Art / Features
Bristol’s best independent businesses painted in miniature
On a recent morning, Poppy Jackson is sitting at a window seat in Elemental overlooking Stokes Croft, hard at work sketching in tiny detail the exterior of the cafe she is sitting within.
It’s just the latest miniature illustration of what she describes as the “never-ending task” of drawing the locations of the best independent businesses in Bristol be they shops, pubs or cafes.
The choice comes down to two aspects, says Poppy: “Do I love it? And is it in a cool building?”
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If it meets those criteria, Poppy then turns the black and white illustration in her sketchbook into a slightly larger watercolour painting.
And so it continues, with the 29-year-old journalist-turned-artist venturing across Bristol to find another one of our city’s brilliant independent business to add to her collection.
The Crafty Egg on Stokes Croft – photo: Poppy Jackson
Storysmith on North Street – illustration: Poppy Jackson
The Robin Hood pub on St Michael’s Hill – illustration: Poppy Jackson
Full Court Press on Broad Street – illustration: Poppy Jackson
Poppy’s small sketches, each around 5cm high, are drawn with a Uni-Ball pen with an ultra-fine 0.03 tip on a sketchpad made by Seawhite of Brighton.
“I’m treating it more sketchy now, less meticulous,” she says, comparing the beginning of her sketchbook from a few months’ ago to the most recent buildings, of which there are now more than 60.
Scaling slightly up, her pen and watercolour drawings take several hours, painted on a vintage desk at her home in Redland that had to be carried over a neighbour’s wall to fit in her house.
They are painted on Khadi paper, handmade out of recycled cotton. “I love the rough edges,” Poppy explains.
Poppy drawing in Elemental on Stokes Croft – photo: Martin Booth
Before moving to Bristol, Poppy previously lived and worked in New York, Italy and Exeter, having been born in Hong Kong and at university in Exeter.
“But I have always done art on the side, when I felt the inclination and the time,” she says. “So when I left my job, I had all this time and was able to properly focus on it.
“It happened organically. I had the headspace for it. I was feeling really inspired.
“It was always a hobby before. But now it’s so empowering to allow myself to properly explore it.”
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“I have gone through a lot of phases with my art but I am always drawn back to buildings,” Poppy says while sipping an oat latte.
“Right now, it feels like a cool culmination of many things I feel passionate about. I love Bristol, its independents and I love tiny things!”
These tiny things include tiny bricks on many of the buildings as well as the tiny books at Storysmith, the tiny cakes at Ahh Toots and the tiny coffee paraphernalia at Full Court Press.
Poppy finishes her sketch of Elemental and leaves, looking left up Cheltenham Road, right along Stokes Croft and opposite towards Picton Street to see if there is another independent business to add to her sketchbook as her never-ending task continues.
Poppy has now drawn more than 60 independent businesses in her miniature Bristol series – photo: Martin Booth
Follow Poppy on Instagram: @poppyvictoriamayart
Main photo: Martin Booth
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