Mr Draws is an artist I have always rather liked. His work always brings a smile to my face…it is bright and cheerful, simple and striking and it has a habit of cropping up anywhere in Bristol.
Mr Draws, The Bearpit, Bristol, July 2018
This is one of his faviurite spots in The Bearpit, and this quick one uses the space perfectly. Never too sophisticated, but always really easy on the eye. Mr Draws has plans to leave the UK for Germany soon, but I’m not sure if that is still going ahead. If so, I will surely miss his cheerful work – I still have loads in my archive that will keep me going for a while.
There seems to be no stopping Soker at the moment, it seems that everywhere I go in Bristol there is a new piece by him. What this means is that there will be several posts following this one in the near future featuring his work.
Soker, New Stadium Road, Bristol, August 2018
I rather like this one in the foot tunnel under the M32 spot, and for once my photographs aren’t too polluted with the awkward light conditions that seem to be omnipresent on this wall. I like the colours – blue and yellow/gold are always a strong combination, but what I really like about this piece is the kind of effortlessness it conveys, Soker just seems to be, like several of his ASK fellows, an artist at the top of his game.
The other day, just before heading off to Italy, I had a quick trawl around my favourite spots in Bristol just to get as up-to-date with new pieces as I could before missing out on a week of photographing street art. Dean Lane was fairly busy, as it was being prepped for the annual Hardcore funday that weekend. Feek was working on one of the large ramps (to follow) and I met DJPerks (a fellow admirer of street/graffiti art) for the first time. I think that we ‘hunters’ (I’m not sure if I like the tag) are almost as elusive as some of the artists. While talking to him, this green piece caught my eye.
Nightways, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2018
It is by Nightways, a visitor to Bristol, but I am not too sure where he calls home. He sprayed this piece as a three colour challenge, and I think it has turned out rather well. His Facebook page is a little cryptic, and he seems to have a thing for bears, although looking at his Instagram it all seems to be monkeys. Whatever his thing is, I rather like this piece, and hope he comes to visit again soon.
I only took this picture a couple of weeks ago and it has been buffed over at least twice since then. It is by the irrepressible Laic217 who never tires of creating these wonderful skulls and skeletons in various guises.
Laic217, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2018
This skull is donning a gas mask, or is it a sophisticated protection mask from the fumes of spray paint? I guess perhaps the latter and the yellow patterns are the paint fumes. It works either way really. The detail in the eye sockets of the skull is awesome and the bucket hat with the smiley so full of character. Laic217 has smashed it with this one.
I have known about this mural for several years, but just never stopped to take a picture of it until very recently, and it looks as good close up as it does from a distance. It is by the hugely talented and lovely Bristol Artist Andrew Burns Colwill.
Andrew Burns Colwill, Westbury Hill, Bristol, August 2018
Painted in 2011, this mural depicts a giant looking out of a window and uses the trompe l’oeil technique to provide a false perspective that there is a window in the wall and that render has fallen, exposing brickwork underneath. It is in fact a flat wall.
Andrew Burns Colwill, Westbury Hill, Bristol, August 2018
I love the little details in the piece…the rose in the window sill and the ivy dropping down from the top of the window, and of course the cracks and the brickwork make this a truly magnificent piece, that I expect the good people of Westbury-on-Trym take for granted.
Andrew Burns Colwill, Westbury Hill, Bristol, August 2018
There is something rather forlorn about the giant’s expression and there is an untold story unfolding – the words ‘and the giant looks on, still waiting…..’ – tell us all is not well and I fear a broken heart is just around the corner. A most wonderful piece.
This week I have a rare treat for you…doors from Cortona. I spent last week on a family holiday to Umbria in Italy and this first set of doors is from a day trip we took to this Tuscan town set on a hill top in the province of Arezzo. Close your eyes and imagine the heat, sounds and the smells of this medieval town. Perfect.
Passageway off Via Nazionale, Cortona, Tuscany, ItalyDoor at the end of a passageway off Via Nazionale, Cortona, Tuscany, ItalyDoor in Cortona, Tuscany, ItalyDoor in Cortona, Tuscany, ItalyPorta Colonia, Cortona, Tuscany, ItalyInteresting door, Via Dardano, Cortona, Tuscany, Italy
Unusually I find myself rather conflicted about this extraordinary recent piece by 3Dom on the M32 wall. I am such a big admirer of his work, but for reasons I cannot identify, this one doesn’t really tick my boxes. It is technically beautifully done, and the blue patterning around the outside is masterful, but there is something about the face that doesn’t work for me. It is peculiar, but I feel a little disloyal, though I don’t suppose that you can like everything all the time.
3Dom, M32, Bristol, August 2018
It is great to see more of his work about the place though, and this piece did manage to survive longer than the Sepr piece two to the left which had been buffed by the time I got there.
Natural adventures 