Month: May 2019

2202. St Werburghs tunnel (79)

A couple of weeks back there was a large paint jam in St Werburghs tunnel, and it would seem that it was something of a RAW (Read and Weep) get together. This collaborative piece included the T-Rex burner that I featured a few days ago, which was just to the right. These two are Ryder and Jaksta.

Ryder, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2019
Ryder, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2019

I don’t need to repeat myself, although I constantly find myself doing so, by telling you that Ryder is an incredibly accomplished writer, and here he has created something rather special in shades of gray with blue highlights. Having started trying to paint a little in the garden I realise how much I have to study what these guys do to understand tricks and techniques. Paint big was an important piece of advice I was given – smaller pieces are more difficult.

Jaksta, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2019
Jaksta, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2019

When I have been in the tunnel, it seems everyone notices the pig – he really stands out and the kids that walk past love him. Jaksta is a master of the character piece and his work often joins up pieces of writing like it does here. It is the details I love in this piece, the black shading and white highlights that give a 3D feel to the whole thing, and the two shades of pink that make it look like the light is coming from the right (which in this part of the tunnel it actually does). Great work.

2201. M32 Cycle path (26)

I have only met Ugar once and I remember him being a quiet and affable fellow. His work seems to crop up in all the main spots around Bristol, but this is the first piece I have seen along the M32 cycle path. Until recently, this spot became a bit of a ‘dead’ area because a tract of the path had been fenced off for development work. Since it re-opened about a month ago, turnover here has increased dramatically.

Ugar, M32 cycle path, Bristol, May 2019
Ugar, M32 cycle path, Bristol, May 2019

Ugar, in my view, has an extraordinary talent for filling his letters. His writing tends to be fairly organic and un-uniform, which makes it identifiable, but it is his unique variety of fills that scream out a Ugar piece. Always good and always interesting.

Emerald

 

Warmer breeze wakens

dozey rose chafers that crash

through the shrubbery.

 

by Scooj

2200. Dean Lane skate park (211)

Painting collectively as Reseau, this is a magnificent and wonderfully colourful collaboration between Stupid Stupid Meathole, Panskaribas and Rory MacRaild, on a wall that has seen so much action over the years in Dean Lane but rarely three artists at one time.

Westonbirt graff 0085 20-24 April 2019

On the left and right of the piece, Stupid Stupid Meathole gives us some writing which deviates a little from his customary all pink to include blue and green letters. On the right he has squeezed in some of his grotesque teeth… because he can.

Stupid Stupid Meathole, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2019
Stupid Stupid Meathole, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2019

Then in the top left and across to the right, Panskaribas delights us with his cartoonesque style. The character on the left appears to be using a record deck and I have noticed that music seems to feature a great deal in his work.

Panskaribas, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2019
Panskaribas, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2019

Finally, in the centre of the collaboration I am realy pleased to intoduce Rory MacRaild whose work I have not knowingly seen before. I think he has absolutely smashed it with this Picassoesque portrait. It really ticks all my bokes, it is interesting bright and colourful and beautifully executed.

Rory MacRaild, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2019
Rory MacRaild, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2019

The whole collaboration is like being in a gallery. It is a meeting of styles that kind of works, and It seems that SSM and Panskaribas enjoy working together as I have seen a few collaborative pieces by them now. Great piece that has lasted a little while. Respect.

2199. Windmill Hill (2)

How fortunate we are in Bristol to have had the unbelievable collaboration by My Dog Sighs and Curtis Hylton on Windmill Hill. As if that wasn’t enough, My Dog Sighs also left a couple of smaller pieces on a wall around the corner of the main piece and this is one of them.

My Dog Sighs, Windmill Hill, Bristol, April 2019
My Dog Sighs, Windmill Hill, Bristol, April 2019

There is something absolutely magical about this piece and the face has similarities in style to the tin can faces that are one of his trademarks. I yearn to own one of his tin cans, but I guess I just have to be in the right place at the right time. Serene, even beautiful the character on the left is simply drawn and has four eyes, all of which contain a silhouette scene. To the right is harlequin clown, dare I say it with a feel of Picasso there somewhere. I don’t use the word adorable, but if I did, I might use it to describe this piece.

My Dog Sighs, Windmill Hill, Bristol, April 2019
My Dog Sighs, Windmill Hill, Bristol, April 2019

The blue crown is rather special and casts a thin glow of light on the character’s head and antlers. I cannot tell you how much I love this work. It is so unusual and so very classy. As I said at the beginning, we are very lucky in Bristol.

Heart

 

A song from the heart

unseen but not unnoticed

blackbird belts one out.

 

by Scooj

2198. Wilder Street (30)

It is unusual to see incomplete pieces, that are unlikely to be completed at any time in the future, if fact they are such a rare thing that I can only think of three or four examples in the four years I have been doing this. Rarer still is an incomplete Sled One piece, but here is one on the side wall of the garage in Wilder Street.

Sled One, Wilder Street, Bristol, April 2019
Sled One, Wilder Street, Bristol, April 2019

My understanding is that he got asked to move on, although I am not sure whether that was by the garage owner or somebody else. What it gives you though is a little insight into how a sketched wall turns into something quite remarkable. The zebra on the left is almost complete, but the horse on the right seems to be only half done. What a pity he never got to complete it, because from what we see here, it is a real cracker.

2197. North Street

This is one of a few new pieces organised by Upfest who are curating some hoardings around a tower block on North Street. It is of course by the magnificent Silent Hobo who expertly, through his observations, chronicles contemporary youth culture in Bristol.

Silent Hobo, North Street, Bristol, May 2019
Silent Hobo, North Street, Bristol, May 2019

Silent Hobo has created an urban scene that looks a lot like the DIY skate park under the M32, although it is fairly generic and could portray any urban flyover. He has captured mood and movement in this piece and is beating the drum for this great city. It was a difficult piece to photograph because it is behind a fence, and I was on my toes, arms at full extension, which would explain why the edges are a little cut-off. Such a fine piece.

Magnificent Severn

.

Landscape scale impacts

showcasing human presence

still the Severn flows.

.

by Scooj

2196. St Werburghs tunnel (78)

I’ve not posted anything by T-Rex for a little while now, but was lucky enough to come across this wonderful piece in St Werburghs tunnel recently. It was painted during quite a large paint jam a week or so ago alongside work by other RAW artists.

T-Rex, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2019
T-Rex, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2019

Having just bought some spray paint and tried out a little in my garden, I can’t begin to explain how difficult this is and what exceptional talent and experience is needed to produce a piece like this one. The shapes of the letters, the incredible fill patterns and sharp lines, not to mention the expressive dinosaur, are so well worked. I don’t really understand how these guys do it. T-Rex, I doff my cap. The sooner I pack away my paint the better.