Before I start this post, may I say just how much I dislike the new WordPress editor. It is utterly pants, and although it appears to have more functionality, writing a post takes about twice as long as commands are a little more buried in the architecture. Moan over.
This is something of a curiosity, it is a Hire piece that looks unlike any other Hire piece I have ever seen before. I don’t know what prompted this departure from his usual style, but it is a hugely accomplished piece and one that should give him the confidence to experiment further.
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2020
Set on a black background with a pink grid on the lower half and silhouetted skyline above it, Hir has written a four letter word that looks like DIAK, although I can’t be sure about that. There are very few hints that this might be by Hire other than the lower parts of the letters have his distinctive sharp edge to them. Be really interested to see where Hir goes from here.
The lock down easing has in my view been far to rapid and aggressively in favour of the economy, and I fear that we will pay for it further down the line, however these things are finely balanced. One of the upsides has been the productivity of street artists whose collective energy was paused for three months. Now, I simply can’t keep up. Many pieces are gone by the time I go to photograph them. I got this one by Hire though and glad that I did.
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2020
As always, the spiky medieval style, that reminds me of a battle in full swing with swords and pikes clashing, spells out HIRE. The blended orange fills are very nicely done, and I rather like the (deliberate) fragmented white edging… an unusual touch. Oh, so much great art to share, but it is difficult to do it on two posts a day.
This is the first in a series of Several posts from a big paint jam on 30 May 2020 which involved four Spanish artists and four Polish artists, all of which I think are resident in the Bristol area. I got very lucky indeed when walking the dog to see all the artists in action and stopped to chat with a few of them. I returned a few days later to photograph the completed pieces.
Hire, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2020
The first piece from this paint jam is by Hire, who has appeared on Natural Adventures countless times. I stopped with him for some time for a chat and asked him how he manages to get such fine detail on his work. He showed me the sketch he made for this piece and said that this style suits him and that if he were to try other styles or street art rather than writing that he would struggle.
Hire, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2020
I have been labelling his work as being Gothic in style, but he corrected me saying it wasn’t really gothic writing at all… oops. I guess it is perhaps reminiscent of medieval swords, spikes, halberds etc or at least it is to me. This is a lovely piece of graffiti writing, spelling HIRE, set on a cloudy purple background with some day glow green spots for decoration. A really nice piece from Hire.
Anyone who reads Natural Adventures regularly will know that I have a soft spot for Polish artist Hire, whose Gothic writing and spiky rabbits regularly adorn the walls of Dean Lane skate park. This piece from July last year treats us to both central elements of his work.
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2019
The writing part of the piece is expertly done and I particularly like the way that two tones of orange are used and blended to great effect. The 3D shading is very distinct, but I fear slightly dominates the brittle nature of the letters.
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2019
The rabbit, although menacing, is perhaps a little kinder than some of his spikier cousins… it looks like it has had a bit of a shampoo and set. How on earth I allowed this one to sit in my archive until now, I’ll never know.
I think that regular readers of Natural Adventures will be more used to seeing rabbits from Nevergiveup (#followmyrabbits) than from Hire, but it was the latter who painted them in Bristol first, especially in The Bearpit and Dean Lane.
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2017
This old one is on the famous curved wall at Dean Lane skate park and is beautifully finished. Set on a dark red and rather moody background, this menacing rabbit (with Gothic styling) is painted in a grey-green that contrasts brilliantly with it. One that escaped my clutches from way back in February 2017. Nice to free it.
Going back to October 2018 and this wonderful spikey and menacing rabbit from Hire. I have included this one from the archive for two reasons. Firstly I am a big fan of Hire’s work and secondly to show hoe consistent his work is, having posted a more recent piece from a couple of weeks back.
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2018
Apart from a few early pieces in The Bearpit, I don’t think I have seen any Hire pieces too far away from Dean Lane – it would seem that the artist is happiest painting here. This particular rabbit looks especially menacing.
Definitely Hire has come out of hibernation with this, his second piece in a week in Dean Lane, coming so quickly after his rabbits that I wrote about in Natural Adventures last saturday. I always describe Hire;s writing as having a Gothic look, and this piece typifies that.
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2020
The rather compact writing is very well disguised and I can only guess that it says HIRE as most of his pieces do, but I can’t quite see it here. When you look carefully at the piece you may notice that the writing is in two colour combinations. One is black and white, the ther brown and yellow. The more you know this, the more discrete the two sections become, it is almost like an optical illlusion. Another fine technical piece from Hire.
The original Bristol bunny has woken up after a winter slumber. Hire has been painting these rabbits for a while and before his compatriot Nevergiveup (@followmyrabbits) turned up in Bristol. Who’d have thought we’d get one, let alone two bunny specialists in the city?
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2020
Hire’s rabbits are edgy and have an element of menace about them… I suspect I’d cross the road if I saw one approaching on a dark night. I think the first one I ever saw was in The Bearpit, but at that time I didn’t know who had painted it.
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2020
On this occasion we are fortunate enough to get a double helping of rabbits, a green spiky one and a white smooth one, both based on the same basic formula. I guess this is what you call a glorified tag that has been perfected after many years of use. Great to see Hire back on the streets – now to look out for some more.
This is a recent piece from Hire in Dean Lane which appears to have been dogged with some green paint in the middle. The curious thing is that it is the same colour paint as that used in the background. I can only summise that the splodge was either self-inflicted or done by a passer-by who used the discarded can – either way it is a pity.
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2019
I like Hire’s work, it has such a distinctive Gothic style and is quite unlike ahy other graffiti writing in Bristol. Although I haven’t seen him for a long time, Hire is a quiet, unassuming and decent artist who has always stopped for a chat. Looking forward to more in 2020.
Natural adventures 