America's Wonderlands

September 18, 2010

Hi All,

It's official... one of my photos is being used by the United States Postal Service on a postage stamp.

The stamp, which was announce by Kansas governor Mark Parkinson at the Kansas State Fair on Friday, is being issued in January to celebrate the Kansas sesquicentennial and is sure to have all of you philatelists excited. (my goal for today was to use both of the words philatelist (stamp collector) and sesquicentennial (150th anniversary) in a sentence). ;-)

I was first contacted back in June by a licensing group on behalf of the USPS but haven't been able to share the news until now. The stamp was
described to me as using one of my photos of a windmill as the predominant element in a Kansas scene being created by an artist who
would re-paint the photo as part of the artwork. I saw it for the first time yesterday and it is just what I had expected.

To clarify my opening statement: the stamp is original artwork by the artist Dean Mitchell and the windmill in the foreground is artwork
inspired by one of my photos.

A link to the press release announcing the stamp is below along with a link to my windmill photo. Both images are also attached.

http://www.kake.com/news/headlines/103133179.html

http://www.americaswonderlands.com/kansas_pictures.htm

I also had a bit of fun with my cat Jax (some of you may have seen these before). Jax had his annual vet visit yesterday and weighed in at
25lbs, 3oz. He and his daddy both like to eat. ;-) Jackson is his assigned name and we call him Jax (also known as Bubba, Meestah, Jackson
(when he's in trouble) and <profanity removed>). He might have to go on a diet along with the rest of the family; but we'll start next week
because I have plans go for a big BBQ lunch today and... <other excuses>. Jax is part Maine Coon which is a large breed of cat known
for it's playful, gentle disposition (except when he bites).

The first 2 photos of Jax are real (he likes to sit in the same spot). I photoshop'd the other one.

That's about it for now. I hope to have more new photos to share soon but work and other distractions have kept me busy (not to imply work is a distraction... i like it... sometimes). ;-)

Have a great weekend all and be safe.

-Kevin