Oana is a graphic artist working from her home-studio in the Midwest. Her mixed-media illustrations are hand-drawn and reflect her unique visual approach and love for the natural world. Inspired by folk motives, flora, fauna, nostalgia, and everyday life, she is currently working on growing her stationery line (found in her online shop) that encourages heartfelt connection and communication with loved ones, near or far.
Have you designed a stamp before?
I haven’t designed a stamp for actual use—that would be a dream. I have illustrated a few decorative stamps for my own shop, where I actually used your pinhole perforated lick and stick sheets.
What was the most interesting or fun aspect of designing a poster stamp? What unique challenges did it present?
My work is very colorful and detailed, so I really wanted to keep a minimal palette for this series. The challenge was to keep just the right amount of detail so that the illustrations can look good on a small scale. I loved the two color palette challenge as well.
Tell us about the art. Did you create something new for this stamp?
The illustrations in this stamp sheet are from an ongoing personal collection inspired by Romanian folk motifs. They go back to my Romanian roots and childhood memories of leafing through my dad’s stamp albums and being inspired by them. I also incorporated floral elements with a folksy twist, since botanicals are a huge inspiration in my work.
Anything else?
I have always loved stamps and a few years ago my dad gifted me his famous stamp albums. I treasure them dearly and I am working on adding new beautiful stamps to the collection. It is so special to actually work on such a fun stamp related project with you. Thank you so much for the opportunity!