6733. High Street Rochester

Hannah Adamaszek, High Street, Rochester, January 2025
Hannah Adamaszek, High Street, Rochester, January 2025

In January, I happened to find myself in Rochester, a lovely city that I have never been to before, where I was running a workshop. As is my wont when I am ‘on tour’, I got up early and strolled around town for an hour or so exploring. I was not expecting to find artwork from Hannah Adamaszek, but there it was, on a roadside sign – unmistakably Hannah.

Hannah Adamaszek, High Street, Rochester, January 2025
Hannah Adamaszek, High Street, Rochester, January 2025

Not only has Hannah Adamaszek painted the road sign for Seven Chakras Yoga Studio, but she has done a great job with decorating the columns of the small shopping arcade area, with some lovely Swiss cheese plant leaves, the trusted favourite of street artists everywhere.

Hannah Adamaszek, High Street, Rochester, January 2025
Hannah Adamaszek, High Street, Rochester, January 2025

I can only say that this was a super surprise and bonus on my Rochester Adventure, and confirmation that my street art radar is fully active and in good working order.

6291. Upfest 2024 (46)

Hannah Adamaszek, Upfest 2024, North Street, Bristol, May 2024
Hannah Adamaszek, Upfest 2024, North Street, Bristol, May 2024

One of the first pieces I saw being painted at Upfest this year was this wonderful, relaxing piece by Hannah Adamaszek. As is usually the case, she was accompanied by her friend and artist Stephen Quick, who was making use of his height to help out with some of the harder-to-reach parts of the mural.

Hannah Adamaszek, Upfest 2024, North Street, Bristol, May 2024
Hannah Adamaszek, Upfest 2024, North Street, Bristol, May 2024

Hannah Adamaszek manages to create a great sense of calm and wellbeing in her pieces, which usually feature people in relaxed poses or situations. She has done an outstanding job of capturing the movement and colours of the water in which the subject is swimming.

Hannah Adamaszek, Upfest 2024, North Street, Bristol, May 2024
Hannah Adamaszek, Upfest 2024, North Street, Bristol, May 2024

I think I have seen one of her pieces in Leake Street tunnel, otherwise I have only seen her Upfest and Tobacco Factory pieces, but they are enough to satisfy my appetite for her work. Great mural.

2597. Upfest 2018 (168)

I have always liked Hannah Adamaszek’s murals and have seen a fair few of them over the years in Bristol. Usually portraits of striking women in soft tones, her work is must unlike anything else we commonly see on the streets of Bristol.

Hanna Adamaszek, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Hanna Adamaszek, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

It was a pity that this particular piece was tucked away on the wall of a beer garden under a rather grubby canopy that rather exaggerated its yellowness. Also Walls such as this are so difficult to look at and photograph, because of all the people sitting in front of them. This is a fine piece slightly impacted by circumstance. She’ll be back though I’m sureb with a better wall to paint.

1394. Upfest 2017 (151)

There were many fine collaborations at Upfest last year, but few of them were finer than that between Hannah Adamasek and Saroj. I have written many times about Hannah’s work, but don’t believe I have come across Saroj before.

Hannah Adamaszek and Saroj, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Hannah Adamaszek and Saroj, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

In the Upfest programme there is a really nice profile for Saroj Patel, and rather than paraphrase it, I have decided to offer it in full:

Saroj is a designer and artist whose practice encompasses illustration, painting, graphic design, typography and art direction. Nature is a compelling part of her work which incorporates decorative arrangements of organic forms, flora, and wildlife, creating a distinctive hand drawn style which displays a fluidity of movement through the use of patterns, lines and colour.

Saroj draws inspiration from exploring the natural and built environments around her, from wandering city streets to hiking in forests and mountains, capturing moments of stillness and chaos, embracing and absorbing the beauty in every moment.
Hannah Adamaszek and Saroj, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Hannah Adamaszek and Saroj, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
I like this aquatic piece that places a swimmer in a setting of plants and fish, resulting in a rather atmospheric and fresh piece.
Hannah Adamaszek and Saroj, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Hannah Adamaszek and Saroj, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
I was lucky enough to visit this piece, which was in the beer garden of the Steam Crane, several times over the festival and it is interesting to see how it developed. I am hoping that both will return this year.

805. Raleigh Road, Tobacco Factory (7)

I had had a tip-off, via Stephen Quick’s Instagram feed that he and Hannah Adamaszek would be doing a collaboration at the Tobacco Factory, on the weekend of 13-14 May, so I managed to sneak over on the Saturday to see what they were up to.

Stephen Quick and Hannah Adamaszek, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, May 2017
Stephen Quick and Hannah Adamaszek, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, May 2017

What a treat. Stephen had organised for a few established, up and coming and debutant artists to spray the car park bays during what was a bit of a Bedminster festival. This work is really interesting because it brings together two distinct styles into a synthesis that joins them. The subject matter is the same, but the techniques quite different.

Stephen Quick and Hannah Adamaszek, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, May 2017
Stephen Quick and Hannah Adamaszek, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, May 2017

Stephen Quick works mostly with stencils and Hannah with freestyle paints and spray. It was interesting watching them concentrating on their respective halves of the collaboration.

Stephen Quick and Hannah Adamaszek, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, May 2017
Stephen Quick and Hannah Adamaszek, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, May 2017

It is possible to see that some elements of the original piece obviously didn’t work too well for the artists, so they were removed, for example the purple birds in the background.

Stephen Quick and Hannah Adamaszek, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, May 2017
Stephen Quick and Hannah Adamaszek, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, May 2017

I love the work of both of these artists, and I love the way they have collaborated on this piece. Does it work? I am not sure. Has it enhanced their styles or cramped them? On balance, I consider it a triumph, but it brings into sharp perspective the difficulties of working together. A bit like being married I guess…different styles, a collaboration.

Stephen Quick and Hannah Adamaszek, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, May 2017
Stephen Quick and Hannah Adamaszek, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, May 2017

524. North Street, Standard (3)

It would appear that the wonderful Hannah Adamaszek recently paid a visit to Bristol and left us with this beautiful portrait on North Street. The colours and earthy tones are typical of her amazing work, and the face is calmness itself.

Hannah Adamaszek, North Street, Bristol, November 2016
Hannah Adamaszek, North Street, Bristol, November 2016
All of Hannah’s work has this peaceful quality…perhaps if there was more of her work out there the world would be a more peaceful place. I know it sounds cheesy, but that’s how I feel about a lot of street art.

Hannah Adamaszek, North Street, Bristol, November 2016
Hannah Adamaszek, North Street, Bristol, November 2016
Come back soon Hannah, you are always welcome.

352. Upfest 2016 (11)

One of the artists I was most keen to meet at Upfest 2016 was Hannah Adamaszek. Her amazing works have only recently crossed my path, and put simply, I love her art. It is weird really, because her subject matter, and even her style, is not something I would naturally gravitate to, but I am so very taken with it. That is a good thing I suppose.

Hannah Adamaszek, Upfest Bristol, July 2016
Hannah Adamaszek, Upfest Bristol, July 2016

Sadly, I didn’t get to the area where she was working on the Saturday, and when I got there on the Sunday, she wasn’t there. I’m sure I’ll get to meet with her before too long, but in the interim, I will be more than satisfied with writing about her pieces.

Hannah Adamaszek, Upfest Bristol, July 2016
Hannah Adamaszek, Upfest Bristol, July 2016

This is a beautiful piece that was worked onto the walls of a primary school – lucky school children I say. This wonderful face is in the company of about a dozen other great street artists that I will post about in due course. It is all good.

337. Leake Street tunnel, London (3)

Everything was unexpected when I visited Leake Street Tunnel recently, not least the large number of new pieces that had been created as part of the #do1cancer campaign. It would have been easy to overlook some of the other works that had been in the tunnel…except, I find it hard to overlook anything.

Hannah Adamaszek, Leake Street, London, July 2016
Hannah Adamaszek, Leake Street, London, July 2016

Having reached the end of the tunnel, I returned the way I came – it is funny how you see different things when you go in the opposite direction. High on the ceiling was this wonderful face by Hannah Adamaszek, who I have featured a couple of times recently.

Hannah Adamaszek, Leake Street, London, July 2016
Hannah Adamaszek, Leake Street, London, July 2016

There are two notable things about this work: the first is that it must have been very awkward to do…neck-breaking; the second is that depending on where you stand, the face takes on very different appearances. More great work from Hannah, who I am expecting to see at Upfest.

310, Raleigh Road, Tobacco Factory (2)

Behind the Tobacco Factory there is a car park, and on the wall of each of the stalls there is a piece of art by a different street artist. I am not sure if this is just an Upfest thing, but I have a feeling that they do change from time to time, and not just during the festival.

Hannah Adamaszek, the Tobacco Factory, Bristol, June 2016
Hannah Adamaszek, the Tobacco Factory, Bristol, June 2016

These pieces are a challenge to photograph, because, being a car park, there are usually cars parked in front of them and that was the case with this beautiful, calming piece by Hannah Adamaszek. Hannah appeared on my radar back in June, and I have to say I really like her work. It balances out all the other work that I see and is refreshingly different. It is all part of the spectrum of art that Bristol has to offer.

Hannah Adamaszek, the Tobacco Factory, Bristol, June 2016
Hannah Adamaszek, the Tobacco Factory, Bristol, June 2016

I am really fond of this piece, which is weird, because I wouldn’t naturally like this kind of thing, but seeing it up close there is just something about it that attracts me. More please Hannah.

 

275. Clift House Road (2)

Following on from post 274, I feature another new artist to this blog at exactly the same site on Clift House Road.

Hannah Adamaszek, Clift House Road, Bristol, June 2016
Hannah Adamaszek, Clift House Road, Bristol, June 2016

This is in complete contrast to the fiery piece by SNUB23 that occupied the wall previously. The elfin figure by Hannah Adamaszek is calm and painted in cool colours that transform this wall completely. Surely a demonstration on how street art makes a profound impact on the immediate surroundings and environment where it appears.

Hannah Adamaszek, Clift House Road, Bristol, June 2016
Hannah Adamaszek, Clift House Road, Bristol, June 2016

Hannah has very recently just completed a piece in London, and was a visitor to Bristol for the Bristol Arts Trail, when she completed a piece at the Tobacco Factory. I am guessing that this may have been painted at the same time. Hannah has a spiritual approach to her work, and this quote from her website seems to capture it:

“Art is not just for viewing but an experience.  By merging Art and Zen, we are taken on a welcome journey of peaceful reflection in out chaotic lives.”

A lovely tranquil piece by a highly accomplished artist.