Meet the Maker – Melanie Wickham

Bristol-based printmaker Melanie Wickham finds inspiration all around her – “from the funny things people say, slightly absurd situations, plants, her allotment, animals and nature walks”. All these ideas get squished together in her sketchbook and some of them make it out again and carved into lino. Here she talks to fellow Melanie and Folksy Seller Melanie Ann Green from Felt Me Up Designs about her lino prints, her home studio and her guinea pig companions…

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printmaker Melanie Wickham in her Bristol studio

My studio is the front room of our house, so I try really hard to contain it, but little bits of cut lino stick to my socks and end up all over the house. Oh, and I share it with the guinea pigs too!

Hi Melanie, I love your shop. There are lots of whimsical characters in your work. Can you tell us what inspires your prints and where you get your ideas from?
Thanks Melanie! I get inspiration from all around – a combination of animals, funny things people say, slightly absurd situations, plants, song lyrics, my allotment, nature walks all squished together in my sketchbook. Sometimes my doodles and all of these sources of inspiration converge and an image appears that I can’t wait to cut into lino.

Flock of birds linoprint by Melanie Wickham

Carving lino can be quite time consuming if there are lots of fiddly bits, like flocks of birds with all those legs and beaks sticking out.

Can you tell us a bit more about the techniques you use? Printmaking is a very time-consuming process. Can you explain how you work?
I mostly work with lino printing. I always start with drawing though and have a slightly uncontrollable number of sketchbooks now. If I decide to go ahead with a picture I’ll trace it on to a block of lino and then carve it out (you leave the bits you want to print, so in my style that tends to be the drawn lines, with all background areas cut away). This can be quite time consuming if there are lots of fiddly bits, ie flocks of birds with all those legs and beaks sticking out.

If I decide to go ahead with a picture I’ll trace it on to a block of lino and then carve it out, leaving the bits I want to print.

Once the block has been cut out, I ink it up with a roller, lay the paper down lightly on top of the inky block and then hand burnish it to transfer the ink to the paper. I don’t use a press, instead I have a boxwood burnishing tool that’s just exactly right for the job and one of my most prized possessions. It doesn’t take a huge amount of effort to burnish the prints as it’s shaped perfectly for the job, so sadly I don’t have amazing arm strength – I’m no good at arm wrestling!

Hothouse lino print by by Melanie Wickham

Lino printing was a great way to be able to carry on making prints after university until I figured out what I was going to do.

How did you learn printing? Did you study it at university?
I studied illustration for my degree and just at the very end, after never quite finding my natural style (and a bit too late really) I got into printmaking. Then I left and didn’t have any studio space or money, so lino printing was a great way to be able to carry on making prints until I figured out what I was going to do. A couple of local galleries agreed to take some of my first efforts and I haven’t stopped lino printing since.

Bristol lino print by by Melanie Wickham

Bristol has great views and locations, so it can be pretty inspiring. I can see the Suspension Bridge built by Brunel from my bathroom if I stand on tiptoes and peer right out of the window in a slightly dangerous manner…

Bristol appears a lot in your prints, can you tell us a little about where you live and how it inspires your work?
I’m really lucky that Bristol has great views and locations, so it can be pretty inspiring. I can see the Suspension Bridge built by Brunel from my bathroom and bedroom if I stand on tiptoes and peer right out of the window in a slightly dangerous manner… Obviously when I sell my work locally, Bristol images are really popular, but the great thing about having them listed on Folksy is that people with Bristol connections who live all over the world can get a little bit of Bristol for their wall too.

Making art based on what’s around you is a great starting point; drawing the room you’re sitting in can be as inspiring as some amazing exotic view or deep philosophical idea.

What’s your workspace like? Do you have a dedicated studio space?
My workspace is great. It’s usually a complete tip. Because I store all of my lino prints, totes, mugs, tea towels etc in here, as well as doing all of the lino printing, it’s bursting at the seams. It’s the front room of our house, so I try really hard to contain it, but little bits of cut lino stick to my socks and end up all over the house. The bay window gives great light and working from home means I can leap into action if children need me to do anything. Now that they’re older my daughter is often at the table with me making some fun project after school, so it’s quite sociable. Oh, and the guinea pigs live in my studio too!

Wet Sparrow Lino Print by Melanie Wickham

I have done colour work but as my images come from quite drawn origins it almost feels like I’m colouring it in for the sake of it.

Your work is very bold. Why do you choose to work in black and white and not colour?
I have done colour work but as my images come from quite drawn origins it almost feels like I’m colouring it in for the sake of it. I also really like the quality of line that lino gives and so am really happy working with that rather than in colour blocks. It’s quite strange in a way, though, as I love colour. Maybe one day I’ll feel that it’s time to move over to a more colourful way of working.

Oyster Catcher print by by Melanie Wickham

I love birds and am really happy with the Oystercatcher I made, but hares, otters and dogs are also pretty high on my list of favourite creatures.

We’ve mentioned the whimsical creatures in your prints, do you have a favourite and why?
In real life I have to say our guinea pigs or else I’ll get into trouble with the family – and they are brilliant little characters who will sprawl out on to the sofa in the evening with some broccoli and watch TV with the children and lick their hands and faces (and sometimes have a wee on their laps). Of my own little creatures, it’s so often the most recent one to be drawn. I love birds and am really happy with the Oystercatcher I made, but hares, otters and dogs are also pretty high on my list. I would love to have a whiskery dog.

Lino print carving of a greenhouse by Melanie Wickham

Fingers crossed we beat the slugs, snails, squirrels, pigeons etc and get at least a taste of everything we have planted in our allotment this year.

What do you do when you’re not print making? Do you have any hobbies?
This year we’ve challenged ourselves to grow more of our own veg, and our allotment has needed a bit of a sort out to re-tame it, so that’s been fun. I love doing something physical after sitting lino cutting all week. We’ve had it for 15 years, so can only blame ourselves for the tangly bits, but fingers crossed that we beat the slugs, snails, squirrels, pigeons etc and get at least a taste of everything we have planted this year. I also play music with a couple of groups based in Bristol and that is great as it’s so social after being on my own working away on lino prints.

Silver Succulents Print by by Melanie Wickham

Having really supportive communities in real life and online (like FOLKSY!) for advice can be so helpful as you find your way through the confusion of how to make a creative life work.

What advice would you give someone just starting out as an artist. What do you wish someone had said to you?
Advice often sounds terrible until you look back, but someone did say to me, ‘Draw what you know’, when I was in the confused, recently graduated stage. It does make sense: making art based on what was around me was a great starting point and drawing the room you’re sitting in can be as inspiring as some amazing exotic view or deep philosophical idea. Then, once you’ve got into the habit of creating regularly, you can develop and expand. We all know you also have to stick with it through thick and thin… We’re so lucky now to have access to really supportive communities in real life and online (like FOLKSY!) for advice along the way and that can be so helpful as you find your way through the confusion of how to make a creative life work.

Inked lino print of Bristol being lifted by by Melanie Wickham

My dream would be to be printing away all week while someone else does all of the admin part for me.

What does the future hold for you? Where do you hope to be in five years’ time?
I’m still excited by printmaking, so I hope to still be busy doing that in five years time, surrounded by my prize-winning veg and hairy dogs. My dream would be to be printing away all week while someone else does all of the admin part for me. That would be the perfect scenario. I have lots of lino prints planned so I could definitely fill up the next five years with those. Bigger flocks of birds! I also have a couple of collaborations just beginning, so it will be great to see where those go and, if they work, it could be a whole new strand to my work – fingers crossed.

Thanks for such a great set of questions too, Melanie.