hallie m. bertling,

a.k.a. "hal-the-gal."

an introvert except when talking about books or art, hallie ("hal-the-gal" is a childhood nickname & her artist moniker) is a native of nowhere (a navy brat born on guam, hence the name which means "contemplating the ocean.") she’s had adventures & mailing addresses everywhere from okinawa to italy and scotland, manhattan to jersey, sierra leone to india, and most recently through artist and author residencies in denmark and paris. but otherwise she leads a quiet, book-absorbing life in greenville, south carolina with her fellow artist & book nerd husband, nathan bertling. (art-nerds-in-love trivia: nathan & hallie met in the watercolour aisle at a local indie art supply store. a paint lecture/dessert/coffee first date quickly followed.)

hallie (rhymes with “valley”) loves absorbing stories of all kinds, especially faerie tales, magical middle grade books, or swoony YA romcoms. (okay, she does read a lot of grown-up books, too.) whether in NYC or around the world, she likes to sneak away to museums, indie bookstores, coffee shops, and rush ticket lines for new plays or her favorite: a razzle-dazzle sparklefest of a feel-good musical. she’s a member of SCBWI and a graduate of the savannah college of art & design (b.f.a. illustration).

she shares her story-inspired mixed-media & watercolour paintings, caffeinated travels, and every monday, a weekly reading book review video on her instagram (@halthegal_storyart). & even more behind the scenes in her studio making art and stories in her author-illustrator patreon community (find the crayon box at patreon.com/halthegal.)

hallie is represented by kristen terrette of martin literary management and is writing her next arts-centric middle grade novel and developing a number of author-illustrator picture books—projects all inspired, of course, by her love of old films, theatre, and travel. (more about author hallie HERE!)

find her hands smudged in ink & paint and her shiny shoes surrounded by cookie crumbs & rainbow sprinkles wherever you can smell the coffee.

writing awards:

• metropolitan arts council project grant for on-site novel & illustration research in paris (march 2023)

• highlights foundation scholarship, summer camp in fiction (july 2022)

• roskilde artist residency, denmark (april 2022)

• one of twelve authors to have a short story featured in once upon a book club’s once upon a book-mas anthology (2021)

• alice conger patterson scholarship, emrys foundation (2020)

art festival awards:

• 3rd place, center fest, durham, nc. (2019)

• metropolitan arts council project grant (2019)

• ribbon of distinction, williamsburg, va. (2018)

• ribbon of excellence, artisphere, greenville, sc. (2015, & 2017)

• judge's choice, an occasion for the arts, williamsburg, va. (2016)

• best in watercolour, dogwood festival, atlanta, ga. (2014)

gallery shows:

• step into story, march & april 2019, centre stage theatre, greenville, sc

• it's raining color! 2010, art & light, greenville, sc

• the wind-up show, 2009, art & light, greenville, sc

illustration client list:

• upcountry history museum / furman university

• litjoy crate

• nerdypost

• novelly yours

• reel bookish

• multiple authors (beth revis, jenny howe, & more!) for pre-order book swag and illustrations, wicking it up candle co., literary treasures, standard publishing, kregel publications, ambassador international, & private painting commissions.

IN THE NEWS:

• TALK Magazine, All About Art, January 2020

• Greenville Journal cover, Artisphere feature, May 13, 2016