93-Year-Old's Stamp Art Opens Door To Collecting and Creativity

Imagine a whimsical mannequin with style and sass, a chair featuring a moon surrounded by astronauts, or a ukulele covered with musicians. These are just a few of the imaginative and highly detailed mosaic pieces created by 93-year-old artist Shirley Baskin Familian.

Always frugal with objects that come into and leave her home, she also has an intense appreciation for art. Some 40 years ago, Familian developed a passion for the artwork specifically designed for postage stamps and her desire to collect them was born. As a result, she has been doing her own creative work with these stamps for the past 25 years.

“Stamps are wonderful! The designs contain rich, vibrant colors that don't fade,” she said. “As an artist, I figured another artist designed this. It had to be approved by someone and it had to be printed. The engraving on them is beautiful, and I just got in the habit of looking at every stamp that came in my mailbox.”

More than 25,000 stamps have made the voyage through her mailbox. Familian strategically sorts and organizes them by color as she receives them. With an eye for geometric patterns, she uses her imagination to cut the stamps and glue them together creating unique pieces of art while encouraging others to look at stamps in a completely different way. You can view 18 of her whimsical and colorful creations at The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis Sept. 27 – Dec. 14.

Those who have witnessed her nimble fingers cut around the artwork or watched as her sharp eyes assess the details of her work without glasses, say you’d never know she's just shy of 94 years young.

“I’m lucky that I’m still in good physical shape, workout, keep myself moving,” said Familian. “The repetitive motion is very relaxing for me – in fact, I lose track of time. I turn the music on, go to the kitchen and go to work. I think it’s one thing that has kept me on the move. I just love doing it and miss it when I'm not doing it. When I finish one piece, my mind immediately goes to what am I going to do now?”