Games.

The Sunday Stamps II prompt this week is the Letter J - here for Japan and Judo - See It On A Postcard

Dive In

The weather is glorious at the moment here so the beach will be a popular destination this weekend but perhaps a lido or outdoor swimming pool would be an alternative. This card features a railway poster created by Fortunino Matania in the late 1920s to tempt people onto the train and journey to the seaside resort of Southport.  Referred to as a 'Sea Bathing Lake' it was demolished in the 1990s but you can see from these old black and white photos how the artist has brought life to the lake under a vibrant blue sky.   Fortunino Matania (1881-1963) drew for all the famous illustrated magazines of the day and was also a war artist in the first world war.  The fun fact is that he had a photographic memory.

Postcards for the Weekend theme - Retro/Vintage - travel back in time at Connections to the World

 

Insects

1972: Insects (Design - Pierrette Lambert)

 This little dragonfly can be seen all over sub-Saharan Africa in swampy habitats, its common name is piedspot. The artist is the multi award winning Pierrette Lambert (b1928) who designed bank notes and stamps for countries in Europe and Francophone Africa.  She produced an amazing number of stamps (1300), her last commission being in 1997 after which she retired to concentrate on painting.

1994-1998 Definitives Flora and Fauna (Design - Wendy Bramall)

One of our most common damselfly's Latin name happily starts with the letter I - Ischnura elegans (Blue tailed damselfly) and despite its name can be found around inelegant surrounds such as brackish ditch water as the artist shows with the plants that also inhabit these places of shallow still water.  For insects with less ethereal wings I turn to the sturdy moth

1994: Moths (Design - I Loe)

Left to right there is the Tiger Moth whose hairy 'woolly bear' caterpillar was always a favourite of mine as a child. In the middle is the Elephant Hawkmoth and on the right, the Emperor ruling the air.

Although this moth is found in Europe it is not present in the British Isles apart from one place in County Clare, Ireland.  This is the Burren Green named after the area in County Clare where it was first found in 1949. The Burren National Park is a special place for both flora and fauna.

2012: Roald Dahl PHQ Card

Lastly some giant talking insects who James Trotter discovers in an enchanted giant peach and in whose company after many adventures around the world ends up in a mansion in Central Park, New York. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl  as shown was illustrated by Quentin Blake.

The Sunday Stamps II prompt of the Letter I - for Ireland and Insects - See It On A Postcard

Hedgehogs and Hares

1986: Protected Animals (Design - A Kincses)

It is appropriate this Hungarian hedgehog is part of a protected animals set for the numbers in Britain have crashed from an estimated 30 million in the 1950s to today when it is thought there are fewer than a million of these delightful creatures. 

2016: 150th Anniversary of the birth of Beatrix Potter

Poor Mrs Tiggy-Winkle what will she do?  As well as the stamp in 2016 Mrs Tiggy-Winkle also appeared on a 50p coin although I've never seen one, maybe people squirreled them away or should I say Squirrel Nutkin away because there were 9 silver coins in total featuring her much loved characters

1977: British Wildlife (Design - Patrick Oxenham)

The hedgehog and the hare are mystical creatures which feature in many folk tales and legends but the hare is the only one considered magical.

1980: Wildlife (Design - Wendy Walsh)

Ireland featured an Irish Mountain Hare which unlike the Scandinavian mountain hare does not grow a white coat in winter and is slightly smaller in size.

1958: Forest Animals (brown hare)

The last time I saw a hare it was siting in an aerodrome car park, at first I thought it was a greyhound (no marks out of ten for wildlife identification for me) until it started to move like this.

1965: Pro Juventute (Design - Hans Erni)

Lets head for the hills and catch a glimpse of the Alpine Hare in its winter white colouring with just the tips of its ears remaining black.  This stamp is one of the Swiss Pro Juventus (For the Children) charity series of stamps which they have been issuing since 1912  

and beginning in 1943 the marginal tabs were inscribed with descriptions in Latin, German, French and Italian.  Traditionally they are issued during the holiday season so they can be sent on greeting and postcards. In this case however part of this 1965 set was sent

Post Code CHS85-7530 Zernez GR, 19.02.85, First Day Advertising Postmark (K965)

on a 1985 cover advertising Zernez, the village which is considered the gateway to the Swiss National Park, the biggest nature preserve in Switzerland and where one can enjoy all these alpine species after being seduced by the postmark and taking a vacation in the area.

An entry to the Sunday Stamps II prompt of the Letter H - for Hungary, Hare and Hedgehog - See It On A Postcard

Guitar

1969: British Post Office Technology (Design - David Gentleman)

This week Sunday Stamps II has reached the letter G so how could I resist this stamp featuring the Post Office National Giro Bank and their G logo, not only that but for a double G this letter was sent from Glasgow. The cancel "Dial Carefully All figure Telephone Numbers Dial Correctly" refers to the roll out from 1966-1970 of all figure telephone numbers from the previous combination of letters and numbers (the letters signifying the local telephone exchange).  Dialing the wrong number might make one

2016: Mr Men and Little Misses

grumpy.  A celebration of Roger Hargreaves many characters and Mr Grumpy is the grouchiest person in the whole world.  Mr Happy sends Mr Tickle to tickle him if he is mean to someone but perhaps he just needs some music to cheer him up

2018: Popular Culture - The 1960s

maybe a bit of psychedelia or he could learn to play the guitar. Each of the stamps in this Jersey set were designed by different illustrators and the 63p is by Malcolm English (b1946), award winning illustrator and designer  who is famous for his illustrations in the Carnaby Street book.

1965: Musical Instruments

Maybe Mr Grumpy can learn to play this Chadian guitar

2013: Extreme Sports (Design - Bruno Maximus)

or just enjoy playing air guitar.

1983: Music in Sweden (Photo Anders Hanser; Engraver - Czeslaw Slania)

or sing along with ABBA.  I think I will take this option - take it away on your guitar Björn.

Sunday Stamps II prompt of the Letter G - for Great Britain, Giro, Guitar and Grumpy - See It On A Postcard