About This Stamp
The U.S. Postal Service® issued a stamped card for 2017 featuring one of nature's true blue flowers.
The stamp art features an illustration of a Chilean blue crocus (Tecophilaea cyanocrocus) from pre-existing artwork by famed illustrator and designer Dugald Stermer (1936-2011). His pencilled calligraphy under the flower indicates one of its common names–azulillo loosely translated from Spanish means "little blue thing"–with its botanical name above.
The Chilean blue crocus is native to a small, mountainous area around Santiago, Chile. Though it has survived in cultivation as a landscape and greenhouse plant in the U.S. and other countries, it was believed to be extinct in the wild in its native Chile due to overgrazing, habitat destruction, and an unsustainable export industry. However, a thriving wild population was discovered near Santiago in 2001.
Despite its name, the Chilean blue crocus is not related to true crocuses from the iris family. It is one of only two species in the genus Tecophilaea. A low-growing plant, its stalk reaches a height between three and five inches, with one to three linear leaves. There are a number of varieties of this species, including the flower featured in the stamp art, with its cobalt blue flowers and white centers. The plant is hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture zones 7 to 9.
Art director Ethel Kessler designed the stamped card.
Azulillo Flower is being issued as a Forever® stamped card. Its postage will always be equal to the value of the stamped postcard price in effect at the time of use, even if the price increases after purchase.
Stamp Art Director, Stamp Designer
Ethel Kessler
Ethel Kessler is an award-winning designer and art director who has worked with corporations, museums, public and private institutions, professional service organizations, and now, the United States Postal Service.
After earning a B.F.A. in visual communications from the Maryland Institute College of Art, Kessler worked as a graphic designer and project manager for the exhibits division of the United States Information Agency. Her work was distributed internationally on subjects such as Immigration, Entrepreneurship, Renovation of American Cities, and the Bicentennial of 1976. She was also responsible for exhibits in Morocco, Botswana, and El Salvador.
In 1981, she established Kessler Design, Inc., for which she is creative director and designer. Clients have included the Clinton Government reorganization, the Smithsonian Institution, National Geographic Television, the National Park Service, and the American Institute of Architects.
She has been an art director for the U.S. Postal Service’s stamp development program for more than 25 years. As an art director for USPS, Kessler has been responsible for creating more than 500 stamp designs, including the Breast Cancer Research stamp illustrated by Whitney Sherman. Issued in 1998, the stamp is still on sale and has raised more $98 million for breast cancer research. Other Kessler projects include the popular and highly regarded Nature of America 120 stamp series, a collaboration with nationally acclaimed nature illustrator John Dawson, the 12-year Lunar New Year series with Kam Mak, the American Filmmaking: Behind the Scenes 10 stamps issued in 2003, a 2016 pane of stamps celebrating the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service, and the 2023 stamp honoring Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. And many, many others.