hayley acreman's profile

I was born in Newport in 1984. Art was always my main interest, from when I was 16 studying for my GCSE's I knew it was illustration that I wanted to focus my career on. With my A Levels under my belt, I went on to complete an Art Foundation course at Glamorgan, ever since then it has been made clear that this is definitely what I strive for. Six years later and I am ready for the real world as a General Illustration Graduate.

My favoured area of illustration focuses on Children's books, and Greeting cards, however I do have good background knowledge in editorial, advertising, book jackets and other jobs, which have allowed me to experiment with my desire of painting and drawing. I have also achieved computer skills and feel confident in using Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator and Quark Express. This has made me quite versatile in adapting my technique to suit the brief.

While at University I had the pleasure of working on an external project with Mark Mills from Meadowside Books, a London Publisher. Over a series of stages I was given feedback and advice on a picture book called ‘Found You Rabbit’, written and illustrated by myself. It was without a doubt my most enjoyable project while at Swansea Institute, and gave me the valuable experience and knowledge of the publication process. Now the book has 3 final pieces complete and the rest in a dummy book format I hope to get it published in the near future.

With constant drawing and experimentation my style has evolved and developed throughout my three years at Swansea and I am comfortable with most media, but preferably enjoy using acrylics with coloured pencils. Now it is time to move on from Swansea and onto Cardiff, where I am setting up as Purfect Illustration. I aim to be successful in gaining work as a freelance illustrator, and continue using my creative skills.

Since leaving Uni I have had a vast amount of interest, I have had valuable experience with Watermark greeting publications the end of Aug 2006 as an In-house illustrator. It was brilliant for me and opened my eyes to the commercial world. I found strength in working on the cute ranges, and have been told I am very good at visualizing. I have gone on to produce artwork for Paper House greetings that I hope to see in the shops in 2007 and I have my first contract for a book that will be published Sept 2007 called ‘Tai and the Tremorfa Troll’, It is a very exciting time for me and can’t wait to see my work in print.

Exhibitions

Winter 06-Present: Swansea NHS Trust, Public & Commercial Exhibition, in a Swansea Hospital.

July 06: London New Designers exhibition at the Business Centre near Angel.

May 06: Fresh Illustrators end of Year degree show at The Grand Theatre. www.freshillustrators.com