Laura Stutzman's Paintings Adorn New USPS Stamps
“From the heights of sunny summer to the snowy depths of winter, Old Glory proudly waves,” states the United States Post Office, referring to the latest Forever® stamps being issued this week. The stamps, titled “A Flag For All Seasons,” are more significant to Garrett County than the simple mailing of letters, as the paintings of the flag were created by Mountain Lake Park resident Laura Stutzman.
This is the second time the local illustrator/graphic designer has created works of art for national distribution, as she painted four flags used on stamps issued in 2008 as well. This year the flags are depicted in all four seasons. In 2008, she showed them at four times of day.
The message being stressed by the USPS through these new stamps is the proper treatment of the United States flag. Guidelines for the display and treatment of the American flag hark back to the National Flag Code adopted in 1923 at the National Flag Conference and amended a year later. A federal law in 1942 further provided specific rules for using and displaying the flag.
According to the USPS, federal law states that the flag should be displayed every day of the year, but especially on federal and state holidays, the “birthdays” of states, and other days according to presidential proclamation. As long as a flag is a durable, all-weather flag, it may be displayed outdoors throughout the year, regardless of the weather.
Each of the four “A Flag For All Seasons” stamps shows an American flag, viewed from below, flying from a pole at full staff against a background of trees that evoke one of the four seasons of the year. Local residents may be interested to know that Stutzman took photos of the flag at the Mountain Lake Park historic ticket booth to use as a reference for her works. The trees, she said, are local aspens. Her medium for the paintings was gouache on illustration board.
The art director was Phil Jordan. Stutzman works with Jordan and USPS personnel in developing the final product, which takes a great deal of time, as well as trial and error processes.
Posted on 08/19/2013 in garrett county
