On September 11, Posti will release four new stamp publications with a total of six different stamps. The stamp design themes include stunning evening gowns, painterly photographs from a forest hike, the beautiful, harmonious calla lily and author Kalle Päätalo, with the 100th anniversary of his birth this year.
Statuesque evening gowns by fashion designer Mert Otsamo will be featured in dramatic stamps with a black background. The release of the stamps is related to Posti’s art award that Otsamo received in March. With the art award, now given out for the third time, Posti wants to increase people’s appreciation for stamps and to find new stamp artists. Mert Otsamo has designed clothes and jewelry for various celebrities for events such as galas, stages and the annual Independence Day Reception.
The stamps are based on evening gown drafts by Mert Otsamo. “Drafts are an important part of fashion design: with them, I can demonstrate to the customer what I am doing. I always make the drafts by hand with mixed media, using markers, felt-tip pens, watercolors, gold leaf and colored pencils,” says Otsamo.
On one of the stamps, you can see the brilliant golden sequin dress worn by top model Alexandra Escat accompanying actor Jasper Pääkkönen at the annual Independence Day Reception last year. The other stamp features a reddish silver dress that can be seen in an exhibition in Iittala & Arabia Design Centre Store in Helsinki from 12 to 15 September.
AD Paula Salviander is responsible for the graphic design of the Posti art award 2019 stamps. The stamps will be issued as a 10-stamp sheet containing 2 different domestic no-value indicator stamp designs.
Children and puppies hiking in the forest
Photographer Suvi Roiko has captured nostalgic moments of children playing in the forest with puppies for the Forest hike stamps. With her painterly portraits, the Tampere photographer wants to illustrate the relationships between children and animals. One stamp depicts a boy blowing into a hunting horn while sitting on some twigs with seven puppies, and the other shows a girl sleeping on a stump with a puppy.
The photographs for the stamps were taken in the village of Krääkkiö in Vesilahti. “At the photoshoot, I took photographs of four children from two families as well as seven puppies. The children’s family members helped in the photoshoot by holding flash equipment upright and catching runaway puppies, among other things. Although there were many moving parts, the atmosphere at the photoshoot was nice and relaxed,” Roiko says with a chuckle.
The Forest hike stamps will be issued as a 10-stamp sheet containing 2 different domestic no-value indicator stamp designs. There will also be a 2-stamp sheet that includes both Forest hike stamps.
The calla lily conveys grief, empathy and remembrance
September will also see the debut of a new stamp artist, illustrator Oona Himanen from Helsinki, who has designed a harmonious and dignified stamp featuring a calla lily that is suitable for condolence cards. “In addition to grief, the stamp conveys caring, empathy and remembrance. However, I did not want the stamp to be too melancholic. In my opinion, the calla lily is a flower that is suitable for many kinds of occasions, such as weddings.”
“I like the graphical appearance of the calla lily’s flower and it was interesting to explore it for this stamp. I used mixed media in the stamp illustration. I drew the picture by hand and painted the background with watercolors, after which I put the finishing touches on the picture with graphic design software.”
The domestic no-value indicator stamp Calla will be issued as a 10-stamp sheet.
The Kalle Päätalo stamp features the scenery of Iijoki
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of author Kalle Päätalo, Ari Lakaniemi and Susanna Rumpu have designed a stamp depicting the scenery of Iijoki River in Taivalkoski. “The corner of a red timber house in the stamp represents Kalle Päätalo’s home, Kallioniemi, which has almost become a pilgrimage destination for his readers,” explain Lakaniemi and Rumpu.
“Embedded into the flowing river current is some text from the first book in Päätalo’s Iijoki series. For it, we selected a font that looks like typewritten text because, for a long time, Päätalo typed his works with a typewriter,” the stamp designers say. The font for the stamp’s Kalle Päätalo text is also similar to the books’ covers. Furthermore, the stamp sheet’s top corner includes a black-and-white photograph of the author.
The domestic no-value indicator stamp Kalle Päätalo 100 years will be issued as a 10-stamp sheet.
First day event at Helsinki Main Post Office on September 11, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
The first day event will be organized at the Helsinki Main Post Office (Elielinaukio 2) on Wednesday, September 11, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. New stamps, first day covers and other stamp products will be on sale at the event, and visitors can get first day postmarks on their items. The designers of all the stamps are present from 1 p.m. until 3 p.m. in order to sign their work.
Further information:
Image material for the media >>
The official website for Mert Otsamo >>
View all the stamps available for sale in Posti’s online shop here:
