Meet the Maker - Hannah Broadway

Monday, June 01, 2015
Have you seen our new look Lab Shop yet? We are celebrating pedal power and the elements in our energy themed chapter. Need a gift for the bright spark in your life or do you deserve a treat for being a ray of sunshine? Come down to Bristol Harbourside and pay us a visit, you might even meet Hannah Broadway, one of our amazing shop team. Hannah's illustrations bring so much joy to so many people we thought we would catch up with her to find out all about her newest work...
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.

You can find Hannah's work, in our new shop, Lab Shop, part of the Bristol 2015 Lab. You can find the European Green Capital Lab on Bristol's historic Harbourside. Enjoy!

Lab Shop
10 - 6 
Everyday in the school holidays 
Fri - Sun in term time



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