Street Art: Kingston upon Thames

Colour Your Senses in Kingston (upon Thames) was designed to welcome people safely back into the city after all the covid restrictions. The town centre has been dressed with colourful cross-street banners, bunting, floor stencils, floral displays and exhibition boards, providing a splash of vibrant colour.

Market trader whistling,
Musicians singing,
Oars swhooshing and
Ducks quacking.

It’s a busy city centre and no more so than on a Saturday afternoon so the daughter and I headed off along the riverside whilst the granddaughters went clothes shopping for the all important 18th birthday family meal that evening.

On our way back we came across some hoardings around an empty building plot behind the Bentall Centre that had been artistically and colourfully decorated. I included a few images of the hoardings in my Surrey round-up post, but there were more. I particularly liked this one.

I often wonder what an artist is thinking about when they create their paintings. Split personality? Torn apart? Gender confusion? Hanging by a thread? Who knows.

There can be no confusion about this one though. Swans as we know, mate for life, and the River Thames is well known for its swans. Possibly by Skyhigh.

My first impression of the one above was of penguins, but the one on the right is a woodpecker, not sure about the one on the left. It’s hard to track down these artists, but the A51 tag led me to Aspire who seems to paint animals and birds that are on the decline.

.EPOD His professional skillset (draftsman, fashion designer and illustrator) and the inspirations of his youth manifest vividly in his paintings and murals. Sultry figures draped in elegant materials. Mirrored vessels in otherworldly landscapes. Cigarettes hanging from kiss me lips.

281 bus rounding cape horn in a storm by Tom Pierce

Whatever you might think about graffiti or street art / murals and I confess that a lot are not to my taste, they do often brighten up what can be a dull and depressing area and being in a public space makes art accessible to all.

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Heyjude

I have lived in the UK for most of my life, but when young I definitely had wanderlust and even ended up living in South Africa for several years which was a wonderful experience. I now look forward to a long and leisurely retirement doing what I like most - gardening, photography, walking and travelling.

22 thoughts on “Street Art: Kingston upon Thames”

  1. Well, this is a cheery set for early Sunday morning when we’ve just returned from the airport run, Jude! I do like that first one a lot too, but my favourite has to be the swans. Happy Sunday!

  4. Nicely bright and cheerful, but not a clue what Tolworth Broadway has to do with Cape Horn…..

  5. These must really brighten up the area and make it a lot more interesting to see. A lot of artistic skill here… 🙂

  6. Like you Jude I just don’t know how these artists get the perspective so right when painting in this format on these surfaces. We love to study them, particularly where they carry contemporary messages. Brilliant collection.

  7. Kingston has changed a lot since I used to go shoppng there when we lived in Wimbledon. 🙂
    I like the street art very much though.
    Best wishes, Pete. x

    1. It’s very busy in the centre. I’ve only had brief visits when going in with my daughter. I’m not a city or a shopping person!

      1. I used to go to Kingston with my first wife. For some time, she worked as a lecturer at KCFE, and knew the town well. x

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