Postcrossing Blog

Louise Neumann (and LouPaper) need no introduction to the Postcrossing community. Her U.S. state, seasonal garden, and other themed postcards are collected by thousands of us.

She made time for an email interview with Clarisse (aka Cstar9) last summer, and we’re so grateful!

What music should people listen to as they read this interview?

Something cheerful and whimsical! Whatever puts you in a good mood. I think that would reflect my approach to my work, and the way I want it to make people feel.

How did LouPaper get started?

When I first started LouPaper, I was trying to see if I could make a career of drawing. I have a degree in illustration, but I didn’t know how to turn my passion into something that could earn a living. After college, I did some editorial commissions and other odd art jobs, but I was still trying to find fluency in my technique and confidence in myself.

I had this idea of practicing my craft by simply choosing themes that I loved and drawing them. I thought maybe I could sell them as prints, notebooks, etc.

Obvious question: Why postcards?

The day I dipped my toe into the world of postcards was the biggest fluke of my career. I had been selling art prints for a while, and I was working on a collection of U.S. state prints.

I hadn’t particularly considered postcards, but in 2019, a lady contacted me on Etsy asking if I could turn one of my state designs into a postcard for her wedding in North Carolina. I agreed and created 100 cards, and the funny thing is that she never actually purchased them. I never heard from her again.

With nothing to lose, I made them available in my shop, assuming I’d spend the next five years trying to sell 100 postcards. Who buys postcards? To say that I have since been educated on the prolific and magnificent Postcrossing community is an understatement. The speed with which I was embraced and swept up by this community still astounds me.

Even though I don’t have the time to send a lot of snail-mail myself, I feel fully immersed in the snail-mail world from a creative standpoint. I also receive a lot of postcards from the fabulous snail-mail community (truly the kindest people in the world) and I think that informs my work a lot as LouPaper continues to grow and evolve.

Garden plants are omni-present characters in your postcards. How is your garden connected to your work?

When I was first starting LouPaper, my husband Forrest and I had moved to Tennessee and were also starting our first garden. There was so much to learn and it was on my mind all the time. I was learning what grew best in each season – identifying seeds, different plants, garden zones, and so on. One of the first things I ever published in my Etsy shop was a set of four seasonal garden prints, which so encapsulate that period of my life, it’s like stepping into a time machine every time I see those designs.

Fast forward ten years and the garden still plays a role in my process as my favorite thinking spot and mood enhancer. It is also very “me”, as I love to be creating and producing things all the time.

Whether it’s drawing, growing a garden, or cooking a meal, I am definitely my happiest when I’m creating something.

What are some of the elements that define LouPaper for you? What do you hope people take away from your work?

I think one thing that sets my art apart is my traditional pen and ink approach. More and more art is digital these days – which I think actually opens up a whole world of amazing techniques and design elements – but working on the computer is my least favorite thing to do, so I don’t!

I have distinct themes (food, seasons, holidays, states). I also like round numbers and neat things and things that “fit”, which I think is reflected in my work.

Occasionally I will create a postcard that doesn’t really fit the rest of my collection of work, and I will release those designs as limited-edition postcards, so that I can explore and enjoy the theme, send it out into the world, and then let it go.

Maybe this goes without saying, but I LOVE what I do. I literally could not enjoy it more. I hope the people who enjoy my cards can feel that positive energy coming out through the designs, really embodying the spirit of “happy mail.”

I love the thought that my cards connect people around the world and bring a little happiness to the mailbox. What could be more rewarding than that?

What’s the first step to getting an idea from your head to the page? Do you tend to sketch components one at a time and then eventually group them into a piece, or do you get ideas for whole cards?

I always want my work to be consistent and recognizable as a cohesive “brand.” With that always at the back of my mind, I’ve developed almost a formula for the way I create for LouPaper.

I am always nervous when I begin any new theme, feeling unsure with my drawings and ideas – maybe like the theme is missing the mark somehow. But I have learned to trust my process and push through my nerves.

I’m the biggest list-maker you’ll ever meet. I have notebooks and little sheets of paper and post-it notes everywhere. To organize future projects, I have to-do lists that are as long as each arm, and I’m constantly thinking of new ideas. I also receive a lot of suggestions from people who would like to see a certain design, so I never feel that I am without inspiration.

Starting with lists, I hone in on a theme, then sketch out a whole slew of different elements for that subject. I don’t have a particular composition in mind, I just create all the little pieces that I want to include, then put them together and keep shuffling the parts around until I finally land upon the puzzle that fits.

Over time, I have learned to trust my instincts about whether a finished piece is actually complete or needs to be adjusted. Sometimes I’ll sleep on it and come back in the morning with fresh eyes, just to make sure.

You mentioned that LouPaper began with a commission. Do you still take those?

I used to take a lot of commissions, which was quite a different process for me. I have worked with many companies in the food and beverage industry—often a challenging process, and typically very time-consuming. Companies / art directors tend to expect a series of ideas, followed by some sketches, and an ongoing conversation until we reach the final artwork. It’s a fairly defined process.

I’ll say I have worked with some incredibly kind and supportive people through that work, and it’s probably where I have grown most as an artist. It has given me some validation for feeling that I could step out on my own more with LouPaper.

Since having my two children, I have needed a more flexible schedule, and during this season of life, I put all my work-time into my LouPaper business.

What does research look like for you? (Do you travel to ALL the states? Eat ALL the pastries?)

Ha! Well I have definitely eaten all the pastries and all of the donuts (and my veggies too, so don’t worry Mom!). I like to be as authentic as possible in my work, which is why I typically choose themes that I am interested in or have some knowledge of.

It isn’t always possible, though, and there are plenty of themes in my work that I’m not an expert on. The state series is a good example of that. I have traveled a lot, and since moving to the U.S. in 2010, I have lived in California, Alabama, Tennessee, Oregon, and Idaho. Because I grew up in England, I think I have always looked at America with fascination and wonder. It’s such a big country and very different from where I grew up. I see it with the eyes of a curious visitor, even though it feels completely like home to me here now.

But there are states I haven’t visited – or where I’ve barely scratched the surface. For those states, I do as much research as possible and also solicit input from people who live there.

This is where Instagram comes in handy— I can throw out questions to my community and they’ve always got me covered.

By the way, it’s Friday today so my cocktail research will resume this evening. That one is a work in progress!

Tell us about your studio – what are some of the inspirational elements there? Is there anything about it that might surprise us?

My studio space is what should have been the “formal dining” room in our house. We are not formal people, though, so I claimed this room for LouPaper the moment we moved in. I sit at my desk in front of a big, beautiful window that looks out onto our garden. It is my happy place, for sure.

The only downside is that when people walk in the front door, they basically step straight into my workspace, which is absolute mayhem. My studio is in a constant state of functional chaos, though I do have lots of things here to keep me inspired.

I think artists are often divided into two groups: those who display their own work in their home, and those who don’t. I am 100% in the second category. I adore the work of other artists and have it all over my studio.

I accumulate cups of coffee, water, and tea on my desk all day long and basically need a removal truck at the end of the day to take them all back to the kitchen.

I am also infamous to all my friends and family for leaving a trail of tiny little paper snippets wherever I go. I trim the corners off hundreds of postcards throughout the week and they end up on my socks, in my pockets, all over our house, and basically everywhere you could imagine. But I really like round corners, so I guess it’s a price we’ll pay.

Looking at my office floor right now… I really ought to sweep.

Do you ever get creator’s block, and if so, what do you do about it?

I think I used to get creator’s block more when I was starting out and I didn’t have a sense of who I was as an artist or how to channel my creative energy. I was always looking for a specific result, without enough experience to have confidence in the process. I could often see what I wanted to achieve but not quite how to get there.

For me, creator’s block has become less of an issue. Time, patience, and oh so much practice has gotten me more into my groove over the years.

Occasionally I do struggle to start a new project. If I realize I don’t have enough passion for it, I try to side-step to something completely different. Often, I will still be thinking about that project further down the line and come back to it at a time when I am in the right mood to tackle it.

What’s your earliest memory of defining yourself as an artist?

It all started with me winning an art competition at school, where I drew a really mediocre sheep at the pivotal age of 8. It was the taste of success that got the ball rolling, and a lifetime or so later, I found myself in the idyllic coastal town of Falmouth, as a shy and clueless 20-year-old Illustration student doing the whole university thing and also my own laundry.

It has been a steady road of failures, triumphs, self-doubt, and determination from that moment on. My first professional commission (an illustration about dim sum for The San Francisco Chronicle) and my first Etsy sale were pretty big moments. There are plenty of disappointments and frustrations, but I’m definitely somebody who tries to celebrate the little successes along the way. That’s true about my approach to life in general.

The road to becoming an artist isn’t always easy. There have been times when I have done completely different things – like painting houses and creating a gourmet popsicle business (!) – to make ends meet. I’ve learned lessons from everything I’ve done, and gradually I’ve been able to make the art dream work.

Resilience has been key! I have a little post-it note stuck on my desk reminding me, “success is dependent on effort.” It can take time, but continued effort combined with passion and a positive attitude will eventually pay off.

What are you working on right now?

I am currently drawing a conch shell. Nature creates some weird and wonderful things, I tell you.

On the broader spectrum, I am working on a few different postcard themes (beach, coastal, wedding, and my seemingly never-ending state collection).

I am also looking at adding a few different sorts of products, so stay tuned for those later this year!

What do you look back on most proudly?

Overall, I think the LouPaper brand itself is something that I’m the most proud of. It’s been a work in progress for the past decade, not just in the creation of content but in marketing my own work, being punctual when shipping orders, and trying to give my customers the best possible experience. I feel their support on a very personal level, and I want my customers and community to know how much I appreciate them.

What is the biggest challenge in your work right now?

The biggest challenge in my work is time management. I love my work, and I love being a wife and mom. I have to manage my days to try and find as much balance as I can and divide my time and energy accordingly. It’s a busy season of my life, and I’m so grateful for all of it!

What’s next for you?

As a mom of a 2-year-old and 6-year-old, I’m living in the moment! But generally speaking, I will be continuing to work on LouPaper, growing my garden, enjoying my family, and trying to cook all of the recipes I’ve saved on Instagram (about 5000 of them, so wish me luck!).

And that’s it! :) You can learn more about Lou on Instagram, or visit her shop on Etsy.

And now, for the small giveaway! Clarisse is going to send 4 LouPaper’s postcards to 4 randomly picked postcrossers. For a chance to win, you should reply to this prompt: “If Louise were to feature your city, state or region on a postcard, which things do you think she should include?” Leave a comment below, and come back this time next week to check out the winners!

Carolyn Gavin is a painter, illustrator, and designer based in Toronto, Canada. A flower child of the 1960’s, Carolyn grew up in South Africa, left to travel, and relocated to Canada where she currently lives with her family.

Earlier this year, Clarisse (aka CStar9) connected with Carolyn via webcast to discuss her creative origins, the unexpected path from a pile of wood to an abstract painting, and why most Canadians don’t paint their houses pink.

The 10 cards that represent you in The Flower Box: how were they chosen?

I paint a lot of flowers and florals, so they took what was existing, which is lovely. If my work is picked up and used as-is, that’s a dream. I don’t have to sit down and create something for a job or art director.

You create such an incredible range of work – paintings, textiles, books. What was your journey to get there?

It’s taken a long time. My family is pretty creative. My mom did mono-prints, painting—everything under the sun. As a very young child, I was guided into the direction of painting and creating, including papier-mâché, pen and ink, watercolors, and more. I went on to do graphic design for three years, which launched me into a design career.

Then I traveled, immigrated to Canada, and my brother and I started a family business, Ecojot. First I designed, then illustrated the covers of our new eco-stationery line. Working with recycled materials and bright and fun colors, and making the notebooks locally right in Canada, was innovative at the time.

One thing led to another and I was picked up by an agent, and my work took a turn for the commercial: apparel, bedding, editorial, book covers, book illustrations, and fabrics, etc. Recently I started teaching and doing workshops and retreats. But I’m also trying to focus on my painting! I’ve come full circle. I really just love to paint – that’s what I’d love to do all day.

How do your new ideas for your designs begin?

One thing can lead to another, creatively. A wood pile is my latest obsession. I’ve painted on wood panels for a long time. While I was in Belize, I came across a building site and found this pile of discarded wood. I picked up a bunch of pieces to use and loved the unevenness and roughness of the material. That seemed to dictate the direction of the painting—such a beautiful organic flow and I was so inspired. However, it was at the end of my time in Belize, just the last few days, so I was painting like a fiend all night long, trying to get it all out. And then I had to come home.

Tell us about your studio space.

Right now I’m in my small studio. It’s very bright, but it’s a small space, which kind of translates into small work. Sometimes I work upstairs in a bigger space that has an easel. That’s where I do my larger pieces. In winter I go to my studio in Belize. It’s a lovely get-away, a place for playing and experimenting. It took me about two months there this year to finally get into this new spate of work, which I feel is a nice new direction for me. So, I think each space where I’m at, dictates what I’m doing.

You’ve said your work is strongly influenced by your growing up in South Africa. Can you tell us more?

South Africa is hot, colourful and noisy. I don’t know exactly how that translates into my work, but, I guess… people there aren’t afraid of color and vibrancy in their lives. I now live in Canada and when I first came here, I couldn’t believe how gray and dull the weather is. I think people maybe, as a result, are sort of scared of color and of standing out in that way. That translates into architecture too—they’re scared to paint the house blue or pink. In hot countries, however, it’s different. And so that’s how I grew up – with lots of color and pattern everywhere and a lot of nature around me. I was outside most of the time, immersed in it. It became a part of me. Now, when I go to a new country, it always inspires something new. When I’m here in my studio in Canada, I’m creative, I work, but it’s a bit more forced. When I am away, I might be more inspired. But of course that changes all the time. Tomorrow, I might feel very inspired.

Your work can be very intricate, especially with botanical forms. What does research look like for you?

I don’t really call it research. But if I am looking at something that needs more information, I probably go find it. You know, just on the Internet.

With the wood in Belize, I asked them, what kind of wood is it? (It’s Emery wood.) Where does it come from? What do they use it for? So I’m not just painting on a simple piece of wood. I like to know the background of something, especially if it’s found or discarded by someone.

How do you know when a piece is finished?

That is a difficult question, especially when you’re doing abstract. You can go on forever. That is something I’m learning along the way. I can’t stop learning about how to paint. It never ends!

When it’s finished is when I guess I just feel that sense of, Stop! You’re going to overdo it! And then you step back. When you come back the next day, you may add a little line here, a little bit of color there, but that’s basically when it’s done for me.

Since we’re talking to an audience who loves paper mail and especially postcards, can you tell us about your relationship to paper? And to snail-mail?

I love paper. I mean, every kind of paper. I love thick, textured paper, and Japanese paper, and handmade paper. I go to a mill in Montreal sometimes in the summer, and I pick up the most amazing handmade papers, all from 100% rag recycled from t-shirts. It’s the only mill I know of that still does this kind of stuff on a very artisanal basis.

I don’t ever write a letter anymore to anybody. But I used to, and I used to love getting mail in return, so I do love the whole notion. It’s a beautiful thing.

What’s a type of media that you’d love to learn?

I’ve been trying to work bigger, but that of course depends on the space that I have at the moment. I want to do monoprints, and cyanotypes. And work with big oil pastels.

You teach a lot of workshops and retreats. What’s your teaching philosophy?

I love to impart my energy and some of my experience to other people and give them joy, and to teach them how to make their own joy. I think art is so meditative and therapeutic. When I’m painting, I kind of lose myself in the painting and go somewhere else. And that is very joyful.

Art is a very creative process that gives people a way to cope with stress in their life. Musicians do it – everybody in the arts world does it. It’s not a new thing. But if I can help others do it in my own small way, I think that’s important.

What are you working on now?

A Joni Mitchell quote: “Love must be the birds in spring. Only lovers hear them sing.” It’s from one of her songs; she is a poet!

I love type and words, and I love to illustrate around them. This is where my graphic design background comes into play. I can put elements together on a page and they work. Well, not always! But, anyway, here’s another one. This is from a book: “The birds are singing.” I painted the type first and then the birds and flowers around it. It all works together in terms of shapes and balance.

To learn more about Carolyn, check out her website and Instagram page. There’s also a studio tour and a fun art demo to paint along!

And now, for the traditional giveaway: Clarisse is planning to send 4 postcards from the Flower Box set to 4 randomly picked postcrossers! 🎉 To participate, leave a comment below sharing a flower that is special to you, and come back this time next week to check out the winners!

Inge Löök is a Finnish illustrator and gardener who is perhaps best known for her “merry aunties” character postcards – an enduring favorite of postcrossers. She was previously featured on the blog over 10 years ago, and was kind enough to make time for an email interview with Clarisse (aka CStar9), for her series of conversations with illustrators and postcard makers. Enjoy!

Please tell us about your studio.

The place where I do my drawings is not very large; a table, a chair and the rest does not require much space. I prefer an enclosed small space where my thoughts stay together and do not wander away into other spaces. The house where I live is also small and the purpose of the house is solely to live in it. The nature outside is eternal and if I start to feel cramped I only need to open the door.

You take special care to create postcard sets of your art. Why postcards?

The old-fashioned way of sending letters and postcards is beautiful. You get to hold and touch the same paper the sender has touched. It is a gift and a thoughtfulness that requires planning in a completely different way than electronic messages.

For new ideas, what is the first step to getting an idea from your head to the page?

I do not use sketchbooks but I tend to use the back side of used photocopy sheets. Today I mainly draw postcards and if I get an idea I quickly note it down on any piece of paper with a few lines only so that I later remember how I envisage the theme for a new post card. An idea can emerge at any time, even in the middle of the night, and if so, in the morning I must swiftly note it to not forget it.

Please tell us a bit more about the origins of the Aunties characters in your art.

My closest neighbor lives around 30 meters from me in a house as small as mine. We think along the same lines and are in daily contact. She is actually one of the aunties in my illustrations, and I am the other one. In fact, we’ve played out most of what happens in my illustrations of the aunties. We’ve had wine in a tree, cakes under the table, and what we haven’t done, we wish we could do. This includes sitting high up in a clock tower with dangling legs. We are old now but know exactly how it felt when we were small and searched for messages in bottles.

Nature seems to be almost its own character in your work. We are treated to many detailed scenes that are infused with such attention and care – gardens, forests, fields, barns. How does a sense of place inform your art?

Nature is everything. I’m interested in the little and the small. I often sit with a magnifying glass and study the details of, for instance, flowers or a feather. As I see it, the big and the large then is space which offers fantasy experiences because we are unable to go there. I’ve got equipment for bird watching, and it is not only birds I look at, but the environment as a whole.

What is on the horizon for your art this year?

I’ve always had a hard time planning the future. The future has never really existed, but rather, it has merely appeared, which means that I have then had to face it as it appears.

To learn more Inge Löök and her work, visit her website or check out her Instagram.

If you’ve made it all the way here to the last bit, here’s a little bonus: Clarisse has 4 Inge Löök postcards to send to 4 postcrossers. To participate in this mini-giveaway, leave a comment below and let us know what adventures you imagine yourself on with your best friend, that would be worthy of being featured on a postcard! 😊 Check back this time next week for the winners!

Rachel Ignotofsky is a New York Times Best-Selling author and illustrator.

Rachel’s first book, Women in Science (2016), was published as a postcard box set in 2017. Her newest book-inspired postcard set, Women in Art, hit shelves in 2022. Thousands of these cards have since traveled between postcrossers’ mailboxes and inspired us to learn how our foremothers made a difference in the world.

This spring, I was able to catch up with Rachel via web-stream from the big red chair in her California studio.

Tell us about your studio. What might surprise us about the space?

I always end up taking over the living room because it’s the biggest room in the house. I have these two giant bay windows that go out to the patio. I open them up while I’m working and I can hear the birds. I have four screens going at once – a big iMac and a 6K display, and a drawing table that’s set up at an angle with a very large iPad. I go back and forth between typing and using a track-pad with my left hand and drawing with a Logitech pencil with my right. Ergonomic stuff that I’ve learned over the years, to protect those joints!

And next to all that is a laptop that’s playing the Great British Bake-off. So, there’s a lot going on.

You obviously do a lot of research for each subject you cover – and then you narrow the content down to simple elements. Tell us about that process.

What’s great about illustration and graphic design is that you can do a lot of the storytelling with just a simple drawing.

For me, I always start with the research. The research informs everything that I’m going to draw.

When I was doing research for the “Women in…” series, for some of the women, there was a lot of information available, especially for the Nobel prize winners. But for some of the women who really made significant contributions, sometimes their obituary was where I would have to start research-wise, and through that I could find some primary sources to learn more.

One of the women I featured, Dr. Mamie Phipps Clark: her alma mater Columbia University did an amazing audio archive of her talking about her life. It’s hours long and she talks about her entire career and her childhood, and what was it like prepping for the Brown v. Board of Education case, and what it was like having her husband be the face of the operation. It was such a wonderful resource.

So, again, I start with all of that – and that informs how I’m going to organize the information. I know graphically how I want it to look. And in the back of my head, I have these buckets I’m trying to fill with text: What’s going to be in the bucket of the main 500-word write-up? Then what are going to be the fun facts: things that are relatable and sticky in our minds? Some pieces I want to be more revealing: what was their character like, or their childhood? For the main illustration, I want to have little elements of their style and career that inform the reader about who they are before they read a single word.

I write about topics that people – for example, those who aren’t in the sciences – might feel insecure approaching. But when I use graphics to teach them before they start reading, it gives them the confidence to start.

You’ve spoken about your learning differences and how when you were young, comic books helped you approach information in your own way. Can you tell us more about that?

When I was a kid, I really struggled with reading, and it wasn’t until I started reading densely illustrated nonfiction books – books like DK readers – that I felt successful. There was something about being able to bounce around the page in a non-linear fashion that allowed me to keep my attention long enough to actually read everything on the page.

When learning to read, I remember holding my hand up to the line and struggling to follow my finger to read every word in order. But illustrated books that are more playful and less linear allow you to explore as you read. I didn’t feel like I was breaking any rules by reading the way that I naturally wanted to on the page, and that gave me the confidence – and the excitement and joy – to keep reading.

I’m now working on an elementary book series that’s all about backyard biology – introducing kids to the science that they’re going to be learning in elementary school, but in this really fun way. You could read it straight through, or you could bounce around the page and explore and learn different terms. Like, look at what these worms are doing in the soil. It’s all about freedom and joy when I’m creating my work.

It’s also about reaching as broad of an audience as possible. You reach neurotypical people, and I’ve also gotten a lot of people who have emailed me and been like, my kid has autism and really likes your books. I’m always trying to reach a 10-year-old and someone with a PhD at the same time.

I love how your illustrations of women scientists show that science is about more than just test tubes. There are flowers and there’s lava – these ladies are super dynamic!

There’s still a lack of diversity in representation in science. But since this book came out in 2016, there’s been a lot of work done to have more representation in media – more people of color, different genders in science. But many people still don’t think about the diversity of career paths in science.

That was actually a metric I used to decide who was going to be in the book. It wasn’t all going to be chemists. It wasn’t all going to be people who discovered new elements. That’s why there are so many people from the natural sciences – so many botanists or conservationists like Rachel Carson and Sylvia Earle and Jane Goodall. Some are amazed that I put psychologists in as well, but I’m like, yeah, because they’re scientists.

I’m doing a new book series for elementary school science – it’s called the What’s Inside series. What’s Inside a Caterpillar Cocoon comes out in September. The cover has my version of an emperor moth. The book follows the journey of moths and butterflies. Everyone always writes about the monarch. Yeah, the monarch’s cool, but it’s a big Order of insects, guys.

Kids naturally are curious. They naturally are drawn to the sciences. It’s the rest of the world that tells them – that’s not science, this is science. Kids want to go outside and play in the mud, and they have questions about the natural world. Those questions are the curiosity that creates a young scientist. So if we can create resources that say yes, this is science – this is more than just playing with flowers and being an outdoor kid. It actually is the beginning of a very rich journey. I’m hoping it sparks young kids to be more scientifically literate in the future, whether or not they choose that as a career path.

Can you tell us about your relationship to snail-mail? And to postcards specifically?

I only had one “real job” before working for myself, and it was 4 years working for Hallmark Greeting Cards. Cards, paper product, and snail mail is where I cut my teeth as a professional designer. It was my internship junior year, and then I got the job right out of college. I made an entire line of cards called Studio Ink that had, like, hot dogs with smiley faces that said, I’m a weenie, happy birthday!

At Hallmark, it was all about this idea of, how do you make something that’s so general that it applies to everyone, but it feels specific – like it only applies to you. That is something I’ve applied to my entire career. When I make a book, I want it to be able to relate to everyone but when people pick it up, I want them to think, wow, someone made the perfect book just for me.

I do send snail mail. I have a big stack of thank you cards. I used to send more snail mail when my grandparents were alive; I would send them cards constantly because they loved them so much. Now I am always mailing my friends and family packages. I’m big into package mailing. I also run a shop so literally I’m at the Post Office once a week. When the PO people know you and how you’re doing – that’s thumbs up.

We celebrated Mother’s Day last month in the USA — were there any striking themes around parenthood that emerged from the biographical stories you researched for the Women in… series?

I know my work is often read together with parents and their kids. I love to put in fun facts and moments that they can bond over. For example, when Primatologist Jane Goodall began her field research, she took her mom with her on her earliest trip to Gombe Stream Chimpanzee Reserve. Vera Rubin is the astronomer who discovered the first real proof of the existence of dark matter, and her love of astronomy started when she built her first telescope with her dad! There are intergenerational moments of love and support throughout, which I think is very special.

Do you have a character or idea that has yet to make it to the page?

I have to be quiet about my ideas. I can tell you I’m about to work on a new book that’s all about dinosaurs and prehistoric life. And I just wrapped my last project – What’s Inside a Bird’s Nest? I got to draw the embryo development inside the egg. I like it when I get to draw gross things and make it pretty.

How do you know when a piece is finished?

When it’s due. You could work on something forever if you wanted to and really nitpick yourself. When it comes to being a professional artist, discipline is the name of the game. That’s what takes it out of the hobby space and into the professional space. A level of discipline that tells you to work when you don’t want to work, and also to put down the brush when you need to put down the brush.

To learn more about Rachel and her work, check out her website, where you’ll find free downloads as well as links to previous interviews she has given. You might also enjoy this live art demo with the New York Times! Her postcard sets can be found at Penguin Random House’s website and through a number of other popular retailers.

For those who’ve made it all the way to the end, we have a giveaway for you: Clarisse is planning to send 4 postcards from Rachel Ignotofsky’s sets to 4 randomly picked postcrossers! 🎉 To participate, leave a comment below sharing the remarkable contributions of a woman from your country — someone who you would like to see being featured on a postcard. Check back this time next week for the winners!

We first saw Kehvola's cards on a pop-up postcard fair organised by the Finnish Postcrossing Friends Association in Tampere, and I confess I was instantly smitten! It’s no secret I have a sweet spot for illustration, but their playful style and daring colour palette was what got me hooked.

At the time, I sent the postcard on the right to a booklover friend, and stocked on others… though I’ve been very reluctant to part with them!

At the time, we talked a bit with the owners, Veera and Timo, who were staffing their booth at the fair, and Timo agreed to answer a few questions for the blog. So ladies and gentlemen, here he is to tell us more about Kehvola!

How did Kehvola get started? Could you tell us a bit of the story behind it?

Veera (my wife) had previously worked as a store manager in the Finnish National Gallery’s museum shops. There she noticed that there are no nice Helsinki cards available. She started the company and asked the nearest and the cheapest illustrator (me!) to draw a set of Helsinki postcards. This was just four years ago.

We’re fascinated by how coherent your collection is — despite being illustrated by different people. How did this group of illustrators get together? And how do you choose the themes for your pieces?

We are illustration fans and we’ve been very lucky with our artists. So far everybody we’ve asked to join us had said yes. I think our illustrators all have something in common yet they all have their own distinct style. Our illustrators have all illustrated children’s books and are capable of creating narrative pictures with strong sense of atmosphere.

Illustrators are free to offer their own ideas but most of them prefer clear orders from us. I myself think what I would like to draw (this could be an old bike or a rubber boot, a big bookshelves, elvis, tiger or an apple pie) and then consider with Veera would somebody be interested in such a card. If we like the idea enough we print it anyway.

If you could define Kehvola’s style in 3 words, what would they be?

Narrative, colorful, warm.

Are you letter or postcard writers too?

Always when travelling. I love bookshops and museum shops and browsing through their postcard selection. Writing a postcards in a cosy pub or cafe after a long day of walking is an essential part of my traveling.

Could you show us your studio, or the place where the magic happens?

Here’s a picture of Kehvola’s "headquarters”, where I also do the drawing:

Thank you Timo, that was lovely! Besides their shop, you can also find Kehvola on their Instagram and Facebook pages.

Oh! And now for the best part: Timo kindly offered a set of postcards to give away to one lucky postcrosser! For a chance to win it, check out Kehvola’s shop, and leave a comment below, telling us which design or designs were your favourites. We’ll randomly pick a winner by this time next week, and announce it on this post. Good luck! :)