Please note that this stamp is valid for postage from 1 January 2024 only.

 

Nature as an artist – that’s the concept behind the new definitive stamps. Some patterns drawn by nature have an almost magical appeal, such as the shimmering surface of the water photographed in the Ausliker Ried area at Lake Pfäffikon in the Canton of Zurich. The gossamer-thin streaks on the “Plant oil” design come from wetland plants such as water mint, whose cells contain essential oils. The floating plant oil is broken down by bacteria, turning shades of blue and purple to red and orange. The play of colours is particularly beautiful after rainfall, when rainbow-coloured patterns shaped by currents and wind are formed. But this is no lasting work of art: as the bacteria continues to break down, the film of oil sinks to the bottom of the water. The image on the stamp, for instance, disappeared just two days after the photo was taken.

The countless natural beauties of Switzerland that are worthy of admiration and protection are also often hidden in the details – for example, on the forest floor. If you kneel down and take a very close look at the broom moss, for instance, you’ll find a surprise: a tiny dense forest – another fairytale forest within the forest. What else can you see?

The micro-photos invite us to embrace new perspectives, to become curious and to discover the unknown in the known – in a butterfly wing, for example, or in a ball of ice in a stream. If you take the time to observe nature with a careful eye, you will be rewarded with many a marvellous work of art.