Postcard artists: Inge Löök

I was more or less inactive in Postcrossing for about 3-4 years and made another so-called comeback last February. It didn't take long to notice that really, really many people were asking for "Inge Löök" or "grannies by Inge Löök" in their profiles and wishlists. I had no idea of what they were talking about, so I had to find out, of course.

Inge Löök was born 1951 in Helsinki, the capital of Finland. Her best-known works (at least within Postcrossing) are probably the "old ladies" or "grannies" which are represented in these postcards. I am not sure of how many different cards there are painted by Löök, but it must be dozens... Because after having find out who is Inge Löök and what kind of cards she paints, I went through my own collection and yes, indeed - I already had a couple of her cards! But they were all really old (5 years or more).

Besides the "old ladies", Löök also paints cards related to gardening. These seem to be more rare than grannies - at least I've seen the garden/nature related cards only in one shop in Tampere, while the grannies can be found pretty much in every store selling postcards.

Inge Löök has also painted some (older) Christmas cards - I remember that my great-granny used to use these cards, and I "inherited" some blank cards from her after she passed away. These can still be found in charity shops, flea markets and such places:

I have to say that I didn't really like the "old ladies" when I first saw them and wasn't really sure why they were so amazingly popular in Postcrossing. But now, after having sent approximately 40 of them to different people all over the world, I think I've understood their allure; the use of colors, the humor, the feeling the cards have... They are pretty nice, actually!

Or what would be your judgement? Are you a collector yourself?

Read more about Inge Löök and her works in her official homepage.