Month: July 2022

4593. Upfest 2022 (33)

I think I was being rather thick when I looked at this piece, and it took me quite a while to unpick what was going on. It is funny how you can look at something but not really see it, which is something I pride myself on being able to do ordinarily, but in this instance I failed.

Usedpencil, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Used Pencil, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

The clever piece is by Used Pencil and is of course a portrait of HM Queen Elizabeth, although not an entirely flattering one. Upfest was held this year just before the extended bank holiday during which the nation celebrated the Queen’s platinum jubilee – I didn’t celebrate, because I was in Porto with my daughter.

This portrait is a bit like a fully painted doodle and it is very nicely executed too. Used Pencil is another artist I have never come across before and his Upfest biography reads:

I am Used Pencil, the ‘Secret Walls’ winning, mural making, illicit illustrator with walls covered and exhibitions curated in HK, Lisbon, LDN, Manchester and Iceland, to name just a few. Always starting with a pencil and paper, I like to make marks on all surfaces using fine line creative wizardry.

Nice contemporary work.

4592. Upfest 2022 (32)

I think it is fair to say that some of the Upfest pieces are much more memorable than others. Some you really want to photograph and some others you forget that you even saw them until you review your pictures. This is definitely one of those memorable ones.

Mister Samo, Upfest 22, Bristol, Bristol, May 2022
Mister Samo, Upfest 22, Bristol, Bristol, May 2022

The bright piece is by Mister Samo, who I have not encountered before but who has a really interesting biography in the Upfest programme as follows:

Samo is a Portsmouth based trans artist, public speaker, and activist who focuses on intersectional gender identity and community. Highlights include painting at World Pride 2019, producing I EXIST (a trans bodies art book), founding an LGBTQ+ safe space scheme, and having his works collected by people across the world.

Mister Samo, Upfest 22, Bristol, Bristol, May 2022
Mister Samo, Upfest 22, Bristol, Bristol, May 2022

There is something very appealing about the piece and without doubt it demands to be looked at. The stylised yellow figure set on the blue and pink background stands out a mile, but as well as the bold colours, the finer details are what make the piece rather special, such as the hand and the beautifully drafted flowers. A very nice piece from Mister Samo.

Thursday doors – 28 July 2022

Doors 191 – Porto doors (part 5)

I’m back on the trail of Porto doors this morning, with another selection of doors from a mini-break I shared with my daughter at the beginning of June. Already the holiday feels like a distant memory, so revisiting it with these door posts keeps it fresh in the mind. This week is a fairly random selection from the coastal district of FOZ do Douro. Enjoy:

Lighthouse with red door, Foz do Douro, Porto, Portugal, June 2022
Lighthouse with red door, Foz do Douro, Porto, Portugal, June 2022
Weathered door, Foz do Douro, Porto, Portugal, June 2022
Weathered door, Foz do Douro, Porto, Portugal, June 2022
Beautifully designed gate door, Foz do Douro, Porto, Portugal, June 2022
Beautifully designed gate door, Foz do Douro, Porto, Portugal, June 2022
What lies behind the door of fear? Foz do Douro, Porto, Portugal, June 2022
What lies behind the door of fear? Foz do Douro, Porto, Portugal, June 2022
Green door, Foz do Douro, Porto, Portugal, June 2022
Green door, Foz do Douro, Porto, Portugal, June 2022
Tall green door, Foz do Douro, Porto, Portugal, June 2022
Tall green door, Foz do Douro, Porto, Portugal, June 2022

That’s your lot for another week, may I wish you a fine weekend ahead.

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.

by Scooj

Cinnabar moth

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Eater of ragwort

radiating warning signs

beautiful adult

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by Scooj

Read more here

4591. Upfest 2022 (31)

This was the first completed piece from Upfest 2022 that I saw this year and was the piece that alerted me to the fact that many artists were already out and about in Bedminster painting static walls as a precursor to the main event in Greville Smyth Park at the end of May.

Squirl, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Squirl, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

The large mural is by Squirl, who has painted a few times in Bristol, mostly at Upfest, but also in collaboration with SPZero76 as part of the Gums and Tongue crew. This is a beautifully designed landscape scene in a highly stylised and colourful form. A stunner, and as fortune would have it, the roadworks in front of it made it easier to photograph as there are usually cars permanently parked in front of this wall. Great piece from Squirl.

4590. Peel Street Green (7)

An artist who is smashing it all over Bristol at the moment is Chill. It is not all that long ago that I was struggling to find anything by him in my archive, but now, I have more than enough of his pieces to post a gallery of his work… watch this space.

Chill, Peel Street Green, Bristol, July 2022
Chill, Peel Street Green, Bristol, July 2022

Chill specialises in his unique brand of black and white cartoon characters, that appear to have much more in common with old-school British comics characters than with American tv cartoon characters or comic book style characters. This particular piece is rather more stylised than some of his other works and reminds me a little of Panskaribas, who, alas left Bristol before the pandemic. This is yet another fine example of what Chill does so well.

Spore

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Powdery mildew

constant curse of curcurbits

dry, humid weather

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by Scooj

4589. M32 roundabout J3 (417)

Bristol definitely has it’s fair share of female graffiti writers; Mena, Evey, Lewse and Bnie to name a few, and it is great to watch Desi develop her writing and join this growing cohort. You will have seen work on Natural Adventures before, but using the letters DESI, however, recently she has switched it up a bit to write VEIL.

Desi, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2022
Desi, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2022

What is interesting is that although Desi’s letters may have changed completely, her individual style shines through, and she needn’t have signed it for people to know who painted it. This might be her best piece to date, it is really neat and tidy, and the fills are as good as I have seen from the artist. Much more to come from Desi, I’m sure.

4588. M32 roundabout J3 (416)

I have been going back into my archives a little bit lately, usually to dig something out that is relevant to a post I am writing, but when I do so, I realise just how many great pieces have been left behind, and this beauty by Kopsky is one of them. Painted back in May, alongside Bristol artist Soker, this piece is an absolute beauty.

Kopsky, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2022
Kopsky, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2022

I don’t know much about the artist, other than he is French. My searches on the Interweb have not revealed very much at all, so perhaps I’ll focus on his artwork instead. I don’t know what the letters spell, if indeed they are letters, but Kopsky has created a kind of fluid, elastic and dynamic piece where each discrete element seems to flow seamlessly into the next. Colourful and vibrant and so full of movement, this is a very classy piece indeed.

Limerick #3

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Voting to leave the EU

was the stupidest thing we could do

this act of self-harm

has worked like a charm

for the fascists who pulled off their coup

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by Scooj