Postage Stamp Art

Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1998 17:30:43 -0500
From: Claudia Sargent
Subject: illustration: Stamp art -IGPC

I-GPC (that stands for Inter-Governmental Philatelic Organization) is a regular client of mine-- I've done 8 or 9 issues for them over the years. Right now, I'm working on a set of stamps for Uganda-- African Butterflies, 2 6-stamp sheetlets, 4 denominatives, and 2 souvenir sheetlets. This year, I've done a set of orchids for Grenada, Mushrooms & Fairies for Liberia, and 2 sets of Christmas stamps-- one for Uganda & I'm not sure who got the other (St. Vincent, I think--).

They're a non-governmental organization that works with mostly 3rd World & underdeveloped countires who cannot afford to maintain their own philatelic organizations. They have a website you can check out at:

http:// www.igpc.net

They are really nice people to work with-- I'm given tremendous latitude with whatever I do for them. They do not pay particularly well, but they pay within 30 days or better. I work at only 150% of repro size (about 1 1/2" x 2 5/8" per stamp), so it's pretty cost-effective for me. They buy all rights and retain the artwork-- the reason is that stamps are negotiable items (like currency). I've found them to be a steady source of ongoing work-- they are patient, too (important to me, because I use this as fill-in work when I'm slow-- my preference is to do art I hold the rights to, but Mr. American Express & the landlord need regular infusions of cash from me, so....)

What I'm PLANNING on is, once I have 10-12 full issues, I will contact *our* postal service & try to get stamp designs for *OUR* country. Mostly, I do botanicals, nature subjects, & decorative stuff (I did a whole series of Chinese-themed stamps for Guyana & a lunar new year set for Central African Republic! YUM!)

My goal is to do a "LOVE" stamp for the USPS.....*sigh....*
Peace & joy,
Claudia

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