Month: November 2020

3315. River Avon (8)

When I went for a walk along the Riverside a week or two back it felt like Christmas had come early.  When you don’t visit a graffiti spot for a while, even one with a low turnover, there are always dozens of new pieces to admire.

Dit Oner, River Avon, Bristol, November 2020
Dit Oner, River Avon, Bristol, November 2020

This is a splendid piece of writing from Spanish artist Dit Oner that appears to stand proud from the wall thanks to some clever 3D shadows giving it depth and subtle light shading along the bottom of the letters. The letter style is bold and regular letters like these are made a little easier on brick walls when you can follow the lines of the brickwork to get your proportions and spaces. This one simply doesn’t want to be ignored.

Early snowfall

.

Always check pockets

and remove hidden tissues

laundry protocol

.

by Scooj

3314. Sparke Evans Park (2)

It has been a good year for Zake in my view. His faces have developed well and in the second half of the year in particular his ideas and his execution have moved onto a new level. In addition to these improvements he appears to have been out and about more often.

Zake, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, November 2020
Zake, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, November 2020

This is a fine Halloween piece (his second of the year) which was painted on the long wall at Sparke Evans Park during an all-Spanish paint jam. One of the things that Zake has really mastered is creating shadows on the darker side of the face with varying degrees of tone and the same with brightness on the lit side of the face. Clever and accomplished work.

3313. River Avon (7)

Lots of unknowns about this amazing piece on the Avon River pathway. I have no idea who the artist is and I don’t know how long it has been there, but judging from the fact that it looks pretty fresh and clean and the subject, it might be a recent Halloween piece.

Dabuten Tronko, River Avon, Bristol, November 2020
Dabuten Tronko, River Avon, Bristol, November 2020

Set on a blue and red broad-striped background this fabulously painted Satan face with enormous horns stands out a mile. The artwork is immaculate and this has been sprayed by an accomplished artist. The hand and spray can spewing out blue paint add a perfect finishing touch to the wall. The word MAFIA at the bottom right doesn’t help with identification. I am irritated that I can’t place the artist, especially as there is something familiar about the style that I simply can’t pin down. Too good not to post. I got there in the end, it is by Dabuten Tronko… see comments below.

Pretty

.

Home working escape

in the garden a hebe

tells me all is well

.

by Scooj 

 

3312. River Avon (6)

I don’t get there too often, which is a bit of a shame, but there is a nice walk along the River Avon which contrasts two very different scenes; on one side is the muddy river with plenty of bankside vegetation and a variety of bird species an evidence of other wildlife such as otters on the other side is a long gallery of graffiti and street art displayed on the rear walls of buildings on an industrial estate.

Stivs, River Avon, Bristol, November 2020
Stivs, River Avon, Bristol, November 2020

Along this stretch I found this rather nice calligraphy piece by Stivs, an artist getting quite a lot of exposure on Natural Adventures at the moment. The orange and red colour selection is a winning combination and the script has some rather good harlequin reversals breaking up the lines. A fine piece from Stivs.

3311. Jamaica Street (24)

The People’s Republic of Stokes Croft outdoor gallery is a great ‘showcase’ wall that is properly curated and well respected. Rarely is this wall tagged or despoiled in any way. One of the key carers of this wall is Object… so it is great when he gets to put a piece of his own work up, and in this case as part of a collaboration with Msale.

Object... and Msale, Jamaica Street, Bristol, May 2020
Object… and Msale, Jamaica Street, Bristol, May 2020

The collaboration breaks down into three panels and picks up on the coronavirus pandemic theme. On the left we see two people hugging the planet earth which is wearing a face mask, the emblem of 2020.

Object... and Msale, Jamaica Street, Bristol, May 2020
Object… and Msale, Jamaica Street, Bristol, May 2020

The middle panel is a ring and circle of text in a calligraphy style. The outer ring says “apart; together; stay safe”. The inner circle is in a script I can’t read and might be Arabic or something like that.

Object... and Msale, Jamaica Street, Bristol, May 2020
Object… and Msale, Jamaica Street, Bristol, May 2020

On the right is a masked portrait with the word ‘hope’ underneath it and to the right are the words ‘Baki salama’ which means stay safe.

Overall this is a contemporary and uplifting piece from two fine artists.

Object... and Msale, Jamaica Street, Bristol, May 2020
Object… and Msale, Jamaica Street, Bristol, May 2020

Thursday doors – 19 November 2020

Doors 129 – Dorchester doors (3)

A little rummage through my desktop archives revealed some doors I photographed on a work trip I took to Dorchester back in June last year, when life was so much less complicated. Rather than feed you a diet of street art doors every week, I thought I’d switch it up a bit with this little collection. Enjoy.

Shop front - no longer in business, Dorchester, June 2019
Shop front – no longer in business, Dorchester, June 2019
A rather tired old doorway, Dorchester, June 2019
A rather tired old doorway, Dorchester, June 2019
A once rather grand doorway, Dorchester, June 2019
A once rather grand doorway, Dorchester, June 2019
Corn Exchange door, Dorchester, June 2019
Corn Exchange door, Dorchester, June 2019
Church door, Dorchester, June 2019
Church door, Dorchester, June 2019
Church door for very thin people, one that hasn't been used for a while, Dorchester, June 2019
Church door for very thin people, one that hasn’t been used for a while, Dorchester, June 2019

 

So another week swiftly passes us by, but it is important that we stop and smell the flowers every now and again, otherwise what is the point?

If you have made it this far, you probably like doors and you really ought to 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.

by Scooj

 

Tippy’s litope

.

Things stick in the mind

indelible memories

prompted frequently

.

by Scooj

There is a story to this.

My brother, Tippy, lent me a 12 inch wooden ruler when I was about 13 years old and which I appropriated. Written on it was ‘Tippy’s litope’. I never knew what it meant, and I have asked him since and he doesn’t recall it. Anyhow, I associate the phrase with any and every ruler I use and half expect to see the words written on them. Funny how some things like that stick.

3310. M32 Cycle path (87)

About a week ago I posted a piece by Mena for the first time on Natural Adventures and it was well overdue. Over the coming weeks and months I intend to free several more Mena pieces from my archives, starting with this one painted in May this year on the M32 cycle path, a favourite haunt of hers.

Mena, M32 cycle path, Bristol, May 2020
Mena, M32 cycle path, Bristol, May 2020

Mena tends to stick to a regular letter structure, with a central kink and a leaning to the right. The rest is all about the fills, shadows and decorations. It is always great to buff a wall first, it prevents any distractions getting in the way of the piece itself, and in this case sets a neutral background for the dark colours and neon green line running through the piece. Nice tidy work.