6548. Frome Side (43)

Hire, Frome Side, Bristol, November 2024
Hire, Frome Side, Bristol, November 2024

The collaboration involving several artists under the M32, which is inspired by the World Wall Stylers challenge of the Japanese Animation ‘Ninja Scroll’, has turned out some highly memorable pieces, including this outstanding graffiti writing from Hire.

Hire, Frome Side, Bristol, November 2024
Hire, Frome Side, Bristol, November 2024

I’m not quite sure how he has done it, but Hire has managed to paint a fusion of his style with a strong Japanese influence. His signature, resembling Chinese character kanji (used in Japanese), mirrors the main piece, and is accompanied with the letters BF on the opposite side. The backdrop includes subtle hints at an ancient Japanese urban landscape. Cool piece.

6223. Dean Lane skate park (735)

Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2024
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2024

Recently I have managed to miss out on a couple of Hire pieces, because I have just been too slow, and for some reason, his work has been getting overpainted quite quickly lately. I think it is bad timing on his part more than anything more sinister than that. So I was particularly pleased to catch this one.

Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2024
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2024

I have been an enormous fan of Hire’s since the first pieces I saw, many years ago. He consistently turns out brilliant graffiti writing and occasional rabbits to such a high level of precision. In this piece he has used the willing combination of pink and blue to create his HIRE lettering, but what I particularly like here is the interaction between the letters and the brown background, which is impacted by, and augments the letter shapes. Very nice work from Hire.

5693. Dean Lane skate park (667)

Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023

Even when he paints a smaller, simpler piece, Hire puts in admirable effort, and I am not too sure that the words ‘quick one’ come into his vocabulary or thinking. In case it wasn’t obvious enough from the letters, Hire belongs to the BF crew, and occasionally substitutes his HIRE lettering for BF.

Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023

Starting with the background, Hire pretty much always paints on a prepped wall, to help his letters stand out from the surrounding graffiti ‘noise’. His chrome letters are lifted by the clever use of the green and purple patterning that sits behind them, and the fine white lines bring a little bit of definition to the piece. Fantastic, thoughtful work from Hire and a great shout out to BF.

5298. Dean Lane skate park (609)

Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2023
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2023

It might be the colour palette, I don’t know, but there is something about this piece that instantly grabs you and says ‘hey, I’m special’. Hire’s work will be a familiar to regular readers of Natural Adventures, and he is one of my favourite graffiti artists in Bristol, and I think that what he has done here is exceptional.

Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2023
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2023

Three things stand out for me in this piece. The first is the colour selections for the letters and the background and the way they complement each other so well – very pleasing to the eye. The second is the almost imperceptible difference in colour shade used for the H and R, compared with the I and E of his name, so subtle and so clever. Finally, I think that the little squiggles surrounding the letters are brilliant and remind me of a visualisation of Brownian motion. Each of these elements lift the piece from being great to exceptional.

5144. Dean Lane skate park (587)

Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2023
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2023

It is great to see that Hire is getting out a bit more these days. His stunning pieces have been a constant backdrop in Natural Adventures over the last few years, alongside other favourite artists. His work is always beautifully presented, and he appears to take pride in his work, albeit incredibly modestly.

Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2023
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2023

This piece spells out BF, which old ‘sieve brain’ here has forgotten despite being told what it stood for, only last week. The letters are crafted in his jagged writing style, tempered with a smoothness that has crept into his work more of late. The red centre and brown shading around the outside complement the work expertly. Imagine what this would look like without the accompaniments. Classy work, and a classy shadowed signature too.

5071. Dean Lane skate park (571)

Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2023
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2023

Somehow, I always feel comfortable when I see pieces by Hire. Hire was one of the first artists I spoke to, and I have bumped into him several times over the years. He is a mild-mannered, quiet and modest man whose particular style of graffiti writing is always on-point.

Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2023
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2023

In this small piece, beautifully presented on a dark green buffed wall, Hire has written the letters BF, which I think relate to a crew – possibly a Polish crew. The jagged letters are superbly picked out by the cream border, and the whole thing is given a lift with the black shading surrounding the writing. A class act.

4940. Dean Lane skate park (557)

Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2022
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2022

I rarely miss posting anything by Hire if I can help it, so I was surprised to find this outstanding piece from this gifted artist in my March archive. On the upside, I guess, I am sharing it with you now. Even though I am currently going through an unpublished back-catalogue of street art, there is at least 50% still unpublished, which gives me a minor panic attack.

Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2022
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2022

The striking colours used in this piece are divine and the writing itself, spelling HIRE, is outstandingly painted. The fine lines cutting through the middle of each letter is what elevates this writing from the good to the exceptional. This is an absolute belter of a piece from a lovely artist.

4835. Dean Lane skate park (541)

Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2022
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2022

I have long been an admirer of Hire’s (pronounced Heerae) work since I first came across his unique style of writing in a collaboration with Laic217 in 2017.Although his writing has morphed during that time, his style remains distinct and recognisable.

Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2022
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2022

I do like it when graffiti/street artists buff the wall first or frame their pieces in some way, as it allows the viewer to pick out the beauty of their work without distraction. This writing, spelling out HIRE is outstanding and in your face… there is no escaping it, it must be looked at, it is shouting out from the wall. His distinctive angular lines with points or thorns, and lines running down the middle of the letters providing depth, creates an overall impressive statement skilfully painted. A fine piece of work.

2129. Dean Lane skate park (202)

Another supreme example of gothic graffiti writing from Hire, who seems to have a real soft spot for this left-hand end of wall in Dean Lane. He has sprayed several other pieces here before. Hire used to work quite a lot in The Bearpit, but I haven’t seen anything of his there for an age.

Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2019
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2019

This is a bright, confident and strong piece that is impossible to ignore. It screams out at the passer-by ‘look at me’. The letters I think spell out HIRE – I can see it whether it is there or not. He has also written quite cryptically ‘The BF One’ along the base of some of his letters. I have seen BF written before, in fact Hire’s Instagram handle is #hireonebf, but I don’t know what it relates to. He is a man of few words. I’ll have to ask him next time I see him.

Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2018
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2018