Meet the Maker - Anna Vojtisek

Dannells Admin
Oct 14
7 min read

Blending her background in design and interiors with a passion for sustainability, Anna Vojtisek returned to her love of traditional crafts to create her signature hand-painted and block printed lampshades. Crafted with environmentally friendly materials, Anna’s thoughtful approach to pattern and colour results in one-of-a-kind pieces that bring warmth and character to any space.

We caught up with Anna to chat about what inspires her, the techniques she loves, and how each of her beautiful lampshades comes to life. Discover her story in this month’s Meet the Maker.

Hi there Anna!

How are you today and what’s on your workbench?

I’m good thank you, hope you are too? I’m busy painting one of my designs for a recent online order. The colours I’m using are earth red and picture gallery red, so the lampshade will create a warm rusty hue within the room. Perfect for this time of year, when the evenings are drawing in and we get cosy by the fire.

Where do you get your design inspiration from and how does this feed into your design process for making lampshades?

That’s a tricky question because I’m inspired by everything around me. It might be a colour combination from a vintage textile to a modern painting. I suppose my main inspiration is repeat pattern. I love seeing a rhythm within a repeat, it brings a certain character. Like a tiled wall or floor, the more you see of the pattern the stronger it becomes. Just like my patterned lampshades, although they are subtle, they add character and a statement to a room. My other inspiration is nature and natural materials. I love how irregularities in nature just seem to add to its beauty. The natural raffia lampshades I make have many irregularities in its weave which adds to their appearance and creates a lovely texture.

How would you describe your style?

I’d would like to think of my style as a considered craft. Each choice, form, function and material have been intentionally chosen. My lampshades reflect a handmade quality with attention to detail. I hope my style comes across as timeless and playful bringing a strong sense of pattern, texture and elegance to a room. I like to make one offs, lampshade shapes and sizes that aren’t the norm and bespoke colour combinations that customers request.

We couldn’t help noticing your love of striking patterns. What are the different techniques you use to create them?

To create my designs, I draw different geometric shapes and play around with linking them together. It’s like playing with building blocks on paper! I think about scale and how colour can highlight certain shapes within the repeat. Colour can bring a shape to the foreground or background depending on how you want it to look. My design Milano has been inspired by Italian handmade tiles. I wanted to create a strong, uniformed block repeat to work within my lampshade shapes. I simplify the shapes because of block printing and painting the shapes by hand.

I used a collage technique when designing the pattern Stripe. I cut up coloured paper and then placed them. I didn’t want a straight edge stripe, so added the wiggled edge to create some movement. This design is a platform for colour, it can be used to bring together other colours within the interior.

When and why did you start making lampshades?

I haven’t been making lampshades for that long, possibly about 4 years ago. I was working as a freelance designer creating designs to sell for the home and gift wrap market. Most of the work was on the computer and I was missing the hands-on approach. I was becoming increasingly uncomfortable producing designs that once sold, were being mass produced and made in an unethical and unsustainable way. I wanted to make something by hand and that had minimal impact on the environment. I went back to basics, back to using a traditional craft and technique and started carving my own blocks to create repeat pattern. I saw lampshades as a platform to put my patterns onto.

How has your business developed since you started out?

I knew my business couldn’t compete with the established brands or the Highstreet home stores, so I’ve developed into making more bespoke lampshades.

Customers can request their own colours to suit their interiors. Everything is made to order which enables me to be flexible. I can make most lampshade sizes and shapes and have a huge choice of cotton trim colours for my raffia and cotton lampshades.

Can you tell us more about your career in design?

I gained a BA Hons degree in textile design at Farnham art college, so I have a passion for pattern, I specialised in print. I freelanced in London and Paris selling designs for fashion and interiors worldwide. For many years I worked as Neisha Crosland’s design assistant where I was involved in exciting furnishing collections and interior based projects.

What’s your favourite part of the lampshade making process?

The favourite part of the lampshade process is when I paint, or block print the pattern onto paper. It’s the most time-consuming part. I take great care with the quality of print. I work with a light box under the paper, checking how the pattern will look when it’s made into a shade and the lamp is in use. Not only does the lampshade have to look good when the light is off, but also it must work when it’s switched on.

In your online shop, what’s your most popular selling ‘off the shelf’ design?

The most popular design so far has been Milano. I suppose it’s a strong geometric. It works well in all lampshade shapes and sizes. It’s practically popular as little wall lights.

You also offer a ‘Made to order’ Lampshades. What design features can a customer choose from when creating their own bespoke lampshade?

My made to order lampshades can mean anything from a one-of-a-kind design, exclusively for a client, to creating different colourways from my main collection. I enjoy discussing ideas and working within schemes. The personal touch makes all the difference. I’ll sample various ideas and combinations which I then send to my client for approval. The samples can be seen within the space the lampshade is intended to go and how the colours work in the light of the room. I also offer an alternative to the lampshade shapes and sizes from my main range. I can either upcycle an existing lampshade or create a whole new shape and size depending on how large or small you need the shade to be.

Can you share with us your favourite ‘Made to order’ lampshade and how you collaborated on the design?

It's hard to pick a favourite made to order but I had a fun challenge when a vintage interior dealer approached me and wanted some unusual lampshade shapes to go with some 1960s lamp bases he was selling. I made lots of paper templates for square shades and hexagonal shades.

We noticed you favour sustainable or environmentally friendly materials. Can you tell us more and how these materials fit with your business ethos?

I have carefully sourced specific materials for my shades, so they are sustainable and have a low impact on the environment. Making to order means I limit the amount of waste I produce; I only make exactly what I need. I have chosen to use mitsumata washi paper which is handmade using the inner bark fibre of the mitsumata tree. The trees once harvested regrow within 4 years.

Similarly, the raffia I use is a 100% natural fibre. The leaves are harvested from the raffia palm tree. The tree is not cut, it will continue to produce more palm leaves. All other materials are sourced locally and can be recycled.

Any tips or new lampshade makers in business?

My tip would be not to rely only on lampshade orders. I teach and run a few workshops which I really enjoy.

Can you talk us through a typical day at Anna Vojtisek?

If I have time, I like to have a run first thing to start my day. I work from home, so it’s always great to have some fresh air, it helps me focus. I’ll check my emails to see if any online orders have come in before I finish off making up a lampshade from the previous day. Today I am working on some new designs. I would like to add some folky florals and I am just playing around with a little geometric.

When are you at your most productive?

I’m the most productive in the morning. The light is better for printing, painting and making up the shades. I think I concentrate better with a coffee on my desk.

And your favourite sustenance or snacks when you’re working?

If I’m in the process of making a lampshade, I keep everything very clean, no snacks or sticky fingers are aloud. I wouldn’t want to mark any of the paper or raffia, but if I’m doing admin, I’ve become rather partial to a Borders dark chocolate ginger biscuit with a cup of tea.

Could you let us take a peek at your workspace and can you tell us a little about it?

I have to be quite tidy because I don’t have a large studio. That’s what’s so good about making lampshades, you don’t really need many large tools. I love my pin board which is always full of inspirational images or trinkets that I collect. I hang up my lampshade rings and templates using old industrial hooks. It keeps them safely out of the way. My sketch books are usually lying around, I use them as a reference for design ideas. I have a long desk, half of it is for my computer and the other is full of paper, inks, paints and carving tools for block printing.

Where would you like to be in ten years’ time?

In ten years time, I would be honoured to think that I am still making lampshades. I would love the opportunity to expand into teaching other textile techniques using sustainable and recyclable materials.

What have you learned that’s been invaluable to your creative process?

Trust your instinct and enjoy what you do. Go ahead and try different things, make plenty of samples to test your technique works and keep a good record of what you’ve done for reference, especially when mixing bespoke colours!

Any future plans for your business that you would like to share?

In the near future I’m hopefully moving to a larger workspace. It would be lovely to spread out a bit more and have a larger print table. It would be very inspirational to work alongside other craftsmen and makers to create a creative hub. Watch this space and fingers crossed!