Hi Hannah, can you introduce
yourself please.
‘Do you draw pictures for a job?’ a seven year old recently
asked me after running a school assembly… Yes I do. I’m Hannah Broadway and I’m an illustrator and designer.
Could you tell us about these
new pieces of artwork?
It’s a new series of 3 prints, ‘Blow Me Away’, ‘Here Comes The Sun’ and
‘Recharge’ each print looks at a different energy source, the wind, the sun and
the moon. They are light-hearted whimsical illustrations that use both drawn
and graphic elements. The pictures are in response to The Lab shop’s latest theme
of energy, I didn’t already have anything in my portfolio that quite fitted the
bill so I used the opportunity to create something new and fresh. It’s nice
sometimes to play the role of client setting myself a brief.
Where did you get
inspiration for these pieces?
My parent-in-laws live in a beautiful house in mid-Wales on a
hillside and there’s a particular sofa that I like to sit on and stare out onto a
wind farm, they’ve been quite a controversial landmark but I find looking at
them quite peaceful and contemplative. I think finding ways to recharge are
really important for both mind and body, a good dose of larking about in the
sunshine or cooking your dinner on a fire, drinking whiskey under the stars
while camping is a pretty good way of doing that.
How would you describe your creative process?
It always starts with a bit of thinking and for these
pictures I used the journey cycling my daughter to and from nursery to
mull over the ideas. I find walking and cycling are both good ways to come up
with new concepts, there is something about the motion and fresh air to get my
brain into gear. My pictures always contain a mixture of drawn elements,
scanned textures and colour; with these pictures I enjoyed titling them. I like
to think of them as moments from a story.
What does being part
of Made in Bristol mean to you?
It’s a real pleasure to be part of the shop collective
because as a freelance illustrator I spend a lot of time on my own with only
the radio for company but with working in The Lab shop from time to time it
keeps me in touch with real life people and customers. I’ve also made lots of
friends and connections with other Bristol makers. It’s a big part of my life
in fact Bryony (Director of MiB) is known as Bryony-pop to my 3 year old
daughter because of the amount of pop up shops we have been involved in
together.
In which ways do you
make your artwork ethical and sustainable?
It’s hard as a freelancer and small business to be able to
always put ethical decisions first because quality and affordability have to
come into it. Having said that I use a Bristol based frame maker, all of my
printing is done within Bristol and some of my packaging is sourced from an
independent local trader. As a Bristol based artist I take great pleasure in
selling my artwork in Bristol shops and art trails being able to meet people
buying my artwork face to face, and I encourage people to support independent
shops because we’re lucky in Bristol to have loads.
What are you looking
to do next?
More drawing pictures for a job.
Lab Shop
10 - 6
Everyday in the school holidays
Fri - Sun in term time
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