Meet illustrator, designer and cold water swimmer Evie Grace

Evie Grace studied illustration, graphic design and photography at university in Aberdeen before moving to Vancouver for a couple of years, where she worked as a waitress and spent her free time hiking and swimming. She moved back to Scotland a couple of months before the pandemic and then started a freelance illustration and design business. She now lives in Bristol.

Evie Grace, tell us a bit about your swim background…

I have always been drawn to the cold water. I started swimming in glacier lakes on summer hikes while living in Canada and discovered a deep love and excitement for it. During the pandemic I was very lucky to live close to a river, so my sisters and I started going as often as we could. We swam through the Scottish winter, which I think has now prepared me for anything! I now swim often with friends around Bristol and have started to explore the beautiful swim spots in Wales too. If there’s a body of water, I’ll be in it!

How does outdoor swimming enhance your life?

I have a busy mind, it’s constantly thinking of something, creating something, worrying about something! When I swim in cold water, all I can think of is how cold it is, the focus is on my breathing or I’m laughing so much that there is simply nothing else going through my mind. It is truly a therapy for me and I am so thankful to have found it.

I also have found a beautiful community in cold water swimming, I have built friendships, found new connections and bonded over the cold water. I have had some of my favourite conversations sitting with a morning coffee after a very cold swim.

Tell us about your illustrations…

I would describe my illustration style as visual storytelling, as well as modern, often digital and minimal. I have a process of drawing with paper and pencil first, as I never want to lose this in the world of all things digital! My approach to my work is to share facts and stories through illustrations with bold, witty and honest concepts. When creating a design I aim to make something so eye-catching that looking is unavoidable.

Where does your inspiration come from?

My inspiration comes from a range of different things. I have always been an artist who wakes up at 4am and has to scribble an idea in the notebook beside my bed. I find life to be a constant stream of inspiration! A lot of my work is in response to what’s happening in the world, whether that’s environmental or social topics. I find that often in moments of despair or anxiety there is an outlet in creating an illustration. 

When I’m not drawing hard hitting pieces, I am inspired by stories, my own life experiences and the conversations I have on the way. Wild swimming, adventures, food and drink, plants and the realities of navigating this strange world!

Follow Evie Grace on Instagram at @eviegraceillustration or via her website. This article is from the March 2023 issue of Outdoor Swimmer. Click here to subscribe to the magazine.