Halfway through his 12-year commission from the US Postal Service to design stamps commemorating Lunar New Year, artist Kam Mak reflected on his inspiration for the series.

The Hong Kong-born, New York-raised Mak said his own heritage is a common theme in his work, including the stamps.

The latest design, for the Year of the Snake, references a favorite activity from the most important holiday in Chinese culture: setting off firecrackers at midnight to greet the new year. Firecrackers are meant to scare away evil spirits and renew hope for the future.

"For me, the bang and the smell of firecrackers is Lunar New Year. I want to share my memories with others. Not only Chinese, but also people in the US," said Mak, whose Year of the Snake stamp also incorporates traditional motifs of paper-cut designs and Chinese calligraphy.

Mak said lighting firecrackers on the eve of Lunar New Year was a highlight of his childhood in Hong Kong. He was able to carry on the tradition in Manhattan's Chinatown after his family immigrated to the United States in the 1970s - before New York police began cracking down on individual use of fireworks in the city.

The artist, who now lives in Brooklyn and teaches painting at Manhattan's Fashion Institute of Technology, wrote the 2001 book My Chinatown: One Year in Poems. It's about a young boy growing up in Chinatown, based on Mak's experience.

Paintings by Mak have appeared on six Lunar New Year stamps since the current USPS series began in 2008. Upon the series' completion in 2019 with the Year of the Pig, the Postal Service will have issued a stamp for each year in the Chinese zodiac calendar.

This is the second series of USPS-commissioned Lunar New Year stamps. The first was issued from 1992 through 2003, featuring illustrations of the 12 animals of the zodiac. The paper-cut designs and calligraphy in the current stamps were also used in the original series.

Mak departed from the earlier series when he proposed his designs to the USPS in hope of winning the commission. Postal officials were taken with the personal stories behind his designs, he said.

"I think the stamps should tell much more enriching stories regarding Chinese New Year," he said. "There are lots of elements beside zodiac animals."

Mak has relied on his own holiday memories to come up with non-animal symbols for each year's stamp. He chose a traditional Chinese red lantern for the Year of the Rat in 2008, a tiger-dance costume for the Year of the Ox (2009), a narcissus for the Year of the Tiger (2010), oranges for the Year of the Rabbit (2011) and a dragon-dance costume for the Year of the Dragon (2012).

"I didn't break the tradition - zodiac animals are still on the stamp," the artist said, indicating small, one-color graphic elements on the margins. "You can see stories and memories about Lunar New Year as well."

The Year of the Snake stamp went on sale in mid-January.

"With this year's limited-edition stamp, we're providing our customers the opportunity to appreciate the beauty of these stamps and use them in Lunar New Year's greetings to friends and family," Nagisa Manabe, USPS' chief marketing and sales officer, said in presenting the series.

Qi Xiuying, 65, said she has been collecting the Mak-designed stamps since their debut in 2008. "I can feel emotion through his stamps," she said. "The firecrackers bring back childhood memories."

Qi is looking forward to the next installment in the series, for the Year of the Horse. "I am excited to see what will be on the stamp. Maybe dumplings?" she said.

Everyone will have to wait, because Mak won't reveal the 2014 design.

"Most people know that next year is the Year of the Horse, but they don't know what else will be on the stamp," he said. "It is like a secret gift you receive for Lunar New Year."

haidanhu12@chinadailyusa.com