Montreal’s award-winning Paprika Design was an easy choice for the second in the Stamp Designer series.  Formed in 1992, Paprika’s stamps show a clean uncluttered feel to their designs. I play a mental game when I look at stamps and try to guess the designer. I’ve been pretty good at spotting Paprika Design. But I’m sure I’ve missed a few in this list. 

 2010’s Mental Health issue kicked off their long running association with Canada Post. I’m still searching through various books and sites to see if I missed any stamps. I’m sure there is a least 1 or 2. But that’s the fun – hunting down stamps and finding information about them. 

One interesting by-product of this project is a growing awareness of how difficult it must be to create fresh ideas for stamps. The first stamp was issued 180 years which means thousands and thousands of stamps out there. I’ve been thinking specifically about Canada’s Christmas series. Year after year, designers push out a series that still excites us. There may be shared themes and imagery, but a good designer brings their unique outlook to the project. So, this section on designers is an homage to the often under recognized people who create these tiny works of art. 

Stamp by Paprika Design

2022

• Eleanor Collins – Canada’s First Lady of Jazz
  series: Black History in Canada
  Illustrator: David Belliveau | Photographers: Franz Linder & Alvin Armstrong from CBC archives Release date: January 21, 2022

1 stamp, FDC, cancel, booklet of 6

1st Black artist to host a TV series in in North America. An amazing person. A great Canadian. Her parents were among the original immigrants from Oklahoma who settled in Amber Valley, Alberta Canada Post’s 2021 Black History month issues – Amber Valley | Bitter Grounds Magazine.

• Platinum Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
  1 stamp, booklet of 10, FDC, cancel, sheets of 16, plate blocks Release date: February 7, 2022
  

The Platinum Jubilee stamp features The Queen’s profile, which is based on a sculpture created by Arnold Machin, O.B.E., R.A, who was commissioned to create the image for a new set of definitive stamps. The image became iconic and has been used by the Royal Mail ever since.
Canada Post

 

• Calla – Spring Flower
  Series: spring flowers
  2 stamps, booklet of 10 Illustrator: Fanny Roy Release date: March 1, 2022
  
  

• Vintage Travel Posters
  5 stamps in a 10 stamp booklet, 1 capex souvenir sheet, 5 pre-stamped postcards – Release date: June 9, 2022

This series features 4 1930s and 1 1950s Canadian Pacific travel poster. These are considered iconic (and are much sought after by collectors) images  from across Canada. To accompany this set, Canada  Post has also issued 5 pre-stamped post cards and a CAPEX 22 overprint. 

The following posters have been reprinted:

• Travel The Canadian, by Roger Couillard, 1955 – This Vancouver – Toronto/Montréal transcontinental train was the first to feature the famous domed observation trains.
• Cruise the Great Lakes, after the work of Tom Purvis, circa 1937 – this stamp highlights day trips offered by CP Rail around the Great Lakes in Ontario.
• The Royal York, by Norman Fraser, circa 1935 – The Royal York Hotel, now called Fairmont Royal York, is one of Toronto’s most visible buildings. Once you get leave Union Station and step out onto the street, the first site is the Royal York. 
• Mont Tremblant, by Herbert Bayer, 1939 – This ski resort opened in 1939 and has remained a popular destination.
• Canada’s Picturesque East Coast, by Peter Ewart, circa 1950 – another classic tourist route, this time on Canada’s east coast, travelling along  St. Andrews by-the-Sea, New Brunswick; Digby, Nova Scotia; and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. 

• Canada’s Vintage Carousels
  5 stamps on souvenir sheet, booklets of 10, FDC, cancel, 5 pre-stamped postcards Release date: July 21, 2022
  Artist: René Milot
  

Lakeside Park Carousel (Lakeside Park, St. Catharines, Ontario) 
Built by Kremer’s Carousel Works circa 1903, this impressively large carousel boasts 68 animals and four chariots in four rows – and today still costs only a nickel to ride.

Bowness Carousel (Heritage Park Historical Village, Calgary, Alberta) 
Built by Herschell-Spillman Co. in 1904, this is a very rare three-row track machine, where the horses’ rocking motion comes from eccentric drive wheels under the platform.

C.W. Parker Carousel No. 119 (Burnaby Village Museum, Burnaby, British Columbia) 
Built in 1912 and now fully restored, this carousel features 36 jumping horses, four stationary horses, a chariot and music provided by a 1925 Wurlitzer band organ.

Roseneath Carousel (Roseneath Fairgrounds, Roseneath, Ontario)
Built by C.W. Parker in 1906, this was originally a portable carnival carousel. It is the only Canadian carousel to receive the National Carousel Association (U.S.) Historic Carousel Award – in 2010.

Le Galopant (La Ronde, Montréal, Quebec) 
Built circa 1885 in Belgium, this was originally a travelling carousel powered by steam. It made its first Canadian appearance at Expo 67.

• Christmas Star 1 stamp, FDC, cancel  Release date: November 1, 2022
  Series: Christmas
  Illustrator: Fanny Roy
  

2021

• LUNAR NEW YEAR retrospective wrapping up full calendar cycle. See previous article for details – Lunar New Year wraps up   
  12 stamps, souvenir sheet, booklet of 12, uncut press sheet of 12 souvenir sheets

2019

• LEONARD COHEN – chronology of Cohen’s career in music
  3 stamps, souvenir sheets, booklet of 9 stamps, 4 FDC, uncut press sheet of 12 stamps 

• HISTORIC COVERED BRIDGES OF CANADA
  5 stamps, souvenir sheet, Booklet of 10 stamps 

1. 1. New Brunswick’s Hartland Bridge
   2. Quebec’s Powerscourt Bridge
   3. Quebec’s Félix-Gabriel-Marchand Bridge
   4. Ontario’s West Montrose Bridge
   5. British Columbia’s Ashnola No. 1 railroad bridge

• RED RIVER RESISTANCE  
  1 stamp, booklet of 10, FDC

2018

• QEII 65^th ANNIVERSARY OF CORONATION  
  1 permanent stamp, booklet of 10, FDC

• CHRISTMAS – WARM AND COZY  
  3 stamps, souvenir sheet

• CHRISTMAS NATIVITY 
  (illustrator Daniel Robitaille)
  1 stamp, booklet souvenir sheet, FDC

2017

• 50^th ANNIVERSARY OF FORMULA 1 RACING IN CANADA  
  5 x Permanent, booklet of 10, FDC, Pane of 5 stamps Uncut press sheet of 25 stamps

• LUNAR NEW YEAR – ROOSTER  
  2 stamps, Booklet of 10 stamps, Booklet of 6 stamps, 2 Souvenir sheets, uncut sheet of 25 stamps

2015

• SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD  200^th ANNIVERSARY OF BIRTH  
  1 stamp, booklet of 10, FDC 
• winner of Certificate of Typographic Excellence by the Type Directors Club. 49 countries competed.

• CHRISTMAS ANIMALS  
  3 stamps, souvenir sheet, FDC

2014

• LUNAR NEW YEAR – HORSE  
  2 stamps, Booklet of 6 stamps, souvenir sheet, Transitional souvenir sheet of 2 stamps, FDC, Uncut press sheet of 12 souvenir sheets

• KOMAGATA MARU 100^th ANNIVERSARY – ASIAN HERITAGE MONTH  
  1 stamp 

• 75^th ANNIVERSARY NATIONAL FILM BOARD (NFB)
  5 stamps, FDC, booklets of 10, souvenir sheet

1. 1. Neighbours (1952), an Oscar-winning film by Norman McLaren;
   2. The Railrodder (1965), directed by Gerald Potterton, who humorously takes us across Canada by train;
   3. My Uncle Antoine (1971), a film by Claude Jutra that was a worldwide success;
   4. The Waltz of the Master Draveur (1979), animation by John Weldon;
   5. Flamenco at 5:15 a.m. (1983), an Oscar-winning film by Cynthia Scott.‎

2013

• CANADIAN RECORDING ARTISTS: BANDS 
  4 stamps, booklets of 10 (4 booklets), FDC, souvenir sheet

1. 1. Rush
   2. Guess Who
   3. Beau Dommage
   4. Tragically Hip

2012

• “DIFFERENCE MAKERS” Canadians who make a difference 
  4 stamps, souvenir sheet, booklet of 4

2011-13

• ZODIAC SIGNS  
  12 stamps, Booklet of 10 stamps, FDC, souvenir sheets 

2010

• MENTAL HEALTH 
  Semi-Postal, 10c added to regular price
  1 stamp, booklet of 10, FDC

2021 

JUNO Awards 50th Anniversary
Release date: April 8, 2021

1 stamp, booklet of 5

Illustrator: Amanda Arlotta 

Right Honourable John Turner (1929-2020)
Release date: June 7, 2021

1 stamp, booklet of 10, 

John Turner was the 17th Prime Minister of Canada.

Buffy Sainte-Marie
Release date: November 19, 2021

1 stamp in booklet of 10, FDC, cancel, framed stamp & FDC

Sainte-Marie has spent her whole life creating, and her artistry, humanitarian efforts, and Indigenous leadership have made her a unique force in the music industry. In 1969, she made one of the world’s first electronic vocal albums; in 1982 she became the only Indigenous person to win an Oscar; she spent five years on Sesame Street where she became the first woman to breastfeed on national television. She’s been blacklisted and silenced. She’s written pop standards sung and recorded by the likes of Janis Joplin, Elvis Presley, Donovan, Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes. She penned “Universal Soldier,” the definitive anti-war anthem of the 20th century. She is an icon who keeps one foot firmly planted on either side of the North American border, in the unsurrendered territories that comprise Canada and the USA.

In 2017’s climate of damaging #fakenews and toxic hubris, Buffy Sainte-Marie’s incisive honesty, clarity, and intelligent compassion stand out in sharp relief.

There’s still work to be done, and that work is Medicine Songs.
BIOGRAPHY – Buffy Sainte-Marie

Designer: Paprika Designs
Stamp photographer: Simon Fowler from album Coincidence and Likely Stories
Booklet  cover: courtesy of Ovation Guitars/GEWA Music

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