Stellabox

Stellabox is run by printmaker Haychley Webb. She is a self-taught linocut artist based in Norwich, Norfolk, East of England, where she has a little home studio. Taking inspiration from everything from nature, to witchcraft, history, and English folklore, her works can be quite unusual. With the Norfolk Broads and the sea close to her home, she also takes great influence from the natural world around her.

Haychley learnt how to create linocut prints four years ago by watching other printmakers via Instagram and YouTube tutorials; “there was a lot of trial and error to start with, but that’s how you learn and improve! The whole process is so therapeutic to me, I relish the whole process from design to carve to peel“.

“It’s fair to say that I’m a little obsessed with printmaking. I even dream of carving lino blocks sometimes! You are always learning with linocut, always finding tools and techniques to improve your prints, finding ways to push yourself within your craft. I grew up in a house with my mother’s watercolour paintings on the walls and my own house now is filled with art from around the world and my partner’s musical instruments. Creativity breeds creativity so I plan to always keep my house brimming with people’s souls poured out on paper!”

Although Haychley primarily works with lino, she has also designed a small range of digital prints and greeting cards. “Digital prints are enjoyable to create and obviously instantaneous, but they don’t have the same satisfaction as producing a linocut design from start to finish” describes the artist. Most of her printmaking is done using a wooden spoon; “it’s a lot of elbow grease and keeps me working physically hard as well as emotionally, but that makes it all the more worth it“. She creates her designs on Procreate on her iPad Pro, and then carves into traditional hessian-backed grey lino using Swiss Pfeil tools. With every new print, Haychley tries to further experiment and push herself, recently using a brad awl and two different sized etching needles to create the effect stars in a scene. Japanese HoSho is her paper of choice for printmaking; “It’s perfect for hand printing because you can see the print coming to life as you rub with the back of the wooden spoon. It has a slightly off-white colour that I think gives prints an authentic look. It tears very easily too which is perfect for creating deckled edges“.

Haychley is currently working on a multi-block linocut print called Herringfleet, named after the Norfolk windmill. With the Norfolk Broads on her doorstep, the printmaker wanted to celebrate the natural beauty of the surrounding area. Still in producition, the piece will be a three-block print of A4 size in a limited edition of 25.

“I would love to inspire others to start linocut printing… I have a blog on my website where I discuss printmaking amongst other things” explains Haychley. She has recently started an interview series, Meet the Printmaker, where she virtually interviews printmakers from all over the world. Haychley states; “I’ve had such an overwhelmingly positive response to the series so far that I have enough printmakers interested in being featured to bring me to the New Year which is fantastic“. With the ultimate dream to make Stellabox her full-time occupation, Haychley will be continuing her blog series and creating new videos teaching the art of linocut. She recently partook in her first exhibition in Norwich, and is excited about the future opportunities coming her way.

www.stellabox.co.uk
@stellaboxdesigns

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