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Magpie pair nesting
deep within our garden hedge
local terrorists
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by Scooj
7613. David Street
This outstanding mural commission by Zase tells a story of days gone by in the Old Market area of Bristol. The piece was painted last autumn, as far as I can make out, on the side of the recently renovated Shepherd’s hall. The building had played host to The Loyal Order of Ancient Shepherds, a sort of guild/masonic outfit that protected the interests and welfare of sheep farmers. The murals on the building reflect this history.
Zase, who is famous for painting several large murals in Bristol, has opted for sepia tints in these pastiche pieces to mimic old photographs of the late 1800s and early 1900s, capturing a bygone era perfectly.
I cannot be the first person who has marvelled at the mural, in a fairly busy part of town, just outside the centre, which I understand took Zase about ten days to paint.
We don’t have many of these historical/commemorative pieces in the city, which tend to be quite corporate, if you know what I mean, and the Bristol street art scene is generally quite edgy, so this is a little unusual. Fine work from Zase, and a big shout-out to the sponsors of the piece.
7612. M32 roundabout J2 (20)
I expect that Popeye will be a familiar character for many, although post-millennial cohorts are unlikely to identify strongly or even at all with the iconic character. Certainly, John D’oh provides an indication of his likely age with this characterful stencil underneath the M32 motorway.
John D’oh skilfully blends the Popeye character with contemporary politics making a link between spinach greens and the Green Party, with the words ‘Eat green, vote green’. This is a particularly salient message with the upcoming local elections next month in which the Greens are expected to do rather well, picking up disaffected left of centre voters.
7611. St Werburghs tunnel (579)
This wall is not the easiest to photograph when there is a piece that stretches the length of it on account of a lamppost slap bang in the middle of it. This is an awesome piece by Minto that draws the eye into several focal points running across the piece.
Although a little difficult to make out, the letters MINTO form the spine of the piece. In the middle we see a capped character that blends into an array of stars and lines, and on the right, what looks like a train on tracks bursting out of the dazzling spectacle. There is a lot going on here, and it would be good to understand a little bit more about what lies behind it.
7610. Gloucester Road
Sundays tend to be a good day for strolling around Bristol on the hunt for street art in shopping areas because that is when the shutters are down, some of which reveal stunning artwork unseen during working hours.
Not far from where I live, I found this gorgeous Inkie shutter piece. I don’t know whether it is reasonably new or whether I simply haven’t seen it because the shutter has been up when passing. Either way, it is a stunning piece of artwork typical of the artist, featuring a girl with big hair painted in his Art Nouveau style. This tells me I should get out more at weekends!
Poplar
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Drifts of fluffy seeds
rolling in the gentle breeze
peregrine glides by
.
by Scooj
7609. L Dub (89)
Sait Bare seems to have had a little bit more time on his hands to get out and paint recently. His flurry includes this interesting piece in the long foot tunnel underpass at L Dub. He is definitely in a ‘Bare’ phase at the moment, which is different from the ‘Sait’ period when I first encountered his work back in October 2023.
Sait Bare usually paints pieces with plenty of colours and form, but unusually, he has kept this one to a minimum, using black letters bordered with a vibrant lime green outline. There are minimal additional interventions pretty much restricted to some accent lines outside the letters and some stripey lines. All good stuff from Sait Bare – note to self… time for a gallery methinks.
7608. Cumberland Basin
It took me a little while to work out who this piece of graffiti writing was by. I got there in the end, but was slow to figure it out, because the artist, 2Face, doesn’t paint very often. The letters spell FACEY, and it is signed, but even so, difficult to pin down.
There is quite a lot going on in the orange fills in the lettering, ranging from white cracks at the top through ‘leopard spots’ to a fluid whitish stream of paint running horizontally through the letters. These are all the signs of an experienced artist. 2Face also decorates the piece with a blue plasma bolt, adding another layer to the textured piece. A nicely worked piece of graffiti writing.
Sea Spurge (Euphorbia paralias)
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Down on hands and knees
getting a closer look see
Sea Spurge gathering
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by Scooj
7607. M32 roundabout J3 (764)
This is a curious piece by Tera painted at a recent paint jam on the roundabout. It doesn’t really matter how much I try to enhance the image, it is difficult to properly see what is going on without getting up really close. I think that Tera was so into creating the piece (perhaps with a tattooist’s mindset) that he has lost some of the clarity and story in the heavy detail. That is not to say it isn’t a fine piece, rather that it is difficult for the viewer to appreciate.
The combination piece has a dark and rather evil demonic character in the centre, with three eyes, large fangs and a long tongue. It is holding two swords that frame the middle section of the piece. The letters either side of the character spell out TERA, in a nicely crafted style. Overall, Tera shows his raw talent with this piece, but for me, it is a little busy and could do with toning down a bit. Lots more to share from him as he has been out and about a fair bit this spring.
Natural adventures 