Glass beads suspended
above a palm canopy
Jurassic woodland.
by Scooj
Month: January 2019
Laic217
A collection of brilliant street art by Bristol artist Laic217 – quite a few skulls here!
All photographs taken by Scooj
1962. M32 roundabout J3 (116)
Mr Draws is definitely not a one trick pony, and although he enjoys writing his name a lot (well who doesn’t?), he also comes up with some other creative ideas, such as this pair of doughnuts dressed up in his ‘house’ style.
I have always liked his work, which has featured numerous times in Natural Adventures, but these special pieces really stand out, rather like the trainer he did in The Bearpit last year. Great fun stuff.
1961. Armada Place (14)
Every once in a while, this spot gets some TLC which it surely deserves especially as much of the stuff that appears here is not great or gets tagged within an instant. This is one half of a collaborative session from Sepr (to follow) and Epok.
The piece was sprayed as an end of year celebration to see out 2018 (good riddance) and welcome in 2019. A sensational colour selection and all the hallmarks of a classic Epok piece – I love it to pieces.
In passing
Snatched conversation
‘e do it before I do’
do what? I wonder.
by Scooj
1960. Ashfield Place
One of my favourite pieces of 2018 was this lovely collaboration by Soap and Face 1st. It is one of those collaborations that is more of a proximity of work, rather than a true collaborative merger.
I must have driven past it hundreds of times thinking that I really must stop and take a picture, but it is close to a road junction and there are very limited parking opportunities. The left hand side is by Soap and is one of his most regularly used designs in a nice metallic silver. The tongues are particularly nice with the purple tinge.
It is the Face 1st piece though that is in my view outstanding. I do so much like his full figurine, and every time I see her, she seems just that bit more special. In this piece it is her hair that is so captivating, and the blue spotted bow. Her eye lashes too are extraordinary. When I spoke with Face 1st not long after he had painted this lady, he told me it was one of his favourites too.
A beautiful lady.
1959. New Gatton Road (3)
When an artist augments another’s work and it is done well it is both skilful and diplomatic. In this instance, 3Dom has added a fantasy abstract seascape to a remarkable turtle originally painted by Louis Masai a couple of years back.
3Dom seems to have undergone something of an epiphany recently and is creating some really interesting abstract work at the moment, fantasy scenes that feel familiar but that are utterly imaginary, like the sea bed here. I believe that 3Dom’s work has in some way added to Louis Masai’s work in a sensitive and dignified way. Definitely a case of the sum of the parts being greater than the individual components. Brilliant new work, giving a new lease of life to the wall.
1958. M32 roundabout J3 (115)
Regular readers might recognise this as the work of the wonderful talent that is Kleiner Shames. His colour palette and the shapes of his letters are very distinctive, and if that is not enough to go on, the letters FOIS should give it away.
Such sights are a bit of a rarity in Bristol these days since the artist trundled off to london to find his fortune, but I guess he still hankers after the old city of Bristol and makes these occasional trips and marks them with fine pieces like this one. I find his letters very calming and gentle and aesthetically pleasing. Nothing jars. Always a genuine pleasure to find one of these.
1957. Moon Street (57)
Back to things more contemporary now with this interesting recent piece by Laic217 in Moon Street. There is an interesting quality to this piece which is more about what is not included than what is. No face and no colour on the hat and track suit top.
Even though a lot of what Laic217 paints appears to be formulaic, or at the very least incorporating similar themes, each of his pieces is highly original, and I’m not quite sure how he achieves that.
It is great to see him back spraying in what I guess must be one of his favourite streets and what is certainly mine.
Earned privilege
Between a dog walk
and shopping, I sneak a snooze;
Saturday PM.
by Scooj
Natural adventures 