Sunday Stamps - (O) Otto Dix from Germany

For the letter O - Otto Dix

2016 - Germany - Arts, Culture, and Entertainment

Designer: Prof. Annette Le Fort and Prof. Andre Hers

According to wiki, Otto Dix is considered as one of the most important artists of the New Objectivity movement in German art. For his 125th birthday, the Deutsche Post issued this commemorative stamp.

For more stamps with the letter "O", visit See it on a Postcard

Sunday Stamps - (H) Huangmei Opera from China

For the letter H - Huangmei Opera

2014 - China - Arts & Culture

Designer: Zhang Wang

Released on 6 July 2014, the picture on this stamp is entitled "The Emperor's Female Son-in-Law". This is one of the grand plays staged for the Huangmei Opera. Huangmei Opera traced its origins from 200 years ago in the rural parts of China, among which are Anhui, Hubei, and Jiangxi provinces. The costumes used in the plays are less extravagant as compared to other forms of Chinese opera. The focus was more on the tone and the beautiful singing. Storylines mirrored reality and that's why it has won the hearts of the audience. Huangmei Opera is in the list of China's national intangible cultural heritage.

For more stamps with letter "H" - visit See It On A Postcard

P.S. The Postcards for the Weekend re-opens next weekend. Woohooo! It will be open by 12 AM, 13 Oct and close by 12 NN, 15 Oct. It shall follow the same schedule every weekend from then on. As before, there will be a different theme for each weekend while every first weekend of the month will always be dedicated for anything you wish to share. Hope to see more beautiful postcards from all deltiologist bloggers! Thanks to Eva of Mail Adventures for encouraging me to restart this linky! Cheers x

Sunday Stamps - (A) Art from Finland

for the letter A - Art

2015 - Finland - Art Post

Designer: Tiia Vanhatapio ja Miika Saksi

The miniature sheet was issued on 11 September 2015. I received all 4 designs on 3 different occasions from a letter or a postcard, sent by my Finnish pen pal - Tuija.

The sheet features "dreamlike images that rise from the depths of the imagination to create the set and setting for events."

for more stamps with the letter "A", visit See it on a Postcard

Postcards for the weekend 54: Fall Scenes

Our theme this weekend is fall scenes. It’s such a pity that Singapore doesn’t have four seasons. I would very much love to watch the color change from green into yellow/gold and orange/red. Although on a second thought, perhaps that’s morbid to enjoy watching leaves die… 

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sent from Gothenburg
Sent 14 September 2017, Traveled 14734 km in 9 days

The first card is from Monica who blogs at Beyond the Lone Islands. It’s always an indescribable joy whenever I get postcards from blogging friends. Monica said this is one of her favorite autumn cards. It easily became one of mine, too!

UA-936361, Sent from Kiev
Sent 28 Jan 2014, Traveled 8,188 km in 33 days

The second card I believe says, “This is my Ukraine”. It features the largest lake in the Carpathian Mountains of Ukraine, Lake Synevyr. 

I was just back from a higher elevation myself (Kathmandu, Nepal). But I was only in the city and I didn't' have the chance to go into nature. Hopefully, when I travel again next month, I'll be lucky to be in nature and surrounded by the colors of the fall season for real, once again!

I hope all of you, fall lovers are starting to enjoy this season. Please let me know your favorite place to watch the leaves turn into red and gold, in the comment section below.

Happy weekend,

~maria

Sunday Stamps: Eastern Hemisphere

Received in three different occasions, I'm happy to discover that I have all four stamps from the miniature sheet called Art Post 20--15. It was released by the Finland Posti on 11 September 2015. The four designs are by the creative agency Vanhatapio and Saksi. The theme for the designs are "cinematic and literary references that allow the imagination to create the set and setting for events".

Click on See it on a Postcard to discover what other participants shared for the theme, eastern hemisphere.

~maria

Wordless Wednesday: La Joconde

Sent 7 October 2016 from CDG Airport
Received 13 October 2016, Traveled 10,722 km in 7 days

Wordless Wednesday is one of the linky parties I used to participate when I was more active in blogging. It's a great collection of beautiful photos that speak for themselves from bloggers around the world.

Mon cheri was back to France and he said there's 2 postcards for me in the mail. One of the cards is La Joconde ... mesmerizing!

~maria

Stamps: Orange and/or yellow

For the Sunday Stamps of orange and/or yellow theme this week, I collected from the stamps from the envelopes of letters sent by my Finnish pen pal.

I rarely receive stamps with uneven perforation outlining the design and these two sunflower stamps are among them. The stamp on the lower left is an artwok of the realist Helena Schjerfbeck. It's 1 of 4 stamps issued to commemorate her 150th birthday. 

All stamps were from 2012.

Horikiri Iris Garden

Facebook Postcard Swap, Sender: Inga
Sent: 15 April 2013, Sent from Niederaichbach, Germany
Received: 19 April 2013, Traveled 10,106.9 km in 4 days

Here is another reproduction from the 'One Hundred Famous Views of Edo' series by the woodblock print artist Ando Hiroshige. This view is no. 56 in the series. The garden is in a little village north of Tokyo. It is one of Tokyo's oldest gardens.

This artwork dates back to the Edo Period, Ansei Era, Japan. The artwork shows iris blooms in the foreground and visitors, who are for sure caught in awe by the beautiful garden, in the background. The irises in the garden started with three specimens, and now has 200. Iris is a genus of 260-300 specimens, so the Horikiri Garden surely has a lot on it already. Iris means rainbow, referring to the wide variety of flower colors across its specimens.

~maria

Gereon Brands' Sweetheart

Facebook Postcard Swap, Sender: Sascha
Sent: 29 September 2012, Sent from Duisburg, Germany
Received: 25 October 2012, Traveled 10,329 km in 27 days

This postcard is a reproduction of 'Sweetheart' painting of Gereon Brands.

Now, I found another information on the web about Sweetheart and Gereon Brands:

Sweetheart is a traditional shop that sells Christmas and carnival stuffs and also local souvenirs. The shop is owned by Gereon Brands and can be found near the city's cathedral of Cologne, Germany.

I can't find more sources whether the two information are talking about the same Gereon Brands. It would be nice if someone can advice me on this. Thank you in advance.

Linking up with Clytie for Guest Heart Thursday ;-)

~maria

Okita from the Kansei Era, Japan

Friendship Gift Postcard, Sender: Leo Baluyot
Sent on 01 April 2013, Sent from Narita Airport T1, Japan
Received on 10 April 2013, Traveled 13,183 km in 9 days

Leo wrote: Here's some tea to relieve your stress from all the DRMP (residency) stuff. Konichiwa from Tokyo!

Reading on the internet about the artwork on this postcard was very interesting. I learned that Okita was a waitress, depicted on this artwork serving a cup of tea. She's a waitress at the Naniwaya Teahouse, near the Niomon Gate in the grounds of the Asakusa Kannon Temple She was reputed to be one of the Three Beauties of the Kansei era (1789-1801). *

The postcard is a reproduction of the original ukiyo-e artwork by Utamaro Kitagawa, one of the famed woodblock painters in the Japanese rich artistic and cultural history. Ukiyo-e means "pictures of the floating life (or everyday life)". This artistic style was most prominent during the 17th up to mid 19th century Japan, also known as the Edo period.

Submitting this card for Beth's Postcard Friendship Friday.

Happy weekend everyone!

~maria

Source: http://www.adachi-hanga.com/en_ukiyo-e/item/utamaro060.htm

Golden Statues of Peterhof

These two golden statues are among the many that fill the imperial estate of Peterhof. Found in the UNESCO heritage site of St. Petersburg, Russia, Peterhof is also referred to as 'the Russian Versaille'. 

The construction of the majestic estate was commissioned by Peter the Great. Works began in 1714, to what was then known as Monplaisir -- 'my pleasure'. The way the imperial estate looks now is different to what it looked like in Peter's time though. A lot of additions were made by his granddaughter, Elizabeth of Russia, with the help of the Italian architect, Bartolomeo Rastrelli

Peterhof means Peter's Court in German. Such name was coined to the place during the World War II. The post-war name is Petrodvorets after the reconstruction, possible with 1,000 volunteers and military engineers in 1947.

~ maria

Facebook Postcard Swap, Sender: Veronika Doroshevich

Sent from Kirov, Russia, Traveled ~8,296 km for 30 days

Crystal Concert Hall - Sapporo Snow Festival

This is a replica of one of Japan's concert hall during the 49th Sapporo Snow Festival. The festival ran from 5-11 February 1998 with 330 snow and ice sculptures in display.

I wish I have the readily-available knowledge to determine exactly which concert hall in Japan this crystal ice replica is, but I don't :( Mr. Wiki has a list of different concert halls in Japan, though.

What's more impressing about this card was the message at the back:

"Thank you for fund-raising and the rescue for the earthquake on 3.11. Japan revives without fail. Please come to Japan to play someday! -Your Japanese friend, Midori"

I am delighted to know that the the efforts of Filipino soldiers sent there to help during that state of calamity in 2011 was appreciated. Tomorrow marks the first anniversary of that day, I hope that affected places in Japan have remarkably recovered by now and that we, and our neighboring countries would continue to help each other in times of need. 

And yep, I would really want to visit Japan to see all the picturesque places described by one of my favorite authors, Haruki Murakami in his novels. Or perhaps, time my visit with the next Sapporo Snow Festival? (My, my!! I should have went there on my birthday for the opening event! The festival ran from 6-12 Feb this year! Oh! I'm dreaming. :)

This post is for Beverly's Pink Saturday blogfest, because who doesn't love the idea of all pink and lovely on a weekend when it's time to rest and unwind? ;) Go check out her page to make your weekend more lovely.

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I'm delighted to feature the Backyard Neighbor, Jeanne for the Pink Saturday weekly challenge. Check out her page for pink tulip memories. :) And may I mention, tulips are in my favorite flowers list. I wish I can receive a postcard with tulips soon!

Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend!

~ maria

Michaelangelo's Masterpieces

Thanks so much to my senior medical physicist, Hazel for the 20 postcards from Italy! :) I wanna post more but the net is too slow...these 2 are among my favorites: Michaelangelo's masterpieces.

The Creation of Adam from the ceiling of Sistine Chapel from the first card was painted in 1511. It's an illustration of one of the stories from the Book of Genesis.

The second card means so much to me...I was cast of a play for Holy Week. I was Mary and together with the actor playing Jesus, we had the La Pietà tableau for almost 30minutes. I had leg cramps for 3 days I believe! I guess that was penitence enough for the Holy Week season that year :p