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 simply inspired by the deep connection people share with wild open spaces, no matter what the activity is. I love the change in seasons, the ever changing colours and textures. Wildlife often finds its way into my artwork too – a tiny background character. But it's all about people and places, movement, stillness, interaction, that feeling of being out there, doing it and the small stories gathered along the way.

You’ll also spot a little rubber duck hiding in my work – but that’s another story…

  

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

      

Embracing the cold is so inspiring