Welcome to a website I founded in the autumn of 2025 to gradually give shape to what may seem like a foolish, but certainly long-held, dream. A dream rooted in years of working with gouache —creating my own illustrations and designs — and in a deep love for writing and illustrating fairy tales in their classic folk form, stories I cherish, collect, read, and study.

At present, the site offers my first original WABEL Co. PDF Art Lessons with video support. Created as much for calm as for beauty, they offer a gentle way to step out of everyday rush —without the need for prior painting skills, a studio, or extensive equipment. Just as cooking can be learned from cookbooks, painting, too, can grow through guidance and practice.

You're welcome to join me at the table 

From May 2026, the art lessons will be joined by a new publishing project: a quarterly illustrated journal, with each issue devoted to one or two fairy tales — or, in the case of original stories, also to their author and illustrators. It is an unusual concept, bringing my own illustrations to collectors and readers who do not see fairy tales as reading meant only for children. 

The third pillar of WABEL Co. is art prints. These are produced in professional quality — just like all other publishing work — by my golden-hearted husband, Witek Havelka. I owe him my deepest thanks for making it possible for me to pursue this long-held dream. Without him, I would likely never have been able to devote myself to writing, illustration, study, and research. Life unfolded as it did for many years, and only the passing of time brought change — when one begins to see things differently, striving not merely to exist, but to live fully, and to shape life through work chosen not by others, circumstances, or obligations, but by fate.

Stay, if you find something here that enriches you. Paint, if seeing your own framed work brings you joy, calm, or a quiet sense of pride. And live beautifully with me, if my work carries such feelings to you — because this is how I live through it myself, and what I wish to share above all else: beautiful time.

Ivana Havelková