3212. John Street (3)

It is so good to see T-Rex gaining such a prominent spot for one of her fabulous dinosaurs. This is the third archway, looking from left to right, in this magnificent back-street gallery offered up by the developers of a hotel that is being built right in the heart of Bristol’s old quarter. The developers have their work cut out, because the buildings they are converting are probably the ugliest in the whole city.

T-Rex, John Street, Bristol, September 2020
T-Rex, John Street, Bristol, September 2020

I was told by John Nation that T-Rex’s piece is not one of her regular dinosaurs (unsurprisingly a tyrannosaurus rex) but a depiction of one of the dinosaurs displayed up at the Bristol Museum (so well worth a visit if you ever get the opportunity). This is a beautifully painted, clean and happy piece with very broad appeal. Perfect for a city centre location.

3211. Brunel Way bridge (56)

I have a feeling that this might be the first piece that I have posted by Stivs. This is something of a poor show on my part, because I have plenty of pieces by him in my folders, but just never got round to posting any of them. I am putting this wrong right with this lovely piece of writing under Brunel Way by the riverside.

Stivs, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2020
Stivs, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2020

Stivs is probably best know for his beautiful gothic script works. These ornate letters spell out BDSC although I’m not too sure what this represents, but will come to know in time I’m sure. The letters are well proportioned and drafted and the colours work well The yellow and white lines help to lift the letters from the wall. Overall a wonderful piece. More to come soon.

3210. M32 Cycle path (78)

This piece was painted a little while back by Decay, but I decided to dig it out because it marks further experimentation from an artist, who, when I first met him only painted in black, white, red and grey colours. His artistic journey has blossomed over the last three or so years and his pieces are becoming more and more interesting as a result.

Decay, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, August 2020
Decay, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, August 2020

Most unusually, Decay has gone for orange and purple colours with green highlights and arrows. More unusually he hasn’t used black outlines for his letters, although his little Chuck character does have an outline. Spelling out DECAY, I see this piece as pivotal in the artist really pushing himself to try new ideas. I love the orange splashes above the A. Looking forward to more developments.

3209. Dean Lane skate park (355)

I last met Jee See during a mini paint jam under Brunel Way back on a sunny summer’s day, and he had already completed his column piece and was just chilling and chewing the fat with friends. I haven’t seen any of his work since then until a week or two ago.

Jee See, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2020
Jee See, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2020

Jee See presents us with one of his ‘seismic’ pieces which has a political strand to it with the accompanying message of ‘Underclass rising’. It is nicely sprayed and planted over the top of an existing graffiti piece which makes the whole thing quite busy.

Unfortunately the piece has been dogged, probably by a kid with an almost empty discarded spraycan (it happens a lot). It is a pity, but it goes with the territory. My message – artists…take your empty cans home and dispose of them properly.

3208. William Street (1)

It always, always pays to switch things up a little bit and alter the routes taken to reach regular spots. I decided to drive down the City Road a week or two back, something I rarely do, but was most excited to catch sight of this bright red vision to my left. I parked up and went to investigate.

Face 1st and Soap, William Street, Bristol, September 2020
Face 1st and Soap, William Street, Bristol, September 2020

Deep joy. The red flash was this magnificent collaboration from Face 1st and Soap and by the look of it was rather recent – certainly I hadn’t had any tip offs on social media. Sometimes you just get lucky.

Face 1st, William Street, Bristol, September 2020
Face 1st, William Street, Bristol, September 2020

The left hand side is by Face 1st and depicts two happy girls mucking about with spray paints and their combined big hair spelling out FACE. This is a joyful and fun piece, which this artist is so good at creating, spreading a little happiness.

Soap, William Street, Bristol, September 2020
Soap, William Street, Bristol, September 2020

To the righ is the Soap half of the collaboration where he uses the same righ red colours to spell out SOAP with the most elaborate fills and highlights, so full of detail. Of course there is his trademark mouth, although it looks a little different in style to his usual one. A lovely collaboration surprise.

3207. John Street (2)

A welcome return to John Street and the second of the special pieces in the ten archways on the side of a building undergoing redevelopment. This archway has been beautifully painted by 3Dom and is a direct reference to the Covid-19 pandemic.

3Dom, John Street, Bristol, September 2020
3Dom, John Street, Bristol, September 2020

As social commentators, many street artists have found the coronavirus pandemic to be a rich source of inspiration and 3Dom has created this powerful piece. This clever work feels rather threatening with CCTV cameras and a whole host of intimidating shapes and references in red surrounding the blue light of humanity – I suppose the blue light is a symbol of hope. It will passs. A nice shout out to Hazard too.