Mosaic Graffiti in Edinburgh

Street art, graffiti art, guerilla art, whatever you want to call it, it’s everywhere. Thanks to Banksy, the good stuff gets noticed and appreciated. How about some guerilla mosaic art to look out for in Edinburgh? How about Helen Miles? How about leaving behind any preconceptions you have about street artists?

Scottish-born mosaic artist Helen Miles began installing graffiti mosaics around Edinburgh after returning to Scotland from Greece in 2017. On settling in Edinburgh she was looking for ways to connect with the environment and community around her. Most of her works are in the east end of Edinburgh not far from her current studio at Out Of The Blue Abbeymount Studios.

Helen studied English at Oxford University and worked as a journalist around the world before moving to Greece in 2001. There she trained in mosaic-making methods with Greek master craftsmen in Thessaloniki and Athens, focussing on Byzantine iconography. She also took inspiration from Roman mosaic traditions, iconography and aesthetics.

Helen works in Greek stone and marble, making classically-inspired commissioned mosaics for interior spaces, as well as teaching and writing about the subject. She is the current editor of The British Association for Modern Mosaics (BAMM) magazine Andamento.

Helen offers mosaic courses in Greece as well as in Edinburgh at her studio. Find out more at https://helenmilesmosaics.org/teaching-mosaics/mosaic-course/

Little did I know until recently that the artist responsible for a mosaic that I had affectionately come to know as ‘fag lady’ was the same artist who did the virus mosaics I would later stumble upon and marvel over during lockdown. Seeing ‘fag lady’ was the first time I came across mosaic street art in Edinburgh, having seen already in Aberdeen and been impressed by UK artist Carrie Reichardt. Helen assisted her with the Everyday Heroes street mosaic mural in Aberdeen (for Nuart 2017) and was also inspired by another guerilla mosaic artist Jim Bachor in Chicago who fixes potholes with mosaic artworks.

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‘Personification of Spring in the Age of Climate Breakdown’

Described as a chain-smoking woman representing a modern version of the Roman ideal of welcoming the season. Spring will typically have flowers in her hair as this one does. Installed early June 2019, this is the first Helen Miles mosaic that I spotted and it immediately sparked my curiosity. At the time I marvelled at it and had thought to myself, that’s someone who knows how to make a mosaic. ‘Fag lady’ had intrigued me.

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Calton Hill mosaics

Helen’s first adventure in graffiti mosaics was at Calton Hill in January 2018. It was here she unveiled three mosaics in some of the most unpopulated and unloved corners of this Victorian park that sits upon volcanic rocks close to Holyrood Park.

First up was an eye, looking south out over Holyrood, perhaps installed around 14th January 2018. I have found the original mesh base attached to the rock as the mosaic has been destroyed over time. The area nearby currently has some artfully arranged stone stacks and standing stones using the small fallen rocks that tumble down from the crags. You can’t help but add your own to this family of stone stacks.

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Then there was the ‘Why Me?’ mosaic, installed around 15th January 2018. It is a speech bubble added to an existing piece of photo-graffiti of a crying girl. It has a serif Roman font. This was recently spray-painted with abusive bright red graffiti which was then removed by the local council. However, they generously left the original artwork and Helen’s mosaic and tried to clean it all up as you see it now.

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Next came a mouse – installed around 16th January 2018. This took a long time for me to find as it’s on a path I’ve never gone down or had reason to go down. Thanks to Hilda for the tip-off 😉

Not too far from there is also ‘the key’ at the door to Regent Gardens, a private enclosed garden. See if you can find it:

How did she manage to get them installed so quickly and without being seen? Helen constructs the mosaics in advance onto pre-prepared mesh and uses fast-setting tile adhesive and grout on site whilst her dog keeps a lookout.

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Warriston Cemetery mosaics

Two mosaics can be found around Warriston Cemetery:

Crow with red heels

On the side of a stone bridge where crows gather on the edge of this overgrown and neglected Victorian cemetery. This sassy crow was installed 21st October 2018.

Here Lies

Installed 1st  Nov 2019. Ceramic tiles spell out ‘Here Lies’

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some other recent mosaic street art additions

‘Her Jesty’ near Holyrood:

At Scotland Street tunnel:

Water of Leith walkway:

Along a stretch of Water of Leith Walkway, west of the Gallery of Modern Art, are three fish swimming in a line.

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Coronavirus mosaics

The Virus series project took place under Covid19 lockdown, of course. The project was postponed for a while when full-scale lockdown was enforced. I found my first one (Virus#2) back in March on the route of my daily walk to Holyrood Park and kept wondering who the artist was. Each virus is easy to spot but appears in locations which are not so frequented and quite neglected. For this reason, as well as lack of visibility, I wouldn’t recommend you go mosaic hunting alone after dark.

Virus#1 

This one is earthy brown and consists of Scottish stone, pebble and shell. I stumbled upon this one quite by accident on the sloped path between Regent Road and Calton Road. This one was installed around 20th March 2020. 

Virus#2

This was installed over some 1980s graffiti using Smalti, slate, crockery, sandstone, shell, beach glass, burnt door handle surround and millefiore. Installed around 28th March 2020.

Virus #3

This is on the sea wall at Portobello beach installed around 22 March 2020. It’s made of shells, metal, glass, plastic, Greek marble, coins, false teeth 😀 and Scottish stone. I couldn’t get close enough for a detailed photo as the tide was in. The video shows how close I could get without getting soaked. It’s fascinating to see it getting weathered by the waves as time goes on. One day the sea might reclaim it and the virus will disappear from view.

Virus #4

This one in Canonmills has subtle tones with a petal-like pattern in Greek marble, glazed ceramic tile and shell. Installed around 23 March 2020, it complements the graffiti already there.

Virus #5

As far as I know, this black and white mosaic is currently in the studio. I’ll keep you posted.

Helen Miles has made some more mosaics in the studio during lockdown and has started installing them but they are not numbered. So, let’s…

…treasure hunt the other virus mosaics

I found this one along the Water of Leith (Canonmills section). Once again, I just stumbled upon it quite by accident. Just like the real virus, you can never be certain where they’re hiding in plain sight…

This virus is at the Innocent Railway Tunnel. A virus with a button at its core…

I stumbled across this one by accident at King George V Park:

Another virus I haven’t found yet due to lockdown restrictions:

A pills virus at the former Royal Infirmary 

I will add more if I can find them. Have you seen any? Please do let me know in the comments below if you spot any of these or any others around Edinburgh.