Andrea Hall Design News

  Diane is a special lady. She started coming to our swim group, the Blue Flamingos, in 2023 with debilitating MS. Her condition means she can’t feel the left-hand side of her body and she has trouble balancing. Her nerves can go into spasm causing a lot of pain and she has associated arthritis too, on the right side. To top it off she has a thing called Barretts Oesophagus which gives her problems swallowing. However, Diane is not a quitter, she describes herself as a natural optimist. Her verve for life is palpable and she is such a happy...

I thought I would share this little story about copyright, because it’s a really important topic. I created this piece of artwork following a fantastic swim with the Dales Dippers in Yorkshire. The inspiration came from the fact the beautiful peaty water is the colour of black tea, and these wonderful chaps who are big fans of the ‘proper cuppa’, even wear swimming shorts made from the company’s own tea towels. And they really do drink the stuff while swimming too… Anyway, having sold a few prints, I suddenly thought to myself, I wonder if Yorkshire Tea are ok with me...

Well, when it all starts happening, it happens really quickly. When I was invited to exhibit at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough in 2019, I didn't fully appreciate what a great opportunity it would be, but I said yes immediately. I had a year to prepare for it, but I was just at the beginning of my art journey, so I didn't really realise the significance of it all. I knew the theatre was famous – lets face it, even I had heard of it, so it must be. At that time I had just started painting the view...