Tag: High Street

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.

6281. Leicester

Inkie, High Street, Leicester, July 2024
Inkie, High Street, Leicester, July 2024

It is always great to see work by Inkie, but especially so when outside Bristol, it feels like a home from home. This is an outstanding piece of writing with some flat pink, stylised portraits and silhouetted urban landscape in the background.

Inkie, High Street, Leicester, July 2024
Inkie, High Street, Leicester, July 2024

The letters BTP, which form a kind of print backdrop, stand for Bring the Paint, a street art festival hosted in Leicester every now and again. This piece was painted by Inkie for this year’s festival, and accompanies others that he has painted in previous festivals here. This a really nice, tight graffiti writing, and a superb example of Inkie’s work.

6280. Leicester

Philth and N4T4, High Street Leicester, July 2024
Philth and N4T4, High Street Leicester, July 2024

I am quite fortunate that my job takes me around the country from time to time, and I get to visit different cities. Of course, while I am passing by, I never pass up the opportunity to stroll about the place and take a few photographs. I have visited Leicester twice recently. Once before the Bring the Paint 2024 festival, and once afterwards. These pictures were taken afterwards, so the pieces are recent – unlike many pictures that I take as a visitor, which are often of old pieces. This is a fabulous collaboration from Philth and N4T4, who have teamed up at Upfest on several occasions.

Philth, High Street, Leicester, July 2024
Philth, High Street, Leicester, July 2024

Philth is known for his large floral repeating pattern pieces, which remind me so much of my childhood in the 1970s and the rebirth of elaborate wallpaper, mimicking our Victorian predecessors. This piece, in sumptuous colours is absolutely stunning and would look amazing if scaled up onto a larger wall, revealing more of the repetition.

N4T4, Leicester, High Street, July 2024
N4T4, Leicester, High Street, July 2024

This gorgeous portrait is by N4T4, who, like Philth, is no stranger to Natural Adventures. There are actually two musicians featured in the piece, Gladys Knight (spelling?) and Jon1st, both painted with N4T4’s unusual patterning style that underpins and adds vibrancy to his work. A special and beautiful collaboration on the High Street for shoppers and visitors to enjoy.

4473. High Street

I am feeling a little ‘hungover’ this morning having drenched myself in a festival of street art and graffiti at Upfest over the last two days. I have almost reached saturation point, so forgive me if this post does not quite live up to any expectation.

Hazard, High Street, Bristol, May 2022
Hazard, High Street, Bristol, May 2022

I have mentioned before that I consider Hazard to have elevated herself into the world-class category, and I don’t think it will be too long before she will be headlining at street art festivals all over the world. This enormous piece in the centre of Bristol, near Castle Park, demonstrates clearly her talent and class. The piece has been here for a little while- I was rather late to the party, and unfortunately the margins of the piece have been tagged, which is a little annoying. The early bird gets the worm.

Hazard, High Street, Bristol, May 2022
Hazard, High Street, Bristol, May 2022

The concept is a good one, with a portrait made up of composite features in differently shaded boxes. It is a very clever and effective idea that represents many people in one portrait. I am so pleased that Hazard is getting to paint these large walls, because it is the least she deserves. Hazard also happens to be one of the most delightful artists in Bristol, always happy to have a chat, even if she isn’t quite sure exactly who she is talking to…

2653. High Street, Weston-super-Mare

 

Since acquiring a dog two years ago, I have managed to turn taking him for walks to my advantage, visiting street art hotspots in Bristol and beyond in the name of exercise duty. One such ‘walk’ was in the form of a day trip last summer that he and I took to Weston-super-Mare. Here he is photobombing a fabulous Yoda stencil by JPS. The dog actually only makes rare appearances on Natural Adventures despite being with me for most of my photography sessions.

JPS, High Street, Weston-super-Mare, August 2019
JPS, High Street, Weston-super-Mare, August 2019

Having just seen the final film of the Star Wars saga, it feels appropriate to post this piece at this time, and JPS has as you would expect turned out a masterful piece he has. The pictures are a bit bleached out, an artefact of me getting used to photo editor and not making a great job of it.

Incidentally, the dog pee on the Yoda was absolutely not the work of my animal, he has far too much respect for street artists.

1624. High Street

The first time I saw anything by Dabuten Tronko was round about the time of Upfest 2017 and I immediately liked his deconstructed rowing boats. At Upfest, artists tend to come and then go and if you get lucky they come the following year. Well I’m not sure if he planned on being at Upfest 2018, but he did come to Bristol in June and left two fine pieces of which this is the first.

Dabuten Tronko, High Street, Bristol, July 2018
Dabuten Tronko, High Street, Bristol, July 2018

There is something rather compelling about the theme he often chooses for his wall work, with a focus on small wooden rowing boats in a state of disassembly. I wonder if this is symbolic of anything in particular or an unconscious outpouring, but I expect there is quite a lot that lies beneath the surface of this work.

Note the Whysayit YSAE tag at the top of the piece.

1481. High Street

Only a few days ago I posted something a little different form Duncan McKellar, the foil butterflies on the tarmac of Frogmore Street. This creation, from the same artist, is designed to bring a smile to people’s faces. No piece of ‘street furniture’ is safe from his creative attention, with several statues receiving the same treatment.

Duncan McKellar, High Street, Bristol, February 2018
Duncan McKellar, High Street, Bristol, February 2018

The pineapple is ‘sculpted’ from hundreds of pieces of bright yellow foam (it looks like insulation foam to me), and attracts the attention of passers by. What I love about his work is its ‘guerilla’ style…he keeps the local newspapers and busybodies guessing about who he is and where his next project will take him.

Duncan McKellar, High Street, Bristol, February 2018
Duncan McKellar, High Street, Bristol, February 2018

I am a fan of all street art that challenges people to see the world through a different lens, and this work by Duncan certainly does this. I’ll try to hunt down more from this ingenious artist.

613. High Street, Exeter

In late January I had a meeting in Exeter for which I had arrived a little early. I decided to head for the High Street to see if I could grab a bite to eat. What a great decision that was. I am not familiar with Exeter, especially the central shopping area, so the last thing I was expecting to find was this very impressive piece etched into a wall by the Portuguese artist Alexandre Farto, who works under the name Vhils.

Vhils , High Street, Exeter, January 2016
Vhils , High Street, Exeter, January 2016

Exeter is not a city known for its street art culture, and this piece is a grand statement  in the main shopping area, rather isolated and alone, but very, very impressive. I have seen work by Vhils on the Interweb many times, but seeing it up close like this was a genuine treat.

Vhils , High Street, Exeter, January 2016
Vhils , High Street, Exeter, January 2016

His unique approach to creative street art, is to etch or scratch away the rendered surface of a wall back to the brickwork to create his large portraits. The overall effect is to carve something with a bit of depth and texture, albeit in binary colour schemes.

Vhils , High Street, Exeter, January 2016
Vhils , High Street, Exeter, January 2016

I must say that I was really surprised to find something like this in Exeter and praise the authorities who commissioned the work. I am sure it is a constant talking point for residents and visitors alike. Happy days.