collecting part 7

I love reading about people's collections and as well as enriching my vintage knowledge,  my eye is now drawn, in my travels, to those things my collectors are passionate about. I now stop at every golden book, frozen charlotte, paua shell piece, glassware, corning ware piece and vintage hat that I come across! 


This week's collector takes me back to my childhood passion for stamps. The first postage stamp, the Penny Black, was issued by Britain in 1840 and pictured a young Queen Victoria. It was produced without perforations (imperforate) and consequently had to be cut from the sheet with scissors in order to be used. Stamp collecting as a hobby began almost immediately in England.
At the height of its popularity in the early 20th century, there were over 200 million collectors worldwide. There are less today, but it continues to be a fascinating hobby. Our collector for this week is Aussie girl Lucia. She is an artist who is interested in memory and sentimentality associated with vintage things. Her beautiful collages can be seen in her etsy shop Luciaa.

Can you tell me a little about your background? (where do you live, how old you are, background education/interests, work, family etc)

I live in Otford, which is a small isolated suburb on the southern end of Sydney, I am a 28 years old and I am a mixed media artist.  I work at a photographic retouching studio but outside of my office hours I spend my time working in photography, painting, and paper collage.  My interests include reading, gardening, cooking and creating.

What do you collect?

I love to collect old vintage ephemera, particularly postage stamps.  I like how they depict scenes from another time and place, how they contain little visual stories.

How did you get started?

My grandfather and his father before him were both big stamp collectors so I inherited the hobby, and some of my collection, from them.  My grandfather Max was a massive collector and and I love rummaging through his cupboards filled with tins and albums of stamps, postcards and old photos. 

 
What attracted you to collecting them, in other words, why?

It started off as any easy hobby when I was a kid, there was a bit of a stamp collecting craze at my primary school.  When I was young I use to love the stamps that depict animals, but as I grew older my passion for collecting them evolved.  I started to acquire some really interesting old ones.  I still love them for their visual value and find some of the vintage artwork on them really pretty.  I have started adding them to my collage artworks and they have become a sort of signature to my work.

What is the holy grail of your collection? That is, what is it you are keen to get your hands on that you don't have?

The older the better.  I dont really care too much about their money value as a trader but just like the idea of owning something so small, fragile and old.

What are the best aspects about being a collector?

The stamps I find particularly visually appealing I incorporate into little paper collages which I frame and sell as artworks.  I find that gratifying because I it gives new life to those little treasures that may have ended up forgotten about in an old album or worse, in the waste paper bin.

What are the worst? 

It is addictive!  There are so many stamps out there and my collection will never be complete.  I have a few people who save theirs me so I end up with quite a lot.  It can be time consuming steaming, flattening and organising them.

Do you have a passion for collecting something? Would you like to be featured in my blog? I would love to hear from you!