It is so obvious that most street artists do what they do because they love doing it. It is as simple as that. This is perfectly demonstrated by a scattering of small pieces by Andy Council recently in the Dean Lane and Brunel Way spots.
Andy Council, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2022
Andy Council has had a long fascination with prehistoric creatures, he even incorporates an ammonite into his signature. His dinosaurs and other creatures can be found all over the city, but these are small, fleeting, fun pieces painted for the sheer hell of it.
Andy Council, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2022
I think that the creatures are trilobites or at least related to them and seem to blend in so well in all of the locations selected, it is as if they were always meant to be there in this urban ecosystem.
Andy Council, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2022
Beautifully observed and nicely painted, these four pieces (there may have been some others that I missed) add colour and interest to our great city. Thank you Andy Council.
My life is no less busy this week and I am covering for two of my colleagues (in a team of four) who are on their holidays, so I’m afraid this will probably be a bit rushed, before I start a long day at work.
Porto is a gift that just keeps on giving. There is so much to see and do and marvel at, not least the churches of the city. Although the idea of tiling the façade of buildings was imported from Seville, it is definitely one of the USPs of Porto, and this can be evidenced through the stunning tile decorations in blue and white on many of the churches.
So this week we have a small selection of doors from Porto churches, but if I am honest it is the tiles that are the star of the show. I hope you enjoy them.
Church, doors and tiles, Porto, Portugal, June 2022Church, doors and tiles, Porto, Portugal, June 2022Church, doors and tiles, Porto, Portugal, June 2022Church, doors and tiles, Porto, Portugal, June 2022Church, doors and tiles, Porto, Portugal, June 2022Church, doors and tiles, Porto, Portugal, June 2022Church, doors and tiles, Porto, Portugal, June 2022Church, doors and tiles, Porto, Portugal, June 2022Church, doors and tiles, Porto, Portugal, June 2022Church tiles, Porto, Portugal, June 2022
These churches are just another reason to visit this wonderful, vibrant city. That’s it for another week. I might be taking a bit of a break from Thursday doors over the next two or three weeks, but will have plenty more to share with you after that. May I wish you a happy 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.
When we think about bird flu, we normally think about farmed or domestic poultry, but this year A.I. has decimated wild populations of sea birds on the east coast of Scotland and England, including Arctic terns, sandwich terns, guillemots and herring gulls.
Arguably the best cartoon character artist in Bristol is Sepr. Nobody else can tell the stories quite as well as he can in the simplest of ways. This is not only excellent art, but it is also a narrative that stimulates thought and curiosity about what is going on.
Sepr, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2022
The piece was created as part of a birthday paint jam for fellow artist Mr Jago, who I know little about (to my shame). In this piece, a rather shady looking ‘Del Boy’ type is flogging ‘merchundoise’ (perhaps an oblique reference to Space Balls, the movie). What Sepr has done so well is bring focus and attention on the items for sale by bringing them to life with tons of ‘brush-stroke’ colour, contrasting so noticeably with the greyscale character and suitcase. A brilliant piece and one of my favourites from Sepr. Mr Jago is indeed honoured.
Another piece that I winkled out of my archive is this curious portrait from Pura Decadencia. It was the first piece I encountered by the artist, which might account for why I never published it at the time, I had no idea who she was then.
Pura Decadencia, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2020
Unfortunately, I have not yet met this Spanish artist, and, although she spends time between Bristol and Alicante, I think she is in Spain at the moment. This is simply a nice clean vampire piece painted with great technique and finished nicely. I remember thinking at the time, in October 2020, that her work was refreshingly different. I hope she finds the time to come back to Bristol and paint some more pieces for us.
In the next couple of posts I have taken a deep dive back into my archive, randomly picking out a year and month and publishing a piece that slipped through the net at the time. This blast from the past is a fine piece of writing from Elvs painted back in April 2020.
Elvs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2020
There is always so much to admire in Elvs’ work, in particular his ability to replicate these complicated patterns of letters, with apparent ease and consistency, keeping his unique style very much intact. The grey letters on the orange background works exceptionally well, and this is such an eye-catching piece. It is a mystery that I didn’t post it at the time.
I am flustered and under pressure this morning. I am unbearably busy at work, and my team are on annual leave, so I am doing my normal work and standing in for two others. This might be brief…
Werm, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2022
Werm (formerly known as Eman) continues to paint at an extraordinary rate, and my posts of his work do not fairly represent the volume of pieces he produces. He has almost entirely abandoned his character pieces these days and has been concentrating on his writing which has improved over time and become more sophisticated. This piece has some lovely fill transformations and patterns and the 3D shadow and purple border help to lift the piece. The stars do their job well finishing the piece off very nicely indeed.
It feels like Groundhog Day every time I write about a Chill piece, in that I wanted to start this piece with the words “Hardly a week goes by without a new piece from Chill” but I fear I might have used this form of words previously when talking about the artist. I think you get where I’m coming from though.
Chill, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2022
This one is on the long support wall under Brunel Way, which is always a bit of a challenge to photograph, because of the light conditions and also a certain amount of glare that reflects off the wall. Chill has smashed it again with his black and white cartoon character, but he has also managed to sneak in a bit of colour with his palm tree for added interest. There is so much detail in this piece, that it is worth dwelling on every aspect of all the features on the character. A craftsman at work.
Natural adventures 