About Andrea Hall

ANDREA HALL

Illustrator. Designer. Visual Storyteller

I spent most of my spare time during childhood either drawing or swimming. I loved art at school, and on the way home I would stop off at the local pool where my Mum would be working – she, and my Grandmother before her were swimming instructors who taught all the local kids to swim. I often joke I was born with chlorine in my veins.

I didn’t follow the family tradition though. I went to art college instead, and turned five years of study into a career as an illustrator and graphic designer. I became freelance in 1999 – and I’ve never stopped being fascinated by how images can tell stories and make people feel something.

In 2012, the London Olympics sparked my love of swimming all over again. Watching the 10k marathon swim in the Serpentine, I turned to my partner and said: “I could’ve done that when I was younger.” And so it began… an infectious pull towards the water, towards adventure, and towards those quiet moments outdoors that stay with you long after you’ve gone home.

That pull is what finally joined the dots for me – I felt compelled to focus my creativity on capturing the joy of being outside: open water swims, woodland walks, crisp winter days, big skies, and the simple feeling of being alive.

These days my sketchbook is filled with more than just swimmers. I’m inspired by ice skating and skiing, paddleboarding, triathlon, cycling and running – and increasingly by the deep connection people share with wild, open spaces. Wildlife often finds its way into my artwork too – a quiet background character in the story. My artwork is all about people and places, movement and stillness, and the small stories we collect along the way – the ones that feel familiar, because they’re yours too.

You’ll also spot a little rubber duck hiding in every piece of my work – but that’s a story of its own…

  

My art student final major show profile pic in 1989 – the name's Hall, Andrea Hall

      

Embracing the cold is so inspiring