Tag: Hillgrove Street

7350. Hillgrove Street (9)

Janey Mary Jean, Hillgrove Street, Bristol, November 2025
Janey Mary Jean, Hillgrove Street, Bristol, November 2025

Hillgrove street is home to one of the most iconic pieces in Bristol, which I posted back in August 2015 and was my 18th street art post. Little did I think I would still be blogging about street art ten years later. I love it when I see the work of an artist new to me, and this shopfront piece by Janey Mary Jean is rather different and refreshing.

Janey Mary Jean, Hillgrove Street, Bristol, November 2025
Janey Mary Jean, Hillgrove Street, Bristol, November 2025

The piece is very much in keeping with the shop, The Haunted Bookshop, and is the first of what is, I believe, intended to be a monthly commission to decorate this wall, presumably with a spooky theme. Janey Mary Jean is an artist and apprentice tattooist based in Bristol. She painted this piece with a combination of spray cans and brush work. The piece depicts a skeleton riding a turquoise horse from a castle, and why not? But it is the smaller piece to the left that really caught my eye, an owl person fitting the space perfectly. I’ll be looking out for more from Janey from now on.

Hillgrove Street, Bristol

 

 

2509. Hillgrove Street (8)

Right in the heart of the Stokes Croft area, on the crossing of Jamaica Street and Hillgrove Street is this amazing new bright and shiny abstract piece by Emma Jayne Holloway and e5 Creatives. Using techniques and angular shapes in the style of artists like Annatomix or Paul Monsters.

e5 Creatives and Emma Jayne Holloway, Hillgrove Street, Bristol, September 2019
e5 Creatives and Emma Jayne Holloway, Hillgrove Street, Bristol, September 2019

The whole thing, I think, but don’t know, was designed by Emma Jayne Holloway and has this extraordinary effect which makes it look like it is standing out from the wall. It is not only the geometric shapes that make this piece so special, but also the butterfly and heart on the gold-painted utility box which make the piece complete. It is great to see new names and extra great to see a business, in this case e5 Creatives, getting involved in brightening up our streets.

1651. Hillgrove Street (7)

I don’t visit Hillgrove Street as much as I used to when I first started writing about street art, probably because turnover of work is very low there, so there is rarely new stuff to find. However, it is always worth checking every now and then, and these two (relatively) new pieces bear this out.

qWeRT and RIP, Hillgrove Street, Bristol, August 2018
qWeRT and RIP, Hillgrove Street, Bristol, August 2018

The wheatpaste on top is by qWeRT, who seems to have blitzed Bristol some time during late spring or early summer. This is another charming googly eyed pair…there is always so much hope and love in these paste ups.

The bird below is a nice simple stencil by RIP who is an occasional visitor to Bristol, and always leaves behind as few treasures to uncover. Both pieces complement each other and are placed carefully. Placement is a key skill for small stencils and paste ups. All good.

196. Hillgrove Street (6)

What a lovely surprise I had on Thursday this week…a new artist has hit the streets of Bristol. When I say new, I mean new to me. Tian is a French artist, born in le Mans in 1964, which makes him pretty cool in my book, we are the same age. In 1982 formed a punk-reggae band called Nuclear Device…remember them?…nor me. He started pasting in 2007 and has been going from strength to strength since then.

Tian, Hillgrove Street, Bristol, April 2016
Tian, Hillgrove Street, Bristol, April 2016

He is currently ‘on tour’ in the UK (see his itinerary on his Facebook page here) and was in Bristol from the 18-20 April. So far I have found three of his paste-ups but I will be out looking for more…you can do a lot of pasting in three days. Because this is the first of his works that I saw I am dedicating a single post to it. I will probably post collections by area if I find a lot of his work. I really like this style, the tints and subject material, but of course I am always a big fan of wheatpastes. This piece made me really happy.

Is that Sphia Loren?

More from Tian’s own excellent website.

88. Hillgrove Street (4)

The more posts I write about Bristol street art/graffiti, the more familiar I am becoming with the various artists and their particular styles. I have had to do a lot of research, often on the thinnest of evidence, but sometimes I am simply stumped.

Silent Hobo, Hillgrove Street, Bristol, December 2015
Silent Hobo, Hillgrove Street, Bristol, December 2015

I have been struggling, until today, with the artist that created this beautiful mural on Hillgrove Street in Stokes Croft. The penny dropped when I was looking at Google images of the work of Silent Hobo, and I spotted this one. Of course it is by Silent Hobo…how could I have been so stupid? It is moments like these that broaden my knowledge. I must remind myself that I have only been doing this for a few months and it will take a long time to become an expert.

Silent Hobo, Hillgrove Street, Bristol, December 2015
Silent Hobo, Hillgrove Street, Bristol, December 2015

The Silent Hobo works I have presented before (33 and 66) are not similar enough to this one for me to have made the connection. I am really struck by this piece.

8.5/10

47. Hillgrove Street (3)

I have refrained from publishing this picture for a while because I have been trying to find out who the artist is. The mural can be seen in a second story window frame opposite the wave and flegm mural featured a while back.

Dan, Hillgrove Street, Bristol, September 2015
Dan, Hillgrove Street, Bristol, September 2015

The witty picture looks rather old and appears to pre-date quite a lot of the other works in the area. I really should be able to find out who painted it, because it is signed, either MN or MAN. If anyone knows, please let me know and I will update this post. (UPDATE, The mural is by Dan)

Dan, Hillgrove Street, Bristol, September 2015
Dan, Hillgrove Street, Bristol, September 2015

 

32. Hillgrove Street (2)

On a wall opposite the Phlegm mural, previously featured, is a beautiful stencil of a tabby cat.

Beastie, Hillgrove Street, Bristol, August 2015
Beastie, Hillgrove Street, Bristol, August 2015

The cat, by Beastie, an artist from Gloucester, has left its blue paw prints behind. This is a lovely and somewhat understated work.

Beastie has been nicknamed the Banksy of Gloucester by the local media, and he would appear to be both prolific and popular.

 

7/10