To The quickest of quick coffee breaks and then I must resume housework. Another tip trip completed and lovely hoovering with our brand new hoover (Shark)… wow, our old one was useless. So much dust and fluff! Just a moment to post this lovely piece by the returning Nightwayss
Nightwayss, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, May 2023
It is a bitter sweet experience when Bristol artists migrate away to other towns and cities, as Nightwayss has, and it is when they return that we get to reacquaint ourselves with what we have been missing. This is a brilliant portrait piece, I’m guessing of a DJ or musician, painted in shades of purple and black, with a bank of speakers behind and a record deck between. Fine work from a lost brother of Bristol.
SkyHigh, Lighthouse Community Garden, London, April 2023
A super-quick one this morning… lots of housework to do. Tomorrow is my wife’s 60th birthday, and we are having a small family gathering. Our house has been a bit of a tip, so we have spent the last week or so cleaning and clearing. Lots more to do today!
SkyHigh, Lighthouse Community Garden, London, April 2023
As I mentioned in yesterday’s Roo piece, where there is one of hers, a SkyHigh piece is never far away, and this stunner was on the next but one board. Both of these pieces looked relatively fresh, which can’t be said for some of the pieces on these hoardings. This one from SkyHigh is typically brilliant and beautifully designed. Still more to come from this London honeypot.
Roo, Lighthouse Community Garden, London, April 2023
This whole-block hoarding is the gift that keeps on giving. Having stumbled upon this spot completely by accident, I have been revelling in its treasures. This piece by Roo is in her home town. Most of her work that I have featured in Natural Adventures is from Bristol, so it is always great to see some of her work in her own back-yard.
Roo, Lighthouse Community Garden, London, April 2023
This beautifully painted cat, who is settled down for an evening of screen entertainment, is full of character and charm. Although Roo’s character work appears to be quite simple, with solid fills, strong outlines etc, don’t be fooled. These are carefully crafted and brilliantly designed pieces with a lot of attention to detail, especially with the highlights and shadows, for example the yellow strip on the left-hand edges, suggesting a reflection from a light source. This piece gave me a warm feeling of familiarity inside. Now all I had to do was find a piece by SkyHigh.
This road was one of the first I wrote a blog post about, in fact it was number 21 (this is 5,217), and the portrait piece was on the other side of the road, by Dora, an artist whose debut on Natural Adventures was in fact her first and last appearance. This piece is by the irrepressible Kosc, and what a belter it is.
Kosc, Norrisville Road, Bristol, May 2023
The colour palette of the piece is exquisite and works beautifully with the blue buffed background. There is often quite an industrial/urban feel to Kosc’s work, but the letter fills in this one are a little bit softer, almost dreamy, although I can see a few ‘rivets’ here and there.
It is amazing to see how far this artist has come over the last few years, from his early pieces under a different name, to being in the top division of Bristol writers. There is so much to love about this one.
Pieces like this are the best ones to find. I went for a dog walk with my wife last week and on the way back to our house, we came across this Inkie piece on a garage door. I don’t recall ever seeing it on social media, so for me, it was a completely new discovery.
Inkie, Bishopston, Bristol, May 2023
The portrait piece is so typical of Inkie’s style, incorporating all the design elements that one associates with the artist, with the interesting addition of a pair of yellow-tinted glasses. This piece is pure Inkie class, and possibly the closest piece of street art to where I live, and yet I have only just discovered it.
3Dom and Sled One, The Carriageworks, Bristol, May 2023
We have some very special artists in Bristol, and two of the very best are 3Dom and Sled one, and every once in a while these two combine to do something completely amazing. They like to refer to themselves when they paint something like this as the hi-vis crew, becoming invisible when they wear official-looking high visibility clothing.
3Dom and Sled One, The Carriageworks, Bristol, April 2023
I was lucky enough to be passing when these two were still painting these pieces, and it was in fact the first time I have met 3Dom properly, and I have to say what an absolutely lovely bloke he is. These arches have had some fantastic pieces painted on them over the years, and 3Dom and Sled One are continuing that great tradition. I fear that it won’t be too long before the authorities clamp down on painting this wall, but until such time we can only enjoy it.
3Dom, The Carriageworks, Bristol, May 2023
Both artists have a surreal and fantastical approach to their artwork, which in many cases it is probably best not to try and interpret. 3Dom presents a character whose head is made of a balloon filled with water and a couple of fish that might be the character’s eyes and a syringe that forms the mouth. The target and fez are details that add intrigue. Upside-down clouds and a cityscape round off the piece nicely. Brilliant.
Sled One, The Carriageworks, Bristol, May 2023
Sled One has created a portrait piece of a woman smoking a cigarette. Her skin, however, has been stripped away from the middle third of her face, exposing a cartoon-style skull. This is without doubt one of the odder pieces that Sled One has painted, but is certainly arresting and powerful. Also brilliant.
3Dom, The Carriageworks, Bristol, April 2023
If you ever wondered how these artists reach the higher bits of a wall, here is the answer. A perfect collaborative wall from the masters.
Doors 221 – Bristol and Porto street art and graffiti doors
When I do these street art and graffiti doors, it usually signals that I am really busy at work, and don’t have time to do all the necessary admin to prepare doors to share, preferring to trawl existing pictures that I have posted on my blog under the street art category.
So let’s get straight to business with these doors from Bristol and Porto, which were originally posted on Natural Adventures in July 2022:
Jelly and apparan, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Doors painted during Upfest 2022
Aspire, Devon Road, Bristol, July 2022
Face 1st, Moon Street, Bristol, July 2022
Maybe, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2022
Access hatch on a bridge
Maybe, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2022
Access hatch on a bridge
Sepr, Upfest 22, Bristol, June 2022
Mesk, Porto, Portugal, June 2022
Costah, Porto, Portugal, June 2022
Cat ghost door
Hazul, Porto, Portugal, June 2022
Abstract ghost door
Hazul, Porto, Portugal, June 2022
Another abstract ghost door
Carvalho, Porto, Portugal, June 2022
Unknown, Porto, Portugal, June 2022
OK, so it’s not a door, but I just love this photograph.
Well, that’s it for another week. I hope you have a great weekend. Happy Thursday doors.
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.
‘Who duh fook is dat guy?’ asks Stivs whose portrait pieces are truly outstanding – who knew about this incredible versatility, when he was pretty much exclusively painting his calligraffiti pieces? This portrait piece has very quickly established itself as something of a classic and definitely stands out from the crowd.
Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2023
I didn’t have any idea who was featured in the piece, that was until Paul H posted this piece on social media and helped me out with identification. It is Conor McGregor – UFC champion, which explains why I didn’t know. Although I like to think of myself as having my finger on the pulse, I am not a wrestling/UFC/boxing fan, it simply isn’t in my nature to watch alpha males (or females) knocking seven shades of sh*t out of each other for our entertainment. Great portrait piece though.
There are many artists in Bristol who have created their own unique stamp or style, but none more so than Nugmoose, whose surreal alien pieces entertain and confuse in equal measure. This is a recent one from the long wall in Cumberland Basin.
Nugmoose, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2023
I am not even going to attempt to decipher what is going on in this piece, but it is a mash-up of alien writing, plant-life, hoofed legs and a human face. The whole thing, painted in soft tones, hangs together nicely, and demonstrates so clearly the breadth and depth of street/graffiti art in our city.
Natural adventures 