Spiral Ginger (Costus comosus)

Spiral Ginger (Costus comosus), from Central American and Venezuela (yummy colors, yes?)

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Spider Orchid (Brassidium Golden Gamine ‘White Night’ HCC/AOS)

Spider Orchid (Brassidium Golden Gamine ‘White Night’ HCC/AOS)

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Jackfowlieara ‘Appleblossom’ Orchid

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Epidendrum ‘Miura Valley’ Orchid closeup

Epidendrum ‘Miura Valley’ Orchid (isn’t it the cutest?)

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Epidendrum ‘Miura Valley’ orchid blooms with palms

A cluster of Epidendrum ‘Miura Valley’ orchid blooms against a backdrop of palms; the dappled afternoon light was so lovely in the background

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Masdevallia ‘Peach Allure’ Orchid

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Madagascar crown of thorns

Euphorbia milii (crown of thorns, Christ plant, Christ thorn), from Madagascar

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Common Morpho (Morpho peleides)

I got this shot of a Common Morpho (at the Franklin Conservatory in Columbus, OH this past weekend) from almost the same vantage point as my friend, neighbor and fellow photographer Michael Powell got his shot. He was able to get more of the other wing because he has the added advantage of being several inches taller! It is so rare to be able to get a shot of the beautiful blue side of this elusive, quick-moving butterfly. We were thrilled that it stayed on the leaf long enough for both of us to get some shots.

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Love me tendril, love me true…

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Encircled

This Passionflower tendril has encircled a leaf; isn’t it cool?

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Passionflower tendril

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

‘Mi Amour’

Odontonia Papageno ‘Mi Amour’, from the orchid family

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Water lily stamps debut in Ohio on March 20

Last week my water lily FOREVER stamps were unveiled at the Garfield-Perry March Stamp Show in Cleveland, Ohio. First photo: digital postmark first day covers and booklet of stamps; second photo: autographed program and cancelled stamps from First Day Ceremony: autographed by Jay Bigalke, American Philatelic Society, Editor of The American Philatelist; Paul Davis from U.S. Postal Service, who sang the National Anthem; Harold Chapman, President of the Garfield-Perry Stamp Club, who gave the welcome; remarks by Cynthia Druckenbord, Vice President of the Cleveland Botanical Garden; (then me!); and then Melvin J. Anderson, U.S. Postal Service Northern Ohio District Manager, and I got to unveil a giant poster with the water lily stamps (Third photo, shot by my dear friend Michael Powell).

The water lily stamps are available in booklet form at post offices across the U.S. You can also order them online.

Stamps in Booklet Form: LINK

First Day Covers (set of four): LINK

First Day Digital Color Postmark (set of four): LINK

Water Lilies DCP Keepsake (four digital color envelopes and stamp book): LINK

Water Lilies Press Sheet (with and without die cuts): LINK

Water Lilies Stamped Envelopes with Seals: LINK

Water Lilies Framed Stamps: LINK

On Assignment: Family tree mural

One project I assisted on while working in Texas over the holidays was this large tree mural (you’ve seen them on Pinterest with framed photos hanging over the branches like a “family tree.”). Last fall, my friend William painted a mural for Color Clay Studio in Schertz, TX. A customer saw it and William got a gig painting this larger one in a house outside San Antonio. I played assistant artist and it was a lot of fun to create. This mural was considerably bigger than the Color Clay one (the wall was 20 ft. wide x 12 ft. high!), but since it was one solid color (and no birds on the branches, etc.), the task was a little bit easier.

When drawing out the initial sketch with conté chalk, we only had a small printout of a family tree for reference. William went left and I went right and within what seemed about 20 minutes or less, we had the tree roughly drawn in! The little leaves sketched out in the center of the trunk were practice sketches to determine shape and size of the leaves. The remainder of the day was spent going up and down the ladder to paint in branches and leaves. The homeowner was thrilled with the results and said she didn’t even want to put frames over it. Yes, he’s available for murals in the San Antonio area and I’m for hire on the east coast, too. Inquire within! 😉

Photos © Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Framed Waterlily Stamps Available from USPS!

Okay, ONE more post about the waterlily stamps. I just discovered they’re doing a framed version with the photos enlarged and the stamps underneath for $39.95! I didn’t see that when I ordered my first day covers. It’s really pretty, too. Check it out in the link below.

https://store.usps.com/store/browse/productDetailSingleSku.jsp?productId=S_689924&categoryId=stamp-framed-art

USPS Facebook Announcement

Love the look of the special keepsake envelopes with the pretty watercolor-y typesetting!

On Assignment: HLM March/April 2015 cover shoot

Cover “models” Bill, Debbie, Lauren, Chris and Chase grace the March/April 2015 issue of Hearing Loss Magazine, published bimonthly by the Hearing Loss Association of America. They were photographed at the Texas Transportation Museum in San Antonio, TX.

This year’s HLAA Convention will be held in St. Louis, Missouri, at the beautiful St. Louis Union Station, a Doubletree by Hilton Hotel (hence our “All Aboard” cover for this issue!).

In a merely coincidental nod to the host convention state, they were photographed on former Missouri Pacific caboose 13083, one of the last cabooses ever built. It dates from the 1980s, not long before the use of cabooses was discontinued. When the museum acquired the caboose around 1990, it was a burnt out hulk, and has since undergone a radical transformation to passenger service, with both interior and exterior seating.

My “models” were instructed to “pack your bags, wear something really summery, wave and smile, and just pretend it’s the end of hot-hot-hot June and not 45 degrees in January!” Ah, such is the life of a model…

© Cindy Dyer. All rights reserved.

Another shameless plug for my waterlily stamps!

Here’s a cool statistic that I just learned from the USPS PR man—normally they print stamps in quantities of 40-50 million.

They’re printing my waterlily stamps in a quantity of HALF A BILLION—500 million stamps, which usually only happens with their holiday stamps. He said flowers tend to sell particularly well so they’re hoping this is the case with these.

So, on that note, go out and buy a book of 20 on March 20 (when the stamps make their official debut across the US)! You’ll make the USPS (and me) very happy indeed. (And no, I don’t get a cut of sales, in case you’re wondering!)