SYDNEY, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- Australia Post's Year of the Snake stamps and the lucky snakes painted on a light rail tram in downtown Sydney to celebrate the Spring Festival are inspired by the traditional Chinese culture passed down by her father, according to their designer Chrissy Lau.
"The inspiration comes from my background. I'm often inspired by the conversations I used to have with my late father," Lau, a British-born Australian-Chinese multidisciplinary artist, told Xinhua in a recent interview.
"We used to chat for hours about Chinese culture, art and history. He knew a lot about Feng Shui and the lucky animal ornaments displayed to attract prosperity," she said.
Lau, 41, was born and raised in Yorkshire, England, to a father from Guangdong Province and a mother from Hong Kong. She has lived in Sydney since 2007.
This year marks Lau's fifth anniversary designing Australia Post's Lunar New Year stamps. The illustrations for the Year of the Snake blend traditional Chinese culture with a modern twist -- three snake stamps that look like lucky Feng Shui ornaments filled with gold coins and gold ingots.
"I've loved having the opportunity to share a piece of my heritage," Lau said. "It's a good connection between my upbringing in the West and also my cultural background of being Chinese."
Lau said she has two children and hopes to be able to pass on traditional Chinese culture to the next generation like her father did.
"It's very important to celebrate your culture and teach your children about your heritage," Lau said. "You can involve them in the design stage."
"Whenever I design a Lunar New Year design, I always run it past my children," she said. "They're always my inspiration. They're always checking, telling me if it's a fun design."
The "Lucky 8 Snakes" design on a Sydney light rail tram to celebrate the Chinese Spring Festival is Lau's new work this year.
In front of Sydney City Hall, the light rail tram painted with large red and gold snakes slowly approached -- the red lantern patterns and the Chinese character for "snake" were particularly prominent.
"This is my Lucky 8 Snakes On A Train design. It's inspired by lucky Feng Shui ornaments," Lau said. "It's a wonderful piece that I hope will bring a lot of joy to the passengers in Sydney."
The snakes sit amongst gold coins and ingots, plum blossoms, orchids, chrysanthemums, peony flowers, lanterns, and auspicious clouds -- all elements to symbolize wealth, perseverance, good luck, longevity, and prosperity.
At the end part of the lucky snakes illustrations are the designer's names -- Chrissy Lau in English and Liu Dingqi in Chinese.
Lau said a few years ago she decided to put both her Chinese name and English name on her illustrations. "I think it's quite nice to embrace your heritage and share your Chinese name," she said. ■