My first printed stamps

[Baic Ion Marius]

There are moments in an artist’s life that cannot easily be described in words. For me, one of those moments was holding in my hands my very first stamps printed by the Romanian Post. Not only as a simple collector, but as a graphic artist seeing my own creations transformed into real philatelic objects, printed, perforated, and ready to be placed into an album.

These three stamps represent a small part of my artistic universe, inspired by the Alba Carolina Citadel and the historical symbols of the city of Alba Iulia. Each composition preserves the graphic style I love most: monochrome drawing influenced by classical engraving and the atmosphere of old prints.

The first stamp depicts the Third Gate of the Alba Carolina Citadel in a dramatic, almost cinematic interpretation, created in dark tones. The other two stamps continue the same artistic direction, emphasizing architecture, historical symbols, and that nostalgic atmosphere of antique documents and engravings.

I must admit that I am still a novice when it comes to the world of artistamps and artistic philately. I am gradually discovering this fascinating field and still learning many things about techniques, presentation, and the way such creations are perceived by collectors. Even so, the satisfaction is enormous.

As a graphic artist, it gives me great pleasure to know that, alongside the other collectible stamps in my album, there are now some created by me as well, carrying my own drawings and artistic ideas. It is a special feeling to open an album and see, among philatelic issues and historical pieces, your own works transformed into stamps.

These first prints hold immense sentimental value for me. They represent not only small collectible objects, but also the beginning of a new creative direction that I hope to explore more and more in the future.

Perhaps this is only the beginning of a larger series of artistic stamps inspired by history, architecture, medieval symbolism, and classical graphic drawing. And if these first three stamps remain in an album many years from now, I hope they will still preserve the emotion with which they were created.

[Isabelle Dehennin]

Congratulations!