Resident profiles - Jane, Park Hill, Sheffield
“Something about Park Hill just drew me in”
It’s not often an artistic journey takes you from admiring a building from a distance to living in it, but for Jane that’s exactly what has happened – from first sketching Park Hill years ago to moving into one of our apartments.
Jane specialises in building and streetscape illustrations with a vast portfolio of prints featuring various locations across the UK. Jane’s illustrations will be exhibited in South Street Kitchen from Monday 24 February – Tuesday 1 April or you can browse her collection of prints on her Etsy shop.
Having spent nearly forty years living in London, Jane explains how a move up north wasn’t on the cards at first: “My first experience of Park Hill was staying with a friend of mine who lived here. I started visiting in 2018 and staying over Christmas and other holidays as the years passed.
“Something about Park Hill just really drew me in – I could immediately appreciate the community, even though it was much smaller back then, and the scale of what it would become in the future.
“On one of my visits I thought to myself ‘Why not have a bit of a change?’. I’d toyed with the idea of moving to Brighton as I love the south coast but thought ‘Brighton doesn’t have a Park Hill!’
“On enquiring about an apartment, I was put in touch with residential consultant, Dave, who was fantastic in helping me find an apartment and made the entire moving process very smooth.”
When we asked what her favourite part of living at Park Hill is, Jane said: “There’s so many aspects of living here that are so special. I feel really proud to live here and be a small part of the Park Hill story.
“I love the views from my apartment. Having the dual aspect allows me to look out across the rooftops of Sheffield city centre and also the gardens at the back so I really get the best of both worlds. It’s especially ideal in the colder months when I prefer to sketch from inside!
“Mostly, I just feel really good here – the apartment is cosy but in a modern way and I really love how different the design is to other apartments. There’s truly nothing else like it.”
Reflecting on her journey from sketching Park Hill to exhibiting her work in South Street Kitchen, Jane said: “It does feel very full circle, going from first sketching the building in my friend’s flat to being a resident here and sharing my work with the wider Park Hill community and beyond.
“Park Hill has given me so much and I think it’s important to give back – I hope that the exhibition will bring a few new faces into South Street Kitchen and support a much appreciated local business too.”
