Blurton street artist turns rude graffiti into bright murals

A street artist who became fed up with offensive graffiti where she lives has taken to painting over it with her own more wholesome designs.

Sarah Marshall, who lives in Blurton, Stoke-on-Trent, has made it her mission to cover up rude graffiti with images she paints under the name Hypha.

“We have a local play park which is repeatedly targeted by some unruly children who like to draw phallic symbols all over the place… I was getting quite tired of my daughter seeing all that,” she said.

The local council said graffiti vandals faced a £500 penalty if caught, but added it would support street artists who had secured permission from property owners to add images.

Subject to that process, the authority said it was acceptable for people to considerately express their creativity.

The BBC contacted the landlord of a house in Longton which Ms Marshall painted, who confirmed they were happy with the butterfly image she had added to the building.

Ms Marshall said she had also been contacted by people on social media, asking her to paint more places.

She said her art was a community-spirited action which had helped bring people together, and may have discouraged some anti-social behaviour.

“It is very much not graffiti, it’s street art, and usually you have to pay a lot of money for these things,” Ms Marshall said.

She added if people had strong opinions about it, then that further validated her opinion that it was art.

Councillor Amjid Wazir, deputy leader of the city council, said the authority would “fully support” people wishing to express their creativity.

“We just ask that this be done respectfully, gaining permission from building owners and considering the artwork and its suitability for the area,” he said.

“Those who target public places such as parks with distasteful graffiti, not only impact local residents and the community, the clean-up cost is then on the tax-payer.

“As we all know, taxpayer funds would be better spent on much-needed services.”

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