The tribute on this wall, to Dutty Ken by Haka, is most fitting and appropriate as it is painted on the side wall of the Star and Garter pub where Dutty Ken had been landlord and DJ since 1993 up until his sudden death in early 2017.
Haka, Star and Garter, Bristol, July 2019
Although the portrait is not the truest likeness it conveys the fondness in which Dutty Ken was held, and if you look carefully you can see another tribute on the same wall. This wall was given the makeover in time for this year’s St Paul’s carnival. A touching piece from Haka.
I have been super-occupied recently, and for the first time ever, forgot to write the words for this outstanding piece by SkyHigh in Leake Street tunnel.
SkyHigh, Leake Street, London, July 2019
I guess I’ll have to cut to the chase as these comments are retrospective…
SkyHigh is awesome
This piece is awesome
I love SkyHigh’s work
It is about time he visited Bristol (with Roo) again
Thanks Paul for drawing my attention to my omission.
I have seen one or two pieces by Roo in Bristol, and might even have seen some in London before, but this one is one of the most memorable so far. It features a rather self-satisfied rat sitting on a pot of paint, with a brush in hand, and I think we have to assume he painted the ROO in the background.
Roo, Leake Street, London, July 2019
I am wondering if this piece was painted for the #Do1Cancer campaign, as many other pieces down there were hashtagged with the campaign. To me it looks like Roo has been very clever and turned the pot of Dulux paint into a ‘DU1’, if this is the case then I doff my cap, if not then I have seen something that was not intended. Either way this is a delightful piece from the London-based artist.
I have to say that this is a slightly baffling piece by Gustavo Nenao in Leake Street tunnel. It is a photorealistic portrait of Nelson Mandela wearing a not very photorealistic party hat with Happy Birthday written on it. While the subject matter is certainly curious, the execution is perfect, especially as the portrait is in black and whiite, with so many shades in it.
Gustavo Nenao, Leake Street, London, July 2019
I am guessing it was done as a birthday tribute to the great man himself, but can’t be sure, and hey – I was in London which is way outside my normal stamping ground and I feel no pressure to know anything about anything on the street scene there. I come as a tourist, just like everyone else. A querky and excellent piece.
Every now and again I have to go to London for work, and a few days ago I ran a workshop in Lambeth. Although going to London can be a real drag, on this occasion I was only a fifteen minute walk from Waterloo Station and Leake Street, which made the whole trip worth it and some. So after the workshop was over, I pootled over to the tunnel and managed to get a few nice pics.
Ebee, Leake Street, London, July 2019
This is a beautiful piece by Ebee, whose name is spelled out on the building blocks, and the character is none other than the amazing Vanellope von Schweetz from the animation Wreck it Ralph 2. Unfortunately the piece is a bit tagged, which is the case with many of the superb murals in Leake Street tunnel, but it goes with the territory I guess. More Leake Street magic to come.
I was lucky enough to catch up with DJPerks when he was just finishing off this small piece. He really is quite modest, and doesn’t talk much about his own artwork, and still manages to drive around taking pictures of other people’s street art.
DJPerks, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2019
This is a nicely designed quick one with a vanishing point right in the centre of the piece. Although I haven’t seen much of his work, and have only posted one before this one, I do like the way he mixes it up each time, playing with the letters PERKS, each piece original. It’ll be interesting if he continues along this path or whether, like some artists he’ll sttick with one basic design.
This is how I get to see most of Nevergiveup’s work for the first time. Because he doesn’t just paint regular spots but tends to paint everywhere he can in the city, he is one artist whose work you can spot from a car. This cheeky rabbit is on Hotwell Road and in a place that one is unlikely to stop – I got lucky, the traffic stopped right in front of me, my camera was on the passenger seat and so I snapped away. Lazy hunting, but sometimes you have to be opportunistic in this game.
Nevergiveup, Hotwell Road, Bristol, July 2019
I have lost count of his bunnies, and I miss an awful lot of them, but there is a bit of an addiction to trying to track them down, a bit like Pokemon Go or the Wallace and Gromit trails that Bristol has hosted in recent years. Another one for the gallery.
Alright… I have had a couple of weeks off from Thursday doors, mainly because I have been pretty busy at work and just ran out of time. I am still pretty busy but have carved out a few moments to give you my third and final set of doors from a skiing trip to Flaine in France back in March of this year.
The ski resort was built in the brutalist style, so if you are expecting ‘chocolate box’ doors then probably best to skip the rest of this post. These doors are ugly, but even ugly doors have some fascination, in the case of most of these it is their functionality.
Enjoy if you can:
Doors on a gondola at the top of Les Grandes Platieres lift, Flaine March 2019Lift hut, Flaine March 2019Door within a door, Grand Platieres, Flaine, March 2019Dodgy two-person step on lift – self closing doors, Flaine, March 2019Church in the centre of ‘brutalist’ Flaine, March 2019Doors of the church in the centre of ‘brutalist’ Flaine, March 2019Flaine 0153 9-16 Mar 2019Post box, Flaine March 2019
That’s it… collective relief all round. Some rather nicer doors next week, maybe.
Please go take a look at the Norm 2.0 blog – the originator of Thursday Doors where there are links to yet more doors in the comments section at the end.
Natural adventures 