2017Chinese New Year - Year of the Rooster - Miniature Sheet

The square “Chinese New Year” souvenir sheet with as theme “Year of the Rooster” portrays 2 stamps with a Rooster and a Dragon.
These two drawings are inspired out of a traditional Chinese style representing a Caribbean touch. The background is an inspiration out of tangrams; Paper cutting and paper folding with a geometric puzzle.
The characters say ‘Happy Chinese New Year’ and the zodiac ‘Rooster’.

The Rooster
This Chinese New Year 2017 is the Year of the Rooster.
The Rooster is a Fire Rooster.
In Chinese astrology, each zodiac year is not only associated with an animal sign, but also one of five elements; Gold (Metal), Wood, Water, Fire, or Earth.
The souvenir sheet is a fusion of the tangram aspects, color of the Rooster year, the Dragon dance and the Rooster.

The tangram of the Rooster is on the First Day Cover design. And another Rooster tangram is slightly in the background of the souvenir sheet. The colors for Year of the Rooster are gold, browns and yellows and together with the idea of paper cutting from the tangram was used to make the whole sheet in an array of earth tones composition, each time dissecting and putting together to fill in the whole sheet.

Tangrams
The tangram in Chinese means literally "seven boards of skill" It is a dissection puzzle consisting of seven flat shapes, called tans, which are put together to form shapes. The objective of the puzzle is to form a specific shape, given only an outline or silhouette using all seven pieces, which may not overlap.
Invented in China during the Song Dynasty and then was carried over to Europe by trading ships in the early 19th century. It became very popular in Europe for a time, and then again during WWI. It is one of the most popular dissection puzzles in the world. A Chinese psychologist has termed the tangram "the earliest psychological test in the world", albeit one made for entertainment rather than for analysis.

The Dragon
The drawing of the Dragon is a representation of the dragon dance; it is a form of traditional dance and performance in Chinese culture also seen in festive celebrations. The dance is performed by a team of dancers who manipulate a long flexible figure of a dragon using poles positioned at regular intervals along the length of the dragon. The dance team simulates the imagined movements of this river spirit.
The dragon dance is often performed during Chinese New Year. A symbol of China, and believed to bring good luck to people, therefore, the longer the dragon in the dance, the more luck it will bring to the community.