Åland Post Stamps 1-2023

Stamp highlights world cultural heritage page 6

No. 1 2023

Meet the illustrator of 2023 Europa stamp

page 14

Are you aware of the upcoming stamp designs for 2023?

Check out our presentation of all Åland stamp issues for 2023 on our website or YouTube channel Åland Post Stamps. Discover all the new stamp designs to look forward to over the year and pick out your favourites. Also keep an eye out for our new stamp films featuring some of this year’s stamp design artists, which also take you behind the scenes of the creative process. All the films have Swedish, Finnish or English subtitles.

Have you discovered our new webshop?

Åland Post Stamps’ website and webshop have been revamped, and now offer a faster user experience and expanded search options. You no longer need to set up an account in order to place an order. All news is published first online and purchasing your Åland and Finnish stamps from our webshop is a smooth and simple process. Visit alandstamps.com today and explore our webshop. We hope that the new website will inspire you to expand your collection.

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A greeting from the Islands of Peace

Spring and summer are on the way, bringing a hopeful assurance of brighter times with budding greenery, sunny days and balmy summer nights.

Despite their diminutive size, stamps can convey powerful messages of hope and solidarity or nostalgia and tradition. And used for postage they carry their message onward to your recipients. In this issue you can read about much-loved summer cottages, thriving boat-building traditions, and get to know the artist behind this year’s Åland peace stamp.

Happy reading!

Gunilla Häggblom Communications & PR Åland Post Stamps

We would like to present this year’s stamp booklet featuring the three winning summer cottages from the Åland Post’s photo competition in summer 2022. Artist Lasse Sjööblom has provided the illustrations depicting Åland cottage life. The issue date is 9 June.

The much-loved summer cottage

Summer cottages and cottage life are clearly a much-loved tradition among Ålanders, as demonstrated by all the incredible entries for Åland Post’s summer 2022 photo competition, with summer idylls and favourite hideaways from across Åland. The jury faced an exciting and fun challenge picking out just three winners from among all the wonderful gems submitted. One common factor proved to be seclusion and proximity to nature and the water, but also the fact that cottages provide a gathering place for friends and family and somewhere to relax. The jury identified three variants of the Åland summer cottage, as represented by the three winning entries: a 19th-century croft, a combined bathhouse/sauna from the 1950s and a modern summer residence.

Experienced stamp artist Lasse Sjööblom was given the task of illustrating the

stamp issue:

“I was very honoured to be asked to do the entire issue. It was fun getting to create a coherent theme from postmark to postage stamps, and ensuring that they would work both together and individually. Once the competition had concluded, I only had a short space of time to come up with the initial sketches. Following approval of these I began working on incorporating various summer activities, such as bathing, fishing and gardening around the cottages, into the stamp images, based on pictures I had received from the owners, and that was probably what took the most time. My style has a feel of engraving technique. In other words, I create a layer of fine lines first using a felt-tip pen. After that I add colour to the motif using coloured pencils. This makes the lines in the drawing sharper and more distinct in the final print on the stamps.”

The owner of the croft , Ramona Wesén from Mariehamn, explains that she entered their cottage on a whim after having seen the competition on Facebook. She and her husband had long dreamed of owning their own croft. They finally found what they were looking for in the tailor’s cottage from 1854 in Eckerö, with its old stove, handmade window frames, elegant panelled doors and a fantastic vista, and they have been lovingly restoring it since purchasing it in 2015.

“My husband and I and our two dogs live the simple summer life here on nature’s terms, with no heating, running water or TV. We try to spend as much time as we can at the croft, weather permitting. We have no heating, just a kitchen stove and an electric heater in the bedroom,” says Ramona.

Enjoying the simple life is also the attraction for Sandra Tiidus from Stockholm, on the island of Finngrundet in the Föglö archipelago. Sandra’s paternal grandparents acquired the tiny island of just 1,000m²

in the 1950s and shipped two bathhouses and a sauna there to form a collective unit. Sandra tells us what it’s like to have a cottage on your own island:

“Unbeatable! Jumping in the boat to get here puts you in a holiday mood straight off. And we can enjoy the sea and the sun in all directions from sunrise to sunset. After sunset we play cards and board games by candlelight. As we don’t have electricity, we spend quality time together instead of sitting in front of the TV or at our computers.”

The third stamp shows a modern holiday home, nominated by Nils-Gustaf Eriksson in Mariehamn. ‘Strandskatan’, as the cottage in Eckerö is called, is a combination of a flat-pack house and self-build, made up of a sauna, sauna chamber and undercover outdoor kitchen on the jetty.

“It’s somewhere to escape to, where we can enjoy the sauna, our grandchildren can go swimming, and we can set our nets and fish.”

FDC Summer cottages

Price: €8.50 Code: 416-000442

In Roslagen on Sweden’s east coast, Lars Sjööblom is working on the stamps in his studio.

442

Summer cottages

Date of issue: 9 June 2023

Artist: Lars Sjööblom

Design: Johanna Finne

Edition: 25 000

Köp dina frimärken på alandstamps.com

Denomination: 6 × Inrikes

Stamp size: 53.5 × 24 mm

Booklet size (folded): 53.5 × 107 mm

Paper: 110 g/m²

Perforation: 13 per 2 cm

Process: 4-colour offset

Printer: Cartor Security Printers

SOMMARSTUGOR

Det här frimärkshäftet är en hyllning till det åländska stuglivet. Visste du att det finns över 8000 sommarstugor på Åland?

De tre stugorna som porträtteras på frimärkena togs fram genom en fototävling bland allmänheten sommaren 2022: TORPET – skräddartorp från 1854, Eckerö FINNGRUNDET – badstuga/bastu, 1950-tal, Föglö STRANDSKATAN – modernt sommarviste, Eckerö

Lars Sjööblom (born 1956) is a Swedish engraver and stamp artist. His first stamp for Åland Post was an engraving of Kökarsören lighthouse for the 2008 stamp booklet. His most recent work, in 2019, depicted the provincial bird of Åland – the white-tailed eagle. @larssjooblom

The cottages on the island of Finngrundet adorn both booklet cover and first day cancel. You find the modern and functional building of “Strandskatan” with the water and boat right outside the door on the first day cover.

On 9 May, Åland Post will highlight the clinker boat tradition, a Nordic boat-building method now inscribed on UNESCO’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Making her debut as a stamp designer, artist Danelle Bergström from Australia has captured the construction of the sailing yacht Alanta and was fascinated by the sculptural form of the boat.

Nordic boat-building tradition is alive and well on Åland

The sailing yacht Alanta is a reconstruction of an Åland yacht from the early 1800s, and also the first to be built on Åland since that time. At 14 metres long and 4 metres wide, the boat has been built in the traditional way in pine using the clinker method with no templates. The construction was based on photographs, old drawings and measurements from similar boats. The unique knowledge and skills were in danger of being lost, but the Alanta sailing club hopes that this hands-on project will help in preserving and passing them on.

Since summer 2022 , the boat has been seaworthy, but the interior is still to be completed, which will be done over winter 2023. Three boat-builders, a team of ten craftspeople and countless willing volunteers have contributed to the project; for instance, stamp artist Allan Palmer designed and produced the rigging.

back over 2,000 years. The hull planks are laid overlapping each other and are nailed together. So the sides of the boat are not smooth, but stepped. In December 2021, the tradition of building and sailing clinker boats was inscribed on UNESCO’s List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, as the first pan-Nordic tradition.

Artist Danelle Bergström normally follows an intuitive process for her work, so this stamp project was a challenge. “It took me a long time to come up with the right approach, but it’s also good to take on a challenge and stamps were after all something I had never done before. I did a lot of sketches, as I was fascinated by the lines of the boat. I felt that colours were a distraction, so instead I painted the negative area around the boat. This brought the structure and the builders’ movements into the light. Paring back the details produced an interesting result.”

The clinker boat tradition is unique to the Nordic region, with roots that date FDC boatbuilding

Price: €2.40 Code: 416-000439

439

Boatbuilding

Date of issue: 9 May 2023

Artist: Danelle Bergström

Design: Johanna Finne

Edition: 45 000

Denomination: €1.40

Stamp size: 40 × 30 mm

Sheet size: 2 × 12 stamps

Paper: 110 g/m²

Perforation: 13 per 2 cm

Process: 4-colour offset

Printer: Cartor Security Printers

You see the Martime Quarter in Mariehamn on the first day cover, with the sailing yacht moored at the dock. The first day cancel depicts the mark of Alanta, designed by the Alanta sailing club.

Danelle Bergström (born 1957) is an established artist in her native Australia and has also been living and working on Åland for the past couple of years. She is known for her evocative landscapes and portraits.

@danellebergstrom

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Date of birth

Finnish stamps

On 9 May, two Europa stamps will be released representing the theme of peace. One of the motifs is a shared design for all countries that issue Europa stamps, while the other is Åland Post’s competition entry, designed by Finnish illustrator Sofia Pusa.

Stamps carrying a message of peace

PostEurop, the joint association representing European public postal operators, made the decision at short notice to switch to a theme of peace for 2023 on the suggestion of Ukraine Post. At the same time a design competition was announced, and Åland Post was one of 29 postal services to submit an entry for a shared stamp motif that will now be issued by all participating postal services.

The competition was won by Post Luxembourg. The motif was designed by Linda Bos and Runa Egilsdottir, who describe their vision as follows: “The world needs a new symbol of peace that unites all nations. Cultural differences are often an obstacle to peace and the world would be a better place if humans could respect and understand one another’s differences. Our design depicts a visual metaphor for a peaceful, integrated and cooperative society, where humans embrace each other’s cultures. It was inspired by the Celtic love

knot symbol with its interwoven hearts and colour palette illustrating all the nations of the world. The addition of hands with interlocking fingers conveys a message of mutual respect.”

The second stamp shows Åland Post’s design entry and is the work of Finnish illustrator and debut stamp designer Sofia Pusa. She has delivered a fresh take on the peace symbol.

“Even though the established peace symbols are cliché, they are also immediately recognisable, and I wanted the theme of peace to come through clearly in the illustration. I chose to place this symbol with maritime roots in a new context and link it to something new to bring joy to the observer. The stamp illustrates a sunrise over familiar rocky Åland shores. The sun and its rays form the peace sign and the design as a whole symbolises hope and a new beginning,” explains Sofia.

FDC 2023 Europa, peace

Price: €6.60 Code: 416-000440

On the first day cover, you see sea asters together with signal flags showing the letters N and D, of which the peace sign is based. The flag letters N and D stand for nuclear disarmament. Flowers form the international peace symbol on the first day cancel.

440 & 441

Europa – Peace

Date of issue: 9 May 2023

Artists: Linda Bos, Runa Egilsdottir & Sofia Pusa

Design: Johanna Finne

Editions: 2 × 45 000

Denominations: 2 × Europa

Stamp size: 35 × 35 mm

Sheet size: 2 × 15 stamps

Paper: 110 g/m²

Perforation: 13 per 2 cm

Process: 4-colour offset

Printer: Cartor Security Printers

Illustrator Sofia Pusa makes her debut this year as a stamp artist for Åland Post with a colourful stamp. Here you can find out more about the artist and her world of colours.

Inspired by nature

Nature is Sofia’s source of inspiration, which stems from all the summers spent at the family’s summer cottage in the Finnish countryside as a child. Sofia explains:

“Every summer I would swim in the lake by the summer cottage and pick berries and mushrooms in the forest. I also started drawing and painting at an early age and could spend hours painting with oils and trying to copy paintings by well-known artists and impressionists. My favourite was Van Gogh. That influence still shows in my work today. I enjoy mixing bold and vibrant colours and picturesque patterns with motifs from nature. Even though my inspiration comes from nature, I’m drawn even more to the surreal, fantasy and dream worlds and the power of the subconscious.”

Sofia currently lives in London, where she works as a freelance illustrator and graphic designer for Finnish and international clients. She likes to take on a variety of projects. The stamp assignment for Åland Post was her first within the field of philately and gave her a taste for more.

“I don’t really have any favourite projects. All projects can be interesting. A project that seems trivial initially can ultimately prove to be one of the most fun. The stamp was a project that I hugely enjoyed. I would be happy to illustrate more stamps in the future,” she says.

Sofia shares her thoughts on the stamp creation process:

“The biggest challenge was communicating the theme of peace on such a tiny

scale and I chose to combine traditional painting and digital technology to create the illustration. I decided on the familiar peace symbol to ensure that the theme of peace came through clearly in the image. I also found that Gerald Holtom’s peace sign, created for a campaign for nuclear disarmament in 1958, had maritime roots, so that tied in a fresh, new way with Åland, which is nicknamed the Islands of Peace. In order to avoid clichés, I decided to include the symbol in the form of the sun and its rays, rising over the rocky red granite cliffs of the Åland archipelago. I visited Åland as a child and I remember its natural beauty and unique atmosphere.”

Sofia Pusa is a Finnish illustrator who has won numerous industry awards. She holds both a BA in graphic design from Finland and a master’s degree in marketing and economics from Helsinki, which included exchange studies in Mexico City.

@sofia.pusa

Above you find Sofia’s three design suggestions for the Europa stamp, and the illustration picked for the stamp.

For the very first time, Åland Post gave an artist free rein to create a stamp motif. The “Open Edition” assignment went to Finnish art photographer Christoffer Relander, who decided to portray a personal memory from childhood summers. The issue date is 9 June.

Childhood memories in a jar

Christoffer Relander had no hesitation in accepting the assignment, but nevertheless found it a challenge at first.

“Having absolute freedom gives so many avenues to go down and brings slight decision anxiety. But once the idea came, it was rewarding and fun to complete the process,” he says.

Christoffer has been a photographer since 2009 and is now an award-winning and internationally renowned art photographer. In 2020, he and his family moved from Tammisaari in Finland to Åland. He explains that he knew he wanted to create something personal with a link to Åland, where he also has roots.

“When planning Bark boat in a jar, I thought about keywords like childhood, nostalgia, summer and archipelago. I then remembered this type of wooden boat that I made once as a child with my father at our summer place in Bromarv in Finland.

I decided to recreate the boat, but this time with my grandfather. He once made them with his father too. In order to involve yet another generation in the process, I asked my seven-year-old daughter to sketch the illustration for the postmark.

The glass jar is a recycled jam jar that I photographed in my studio. The concept is recognisable from my series of photos Jarred & Displaced, in which I ‘filled’ glass jars with a variety of environments. But things went somewhat awry when I was photographing the boat on the water. I should in fact have waited for the wind to die down. The wind caught the sail and the boat headed out to sea. As luck would have it, it was capsized by a wave and later floated ashore. For me, the stamp is like a preserved childhood memory. Hopefully, other people will also identify with it and feel a sense of nostalgia when they see the stamp.”

FDC Bark boat in a jar

Price: €4.00 Code: 416-000443

443

Bark boat in a jar

Date of issue: 9 June 2023

Artist: Christoffer Relander

Design: Christoffer Relander & Johanna Finne

Edition: 45 000

Denomination: Världen

Stamp size: 30 × 40 mm

Sheet size: 2 × 12 stamps

Paper: 110 g/m²

Perforation: 13 per 2 cm

Process: 4-colour offset

Printer: Cartor Security Printers

Christoffer Relander is known for his multipleexposure photos that have garnered international attention. In early 2022, he represented Finland at the Beijing International Art Biennale. He also did the photography for Åland Post’s stamp book ‘A story through Åland stamps 2022’. @chris_relander

Build your own bark boat! On the first day cover, you find all the pieces used to build the wooden boat. The maximum card celebrates going barefoot and playing outdoors in the summer.

Two different drawings adorn the first day and special cancels.

Postcards depicting life on Åland

This year’s series of postal stationery cards entitled ‘Greetings from Åland’ sees illustrator Hannamari Ruohonen sharing all the things she loves about life on Åland. The issue date is 9 May.

The four postal stationery cards provide a condensed representation of Åland, based on four different themes: food & crafts, sun & summer, sea & water and culture & history. Hannamari explains her concept:

“I thought about visitors who come to Åland and want to know more about life here. At the same time the cards, with the perforated edges, mimicked the stamp shape – it should taste of stamp glue when you’re on holiday and send off your greetings!”

The maritime card highlights important

features when you live surrounded by the sea: lifeboats, lighthouses, buoys and smooth-running archipelago ferry services. The historical card also ties in with life by the sea, mixed with vibrant cultural traditions and attractions on Åland.

“On the card you also see a hint of life as a mariner’s wife in the form of the female figure gazing anxiously towards the horizon with a child in her arms and the wind tugging at her clothing – it’s a work of art that I find very moving,” says Hannamari.

The final two cards focus on typical summer activities like bathing and fishing,

as well as showing a selection of craft and food products to be found on Åland.

Hannamari is also a children’s author, and books are a huge passion of hers:

“I get to work in my dream job every day. The idea of getting to create something that everyone has access to – thanks to the wonderful Finnish library service – is hugely gratifying. For me, my work as an illustrator and author is about telling stories, and the idea of images giving the observer a moment of happiness, calm or new thoughts is hugely inspiring to me.”

Displaying details from each card, the postage paid symbols on the adress side of the cards indicate that postage is included in the price of the cards. “Åland” written with smooth and elegant brush strokes adds the finishing touch on the first day cancel.

Hannamari Ruohonen (born 1979) is an illustrator and children’s author. She has created more than 40 picture books to date. Originally from Tampere, she has lived on Vårdö in the Åland archipelago with her husband and children since 2011.

@hannamariruohonen

Greetings from Åland, 4 postal stationery cards

Size: 118 × 180 mm

Edition: 4 × 2500

Price: €14.80 Code: 315-202314

Next subscription delivery

(Note! Preliminary time of delivery)

June

October

1 May

11 September

Boatbuilding (1), Europa - peace (2), Summer cottages (booklet), Bark boat in a jar (1), 1 maximum card , 4 postal stationery cards

Sepac -traditional markets (1), Sustainability (mini-sheet), Dragon (miniature sheet), Christmas 2023 (2), 1 maximum card, Christmas seals

The approximate times of deliveries are listed at alandstamps.com/en/pages/stopptider-och-leveranstider. Remember that you can read and download all magazines at alandstamps.com. Åland Post will take part in the following exhibitions during spring 2023: Turun kevät in Turku, Finland, 22-23 April, and IBRA 2023 in Essen, Germany, 25-28 May.

Special cancellations 2023

Current information is listed at alandstamps.com, where illustrations of the cancels are added subsequently. To obtain special cancellations on your own pre-franked and self-addressed mail items, please send them to us in good time prior to the actual cancellation date. Subject to change.

Notices

Order the commemorative Postal Boat Race card with this year’s special and “over-the-sea” cancellations using the order coupon on p. 11. Last day of ordering and submitting your pre-franked and self-addressed covers to obtain the special cancel is 8 June.

Note that the postage tariffs changed on 9 February. You will find the current tariffs and the current value of no-value indicator stamps on the homepage: alandstamps.com/en/pages/portotabell

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Editors

Gunilla Häggblom

Johanna Finne

Outi Bergman

Layout Outi Bergman

Production

April Kommunikation

Åland Post Ltd

Stamps PO Box 1100

AX-22111 Mariehamn

ÅLAND, Finland

E-mail stamps@alandpost.com

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Åland Post Stamps

Visiting address Flygfältsvägen 10, Sviby, Jomala

Text Gunilla Häggblom

Translation

Comactiva Language Partner AB

Grano

Find currently available Åland stamps and collectibles at www.alandstamps.com