The name Mistral was taken from the name of the font, which was used on some of the first issues. The font was designed by Roger Excoffon, French type designer, in 1953. Mistral also honors Frederic Mistral. He has been called the “Father of Provence“ for his efforts at maintaining the native tongue of that region. He also won the Nobel prize in 1904 for literature. Mistral is also the name of a violent, cold dry northerly wind that blows into Provence from the south. So it is for this man of words and letters, the stylish typeface and the wind, that this local post is named.

Mistral Poste Locale is a concept that attempts to combine the appreciation for modern art and quality graphics with a life long hobby of stamp collecting. While bicycle touring through France in the summer of 1984, I stumbled upon the Georges Pompidou Museum in Paris. Impressionist paintings were the only art that 1 had previously thought worth a second glance, even though T knew they were mostly representative of another century Like classical Music, how could anything new be good or acceptable.

What I discovered was my love for color and form, modern abstract expressions by Henry Matisse, Joan Miro and others. Colors I never knew existed, shapes and forms that intrigued and delighted. Across town at the Museum de la Poste, I couldn't buy enough posters of the large beautiful art stamps that France had started to produce in 1961. Exactly five stamps each year depicting the best of classical and modern art, mostly by French artists.

The idea of an art post came to me in 1999 when I bought a set of acrylic paints and started painting by hand modern abstract art directly on the stamps, which were computer generated with faux perforations even.

The use and purpose of the stamps that I produce are very simple. To decorate all of my personal outgoing mail, and as mailer and editor for the Southern Oregon Philatelic Society, to be able to share with the stamp collecting community.

Having moved to Southern Oregon after returning from Europe, I could see nothing but beauty everywhere I turned. The designs that I have chosen to produce for this display remind me of this area that I knew in the eighties. But please don't ask me to try and articulate the connections. Perhaps twenty years from now a windstorm will remind you of this exhibit. And T will not ask you how that could be.

Frederich Mistral is considered by many to be the Father of  Provence, in Southern France, for his efforts at maintaining the native tongue of that region. He won the Nobel Prize in 1904 for literature. Mistral is also the name of a violent, cold dry northerly wind of this part of France. It is this man of words and letters, and the wind, that this local post is named.

From 1999 until Catalogue # 1 was released in 2001, the only Mistral stamps used were stamps inscribed Mistral with a value in black within a border, with faux perforations and a hand painted abstract design in red, green, orange and other colors. Values were 5, 10, 25 and 50 centimes. Since many hundred were thusly hand painted, there has been no attempt to catalogue these issues here.

Operator: J. Paul Zenz
104 Geneva St.
Medford, OR 97504 USA
(541) 776-7430
JP_ZENZ@msn.com