For several months, dealer Brian Grant Duff, the owner of All Nations Stamp & Coin, has listed stamps and covers supporting Ukraine in his weekly unreserved auctions with the net proceeds donated to Ukraine Humanitarian Relief Fund.
In his upcoming sales, Duff will offer several Picture Postage stamp booklets featuring a design by painter, philanthropist and Nature’s Path co-founder Arran Stephens, of Vancouver, B.C., to raise money for Ukraine as it defends against a Russian invasion.
Stephens previously lobbied Canada Post to use his Madonna of Sunflowers oil-on-canvas painting for its “Help for Ukraine” semi-postal stamp; however, the Crown corporation opted to use a design originally issued in 2011 (Scott #2444) as part of that year’s four-stamp “Sunflowers” series.
His artwork depicts a Ukrainian woman surrounded by sunflowers and saddened by the destruction of war.
When Stephens’ original painting sold for $48,000 and several prints raised more than $100,000, his family bought him a sheet of Picture Postage stamps featuring his artwork. He then donated the proceeds to Doctors Without Borders in support of Ukraine and ordered more Picture Postage booklets, which will now be offered in All Nations’ upcoming auctions.
Stephens and his wife Ratana, who co-founded Nature’s Path in 1985, received the Order of British Columbia. His artwork depicts a Ukrainian woman surrounded by sunflowers and saddened by the destruction of war.