Well, blow me down with a feather. This lovely piece of writing from Xenz came as a complete unannounced surprise in Dean Lane, and is all the better for it. Finding a street art piece that you don’t know is there is like a palaeontologist uncovering a fossil never seen before, or something like that at least.
Xenz, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2022
The piece spells out XENZ in a rock-like appearance with vines draped above and on the letters. The highlight, as is often the case with Xenz’s work, is the careful placement of little birds perching on the vines. Although we don’t get to see Xenz very frequently in Bristol, it is always noteworthy when he paints here. Fine work.
One of our most productive graffiti writers/artists in Bristol is Werm, formerly known as Eman, and he appears to have been concentrating on his writing in recent months, rather than his characters. This is another of his block letter writing pieces on the cycle path. He is so productive, that many of his pieces don’t get posted on Natural Adventures… I’ll have to find a way to remedy that.
Werm, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, February 2022
The writing spells WERM and was painted as part of an extensive LRS (Last Radical Souls) crew collaborative paint jam a couple of weeks ago. The block letters are clear, with a couple of nice horizontal colour fill transitions. The decorations are nicely done, especially the stars through the middle of the piece. Werm is a talented artist, but I’d like to see him develop his character as well as his writing.
in spite of Russian war preparation, I genuinely hoped/believed it wouldn’t come to this. Today I am shocked and deeply worried by the events unfolding in Ukraine. This is where unfettered nationalism gets us. Putin, Trump, Farage, Bolsenaro, Johnson, Bannon… any more?
One of the highlights of the winter, and forgive me if I have said this before, has to be the regular visits by Logoe to Bristol, during which he paints five or six pieces in as many days. This one was one of several I photographed in quick succession in and around the M32 area a few weeks back.
Logoe, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, January 2022
Logoe’s style typically takes the form of script writing spelling out Logoe, decorated with horizontal rows of colourful spots and often accompanied with some text. In this piece the text reads ‘Dance for me, Dance for me, Dance for me,… oh, oh, oh.”Probably lyrics from a song, but I don’t know which. Beautiful stuff from a great graffiti writer.
It was while she was painting this outstanding piece that I met Rozalita for the first time, and it was a great moment, because I have long been an admirer of her work, and it is always nice to make a connection with the artist in person. We chatted for a while about the technique she was using to paint the piece, which is referred to as a doodle grid.
Rozalita, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2022
This piece also marked a departure from her customary carnival and clown themed pieces, for which she has made a name for herself in Bristol. This is a deliberate shift, designed to broaden her portfolio the the aim of picking up some commissions, and making a living from her art.
Rozalita, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2022
This mural is rather unusual, showing two faces in an apparently distressed pose. There is something odd, creepy almost, about the two characters, and I think it has to do with the eyes. It shows how unsettling it is to see representations of faces with eyes without pupils. This is a powerful piece, and could easily represent the horror of the unfolding invasion of the Ukrain by Russia today, even though it was painted a few weeks ago.
Doors 174 – Mountain doors, Alpe d’Huez, February 2022
I have been absent from the Thursday doors club so far this year, due to the pressure of work, but am missing it very much and so am squeezing this one in, just to let you know I haven’t completely disappeared off the face of the earth.
My wife and I were lucky enough to join some friends for a skiing holiday in early February, our first holiday abroad for three years, and first together without our children (almost 20 years). The trip had been jeopardised several times over by changes in COVID-19 rules around Europe and the UK, but we made it and had the most fabulous time in Alpe d’Huez, France. Great company, great snow and some of the best skiing I have ever done, despite having a knee injury.
Just one door for you today, but what a door! On one of the long green runs in Auris, heading to the Chalvet lift, we’re these two little green huts popping out of the snow. The huts are curious in themselves and posed loads of questions, mostly around what on earth these huts were for. I still haven’t worked that out yet. A lovely door on a lovely hut in a lovely location.
Green Hut door, Alpe d’Huez, France, February 2022
That just about wraps it up, and I hope I will have time to post more doors soon. I hope you all have a great weekend.
If you have made it this far, you probably like doors, and you really ought to take a look at the No Facilities blog by Dan Anton who has taken over the hosting of Thursday Doors from Norm 2.0 blog. Links to more doorscursions can be found in the comments section of Dan Anton’s Thursday Doors post.
Wowzer, a throwback word I rarely use, this is an absolute stunner from a pair of artists I wouldn’t have imagined working together, but as it happens the resulting collaboration is fabulous. The piece by Mudra and Kosc is a wonderful fusion of styles that is symmetrical and pleasing to the eye.
Mudra and Kosc, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2022
Set on a black background, which immediately gets things going in the right direction, the colourful writing and monochrome character complement each other very well. The letters spelling out MUDRA are by Mudra include a little character bird, adding a special touch to the letters.
Kosc, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2022
The central character is another banger from Kosc, whose work is simply getting better and better. It is quite a disturbing portrait of a young woman with a section of her face, her left side, exposing her skull and teeth beneath. Exquisite work from Kosc, and a really nice and unusual collaboration from this pair. I sincerely hope it is the start of something rather than a one-off.
You can expect to see a few more pieces by Klashwhensober in the coming days and weeks now that he has firmly established himself on my radar. This piece spelling out SOBA was recently sprayed on the M32 roundabout.
Klashwhensober, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2022
The bold writing is accompanied with a rather brash character face in a baseball cap, making up the ‘O’ letter. There is some great fill work going on here and an energetic feel about the whole thing. Another member of the LRS crew that seems to be growing by the day. A nice piece.
Natural adventures 