'Flock of Tiny Waders' lino print by Melanie Wickham.
Hand burnished print on Mohawk Superfine White Eggshell 270gsm
Paper measures 18cm x 24cm
Signed, titled and numbered in an edition of 50
Framing option: black painted wood box frame with float mount, glass glazing, measures 27cm x 33cm x 3.2cm. Frames can only be sent within UK.
An edition from the Soma Gallery - 20 Years portfolio collection.
Hand burnished lino print using Japanese Boxwood Burnishing tool
Melanie Wickham is a lino printer based in Bristol.
Trained as an Illustrator at UWE she has been carving out lino hares, cats, spiders and otters ever since. She is currently working on progressively larger flocks of birds.
Melanie produces black and white lino prints on a variety of themes around the natural world. Melanie is interested in nature and biodiversity and likes to work with shapes and forms inspired by these. Her images can be striking due to the black and white, creating bold shapes but also intricate as she likes to carve the lino in a way that leaves an image made of lines, that could almost be drawn rather than cut.
About the 20 Years Collection
Soma Gallery turned 20 in June 2024 so to mark this momentous occasion we asked 20 artists to produce a limited edition print to commemorate the 20 years. Twenty prints from each edition go to the artist and the final 30 are available for sale. You can read more about the project on our blog.
More About the Artist
Melanie Wickham's printmaking is based on drawings she makes – she sketches everywhere she goes and captures ideas and shapes which evolve into her lino prints. Her subject matter is largely nature based, plants and animals but also people and places feature.
She transfers her drawings onto the lino block and then carves the design, before inking up and hand burnishing the back of the paper to create a print. She doesn't use a press at all. She often uses Somerset Satin paper and works in limited editions, with each lino print being titled, numbered and signed on the front.
Melanie enjoys the challenge of translating a drawing into lino and also the physical process of hand burnishing. She is constantly challenging herself with the medium, in terms of both intricate lino blocks to cut and also the size of lino block to hand burnish.
