A stamp is a miniature work of art on an envelope where beauty and functionality meet – this is how Roberts Rūrāns sees it and reflects this perspective in his artistic creations. Beauty as a value is one of the guiding principles in the artist’s work, so everything in the process of creating the stamps has played a role: bright and vivid tints of colour, acrylic paints, delicate brush strokes and, most importantly, the complementary messages.
The origins of the Christmas stamps lie in the artist’s ideas and sketches which tell their individual stories and also their common story. Later on they are digitised, with subsequent painting of the finest details and transferring back to digital format for text addition and design finalisation.
Each stamp tells its own story, but together they reflect the entire holiday cycle in the life of one family: preparing for the holiday, honouring the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ and celebrating Christmas. The figures in all three stamps are harmonised, and the stamp frames and elements contribute to a cohesive design.
Each stamp has a different denomination and number of copies printed. The stamp valued at 1.65 euro is designed for letter correspondence weighing up to 20 grams within Latvia. It has a circulation of 150,000 copies. The stamp with the nominal value of 1.97 euro is for letters up to 100 g sent within Latvia, and the circulation of this stamp is 30,000 copies. The stamp with a nominal value of 2.08 euros is issued in 30,000 copies and is intended for letters weighing up to 20 grams sent to Group 14 countries.
