Happily Ever Lino

Anna Lansley is a self-taught printmaker from Gloucestershire, working under the name of Happily Ever Lino. Creativity has always been in Anna’s blood; her parents met at art college and studied ceramics and graphic design. She went on to study Photography at Falmouth university, but settled into a desk job after graduating. After 17 years away from creativity, she missed being artistic so much that she left her day job for good in the hopes of discovering something new that involved being creative.

Anna discovered linocut printmaking completely by accident while on holiday in 2021, and loved it so much that what started as a hobby quickly became a full-time obsession. She tells us; “The name Happily Ever Lino was born from this sense of finally finding the creative outlet that was missing in my life!”

Working in traditional hessian backed lino as well as Japanese vinyl, her inspiration comes predominantly from the natural world; “Inspiration is everywhere and it is sometimes hard to focus on getting just one idea at a time down onto lino! It’s such a wonderful feeling to be constantly inspired to create”.

Anna’s photography work was always quite abstract, and she loved taking pictures of architecture and strong shapes. Thus, it was quite a surprise for Anna that her printmaking hasn’t followed suit, and, instead, she seems to work in a much more delicate style on animals and birds.

Back in June this year, Anna had a very successful exhibition as part of Cheltenham Open Studios which really boosted her confidence in her ability to be seen as an artist. She states; “Before Open Studios I felt apprehensive about whether I was ‘good enough’, but seeing my work hung in a gallery gave me such a confidence boost as well as receiving such lovely and encouraging feedback from visitors”.

Currently, Anna works from a small home studio (a table!) and dreams of one day being able to have her own studio space. She has a small modified die cut press but mostly prints completely by hand. A veritable ‘newbie’ in the world of printmaking, Anna admits she still has lots to learn and is constantly experimenting with new techniques; “I’m excited to see where my printmaking journey takes me, it feels like it has only just begun”.

www.happilyeverlino.co.uk
@happilyeverlino

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