British Illustrator and Writer Hayley Potter was voted one of London’s top ten Illustrators alongside Daisy de Villeneuve and Julie Verhoeven (Spoonfed, 2010). She graduated from The Royal College of Art in 2007 and now lives and works between London and Dorset, traveling further afield for enticing commissions or collaborations. Influenced by the magic that can be found in the every day, Hayley’s work is a fusion of the imagined and the observed.
Hayley’s playful working method of re-assembling her own drawings digitally and by hand is used to create images that tell a story, compliment a specific text or answer a brief. This flexible way of making images has been successfully applied to a diverse range of personal projects and commissions for international clients. So far these include editorial, book covers, narrative, signage, murals, live art, clothing, sculpture, toys, display, greeting cards, exhibitions and books. Her clients include Amelia’s Magazine (UK), ARC (UK), Creature Magazine (UK), Creative Partnerships (UK), Creative Junction (UK), Envelop (France), Hat-trick Design (UK), Idea Couture (USA), LA Airline (USA), Naked Punch Journal (UK), Notre Dame Magazine (USA), Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea Council (UK) and Peter Brett Associates (UK)
Hayley was taught by Illustrators including Quentin Blake and Andrzej Klimowski at The Royal College of Art 2005-2007. Since then, in addition to her commissioned and self initiated projects, her work has been featured in several exhibitions across London at venues including The Mall Galleries, The Haunch of Venison, Ferreira Projects, The Hockney Gallery, Dazed and Confused, and The Great Exhibition in Hyde Park. Her work has been featured alongside artists including Donna Wilson, Vivienne Westwood, Damien Hirst and Gerald Scarfe.
Hayley is also a writer. She studied Creative Writing at The Imperial College, London and Writing for Children at The Arvon Foundation, Devon. Her tutors included Caroline Lawrence, Karen Hayes, Eva Salzman and Kathryn Maris. Hayley has written stories, exhibition reviews, and academic papers and articles about Illustration.
Alongside her career as an Illustrator & Writer, Hayley has also recently been appointed as a Senior Lecturer at Arts University Bournemouth on the very successful BA (hons) Illustration course. Hayley has previously taught at universities including The University of Westminster, Winchester School of Art, and The Royal Veterinary College.
Hayley enjoys keeping busy! Alongside current commissions, she is working on a narrative project inspired by the history of magic, a children’s book, and is in the process of organising a series of limited edition books that collate ten years of keeping sketchbooks.
When she isn’t doing all of these things, you will probably find her somewhere surrounded by animals, in a tea shop updating her studio’s herbal tea collection, browsing vintage markets and art stores, in the V&A in London, at her local pilates studio or on adventures in the UK and beyond, often exploring by foot with her camera, a sketchbook, her fiancé Paul Currah and their Bedlington Terrier
Mr Bumble.
If you would like to get in touch then please visit the contact page.
You can also find Hayley on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.