NO. 2-2012 ENGLISH 12•121 WeWf focus on the 50th anniversary of the Åland Art Museum in 2013 with the issue of a stamp presenting Guy Frisk’s painting Yearning. 14 • S/S Ålandsfärjan to be featured on a stamp in the passenger ferry series in February. WITHWITH AA PREFERENCEPREFERENCE FORFOR THETHE SURREAL 18 • BoBL Lundwall d ll SURREAL is the artist behind a WWF booklet depicting four different species of water birds. posten.ax 2 • ÅLANDSPOSTEN FRIMÄRKEN WWF bird trilogy Our fi rst WWF stamps featured Eagle Owls (1996), then came Steller’s Eiders (2001), and it is now time for Åland’s third booklet of WWF stamps featuring water birds. On 5 April 2013, we issue four exquisite stamps featuring two types of loons and two types of grebes, all painted by Bo Lundwall, one of the most renowned bird illustrators in Sweden. The idea of having loons on stamps originated from Finnish loon enthusiast Sandi Fuchs, who has been drawing our attention to this bird species for some years. An extra feather in our cap is the WWF label on this stamp issue. With hundreds of lakes in Åland, most in the northern parts, people interested in water birds can study a large variety of species here, some of which are now to be featured on stamps. nita äggblom DIRECTOR ÅLAND POST STAMPS 2•2012 ÅLAND POST LTD STAMPS P.O. Box 1100 AX-22111 MARIEHAMN ÅLAND, Finland Contents TELEPHONE EDITORS Editorial 2 From Finland: 018 636 639 Anita Häggblom From abroad: Katja Rikberg News 3 +358 18 636 641 Heidemarie Eriksson Versatile Jonas 4 Telephone hours: Björn Wennström Mon–Fri 9.00–16.00 Cecilia Mattsson Sheep in spring 11 In July Mon–Fri 9.00–15.00 TEXT Åland Art Museum 50 years 12 FAX Katja Rikberg S/S Ålandsfärjan 14 From Finland: TRANSLATION 018 636 608 Kristine Lybeck Sund The Post supports Pink Ribbon 16 From abroad: +358 18 636 608 LAYOUT Long-tailed Duck decoys 17 Cecilia Mattsson INTERNET From robins to elephants 18 www.posten.ax PRODUCTION Nordic stamps: Posten Åland Ab Christmas seals help 23 www.topoftheworld.nu Waasa Graphics 2012 First Day Covers 24 E-MAIL COVER PHOTO [email protected] John Häggblom 2012 Exhibition Cards 25 VISITING ADDRESS 2012 Special Cancellations 26 Flygfältsvägen10 Sviby, Jomala Calendar 27 We reserve the right to change the information contained in this publication. ÅLANDSPOSTEN FRIMÄRKEN • 3 NEWS hange of telephone number Our service number 020 340 020, previously available to our customers in Finland, was CHRISTMAS CANCEL discontinued on 1 June. Customers in Finland may now contact Åland Post Stamps on phone A special Christmas cancel will be available for number 018 636 639. your Christmas greetings and letters sent from Åland even this year. In use from 15 November to 31 December 2012, the cancel with a Christmas motif is applied just like any ordinary date cancel. Send your self-addressed covers for cancellation in a cover marked “Christmas cancellation” to: Åland Post Stamps, P.O. Box 1100, AX-22111 MARIEHAMN, Åland, Finland. Remember to frank your covers with Åland stamps. State e-mail address, win a package To stay up-to-date with our current offers, news and events, we advise you to please send us your e-mail address. When doing so, you take part in the draw for 5 secret parcels holding philatelic products for around €50! Send your e-mail address to [email protected] no later than 31 December 2012. Write ”Secret parcel” in the subject fi eld. The winners will be informed individually and published on our homepage www.posten.ax. 4 • ÅLANDSPOSTEN FRIMÄRKEN s an established full-time artist in Åland, onas ilén has accomplished a great variety of projects over the last 20 years, some of which are stamps, book illustrations, scenography and a fountain. till, he has many ideas he wishes to realize in the future; his vision of a stamp motif is rather original. VERSATILE JONAS Artist Jonas Wilén originally comes from Eckerö but now lives with his family in Mariehamn. However, his studio, his exhibition hall and his frame workshop remain in Eckerö. ÅLANDSPOSTEN FRIMÄRKEN • 5 So far Jonas Wilén has created six stamps for Åland end, we decided on this. Now, afterwards, I see that Post as well as a number of philatelic products, the style resembles that of my uncle Tage’s (Tage including this year’s exhibition cards on a coat of arms Wilén, painter), a style which was also requested.” theme. Together with Jonas, we took a closer look at the stamps and asked him to give his views on them. CIRCUS (EUROPA), ISSUED IN 2002 “I was keen on presenting a positive image of the MIDSUMMER CELEBRATION (EUROPA), ISSUED IN 1998 circus on this stamp, and decided to do an elephant. “This was my fi rst stamp and the Post’s instructions However, circus animals is a sensitive topic, so I were clear. I made quite a few sketches and, in the chose to paint a young and lively elephant, JOHN HÄGGBLOM 6 • ÅLANDSPOSTEN FRIMÄRKEN veryone keeps developing imagining that it was likely to be released after its performance,” Jonas playfully relates, but with an undertone of seriousness. HOLIDAY (EUROPA), ISSUED IN 2004 “This was a freer theme and I made quite a few different sketches, all of them involving a boat in a natural harbour.” OLYMPIC GAMES, ISSUED IN 2004 “The regulations applying to the issue of an Olympic stamp are quite strict; the Olympic rings in particular may not be treated any way you like, Jonas has so far created 6 stamps for Åland Post. so the stamp must be checked and approved by the His fi rst stamp was issued in 1998. Olympic Committee. But it was really fun doing the Olympic stamp and I found the motif rather challenging. It wasn’t easy to depict a large stadium in such a small format.” a fact that I quite appreciated. Nobody could double-check it against old photos or the like.” GIRLS’ FOOTBALL, ISSUED IN 2007 “I enjoyed creating the Girls’ football stamp. As a NOTICES A DEVELOPMENT former football player, I found it amusing to illus- Looking back on his own stamp production, he trate a dodge,” Jonas explains. He did not have to notices an artistic development and clearly recog- do any research before realizing this motif – it was nizes the difference between his fi rst stamp in 1998 all in his head already. and his latest issued in 2009. “I’m most pleased with the motif of the stamp CINEMA 100 YEARS, ISSUED IN 2009 Cinema 100 years, and that feels good” he declares. “Given a free hand in connection with this stamp, I He admits that he will often fi nd errors in his decided to illustrate the fi rst fi lm kiss, using the hats previous work and knows that he would do things worn by the audience as a time marker.” differently today. “Since I couldn’t fi nd any references to the fi rst “Still, I accept it as a fact, everyone keeps devel- cinema in Åland I was free to create my own image, oping.” ÅLANDSPOSTEN FRIMÄRKEN • 7 JOHN HÄGGBLOM Jonas works with both illustrations and paintings and, to be at his most creative, he prefers to maintain a balance between the two. 8 • ÅLANDSPOSTEN FRIMÄRKEN t was like icing on the cake having VIVID ILLUSTRATIONS A CHALLENGE to create such a different motif Jonas found this year’s exhibition cards featuring coats of arms surprisingly funny to make. “And yet, the creation of the motifs was strictly The process of creating stamps and exhibition regulated.” cards differs in a number of ways. Coats of arms not only consist of plane surfaces “Obviously, we’re talking of many motifs in the and colour blocks but also have structure, and the case of the cards, which I fi nd exciting. Working challenge was to make them appear vivid. with stamps, however, is more bound to tradition, Googling the cities for all the coats of arms, he hence more fun.” made certain efforts to cross-check the motifs. “The coats of arms of Paris and Essen, for exam- NO REGRETS ple, are very detailed and they required some extra Despite his young age, 38 years, Jonas has worked as attention as opposed to that of Stockholm.” a full-time artist for some 20 years. His decision to Since Beijing does not have a coat of arms, Jonas commit full-time to being an artist was a combina- consulted with the Stamp Committee and decided tion of design and coincidence. to feature a dragon, seeing that 2012 is the Year of “I completed a 1-year course at the Basis School the Dragon. of Art in Stockholm in the beginning of the 1990s “It was like icing on the cake having to create and had planed to continue my studies. But in this such a different motif,” Jonas smiles. connection, I was invited to one exhibition after another and things started coming along nicely.” TRADITIONAL STAMP COMMISSIONS He doesn’t regret having decided to commit Jonas has painted exhibition cards previously. In whole-heartedly to his art. 2002, he created 10 cards depicting buildings. “Artists in general are extremely conservative and “I enjoyed fi nding landmarks for every city, unwilling to give up. Rather than quitting all together, painting them from a different angle.” we would rather take a job on the side if we must.” JOHN HÄGGBLOM To also get a foothold in Stockholm and Helsinki, Jonas dreams of having enough time to create a collection of paintings for presentation to galleries in these cities.