Forget wasting stamps on postage, there are far more creative ways make use of them. An artist and illustrator primarily focused on providing the artwork for children’s books, Chicago-based Diana Sudyka uses vintage European stamps as the starting point for her beautiful paintings. Painted with gouache, ink and watercolours, the works feature whimsical scenes derived from the miniature images that appear on the stamps. From whales circling the depths below stamps featuring etched ships to big cats roaming the hillside grounds of stamps printed with castles, Sudyka’s dreamy paintings retain an innocent, fairy tale quality.
Beginning by picking a stamp at random, she approaches each piece with no preconceptions of what she wants to create, letting the etched image inform each painting. You can check out and purchase her prints and paintings.
Images © Diana Sudyka
