It turns out that Mr Crawls is much more than a one trick pony, as I suspected, and has been painting different variants of his bird portrait mega-tags. The first one to appear in Natural Adventures was a Gull called Gul, then a parrot. This fun bird is ‘The Goose’.
Mr Crawls, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2023
The Goose can be identified by the shape of his beak, his rather droopy eyes, and a distinctive winter hat with ear flaps. The cartoon character has been painted beautifully with clean lines and strong solid fills. I have the set of three birds so far, and plenty of unpublished gulls… I wonder what other designs Mr Crawls might have up his sleeve.
Laic217 is an artist who simply keeps on finding new ways to present his extraordinary talent. Using his trademark skeleton holding a spray can, he has gone for a different form of distortion in this remarkable piece. The skeleton is slightly out of focus, as our eyes are drawn to the sharp skeletal hand and spray can with the word ‘Laic’ written in script on the side. This is a great idea and outstandingly executed, tricking our eyes.
Laic217, Greenbank, Bristol, August 2023
There are other elements that we see in Laic217’s work, such as the brick wall, bucket hat, smiley logo and neck chain, which no self-respecting piece from the artist would be without. I consider this to be one of Laic217’s finest compositions, brilliantly painted and conceived. The effect works really well and would require a whole bunch of rethinking technique. Bravo!
You’d need to go back to 2018 to remember this beauty from Soker. I don’t know how, but this piece got stranded and forgotten deep within my archive, and a quick delve has unearthed it for me to post today. Soker is one of the very best writers in Bristol, which is why it is a little surprising that I never posted this one.
Soker, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2018
The first thing to grab the attention is the classy colour palette. The fills in the seamlessly intertwined letters are of the very highest class, drifting from which, through yellow to oranges with consummate ease. The letters spelling SOKEM are pretty much perfect, and so cleanly finished. The buffed wall helps the piece to stand out and the pink and purple spots the cherry on the top. As close to perfect wildstyle writing as you will see.
I am on holiday in Cornwall and celebrating my sister’s birthday birthday today, so this is going to be a short one. This is the third set of doors from a trip in early July I made to Lincoln. These doors are found on the approach to the Cathedral in the old part of the city at the top of the hill. It is easy to forget that there are many parts of old England that are still very much intact. I hope you enjoy this week’s selection.
Steps and gateway, Lincoln, July 2023Iron gate and blue door, Lincoln, July 2023Green gate and garage doors, Lincoln, July 2023Black door and steps, Lincoln, July 2023Black door with clover leaf shaped windows, Lincoln, July 2023Castellated gateways, Lincoln, July 2023Black door within a door, Lincoln, July 2023
That’s it until next time. Wishing you a very 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.
Pura Decadencia and Mono, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2020
I took a short journey into my archives to find this small collaboration, something I rather like doing from time-to-time, as there are so many fantastic artworks that never make it into this blog. These pieces were painted in Dean Lane way back in December 2020.
Pura Decadencia, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2020
To the left is an iconic mega-tag piece featuring one of Pura Decadencia’s mouths, complete with vampire teeth and and very long tongue. I really like her straightforward design that remind me a little of the Rolling Stones logo, filled with mischief. Pura Decadencia paints only occasionally, and I was encouraged by her recent piece in Brunel Way, and hope she’ll bring more of her artwork to Bristol before too long.
Mono, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2020
Mono, who I believe is no longer living in Bristol has been concentrating on her illustrations and animations that are really fantastic. This is a creative and imaginative piece of a rat (?) smoking a joint. The rat’s tail stems directly from its head, there is no body. The piece as a whole feels slightly provocative and edgy, which is sometimes so easily forgotten with a majority of rather more sanitised street/graffiti art. Altogether this is a fun collaboration decorating utility boxes, which deserve to be painted.
It feels a little bit repetitive banging on about how good Bnie’s work is, given that I say so every time that I post her work, but it is pretty much impossible not to do so. Bnie has been pretty busy this summer, not only on the streets of Bristol, but on the festival circuit too.
Bnie, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, July 2023
Bnie has played with her font a little in this piece, with a slight relaxation on the form with some arrows and pointy bits at the base of the letters. The letter fills are clever, looking almost reflective, as though dappled sunlight is bouncing off the piece. The letters are lifted with tidy 3D drop shadows and yellow and orange borders. Painted as part of an RBF paint jam.
From Wikipedia – A local legend says that the Cheesewring is the result of a contest between a man and a giant. When Christianity had just been introduced to the British Islands, the giants who lived at the top of the mountains were not happy about it. The saints had invaded their land and were declaring their wells as sacred. One of the larger giants, Uther, was given the task of ridding their land of the saints. He confronted the frail Saint Tue, who proposed a rock throwing contest. If Uther won, the saints would leave Cornwall. If Saint Tue won, then the giants would convert to Christianity. Uther took his turn first and easily threw a small rock to the top of nearby Stowe’s Hill. Tue prayed for assistance, and picking up a huge slab found it was very light. One after the other, they threw their rocks, stacking them up in perfect piles. When the score was twelve stones each, Uther threw a thirteenth stone, but it rolled down the hill. Tue picked up this fallen stone, and as he lifted it, an angel appeared to carry it to the top of the pile of rocks. Seeing this, Uther conceded, and most of the giants decided to follow Christianity after that.
This piece from Conrico is the second in a long wall paint jam collaboration with a dystopian future theme. The first piece was a ‘Terminator-style’ crocodile but Kool Hand. Conrico, who has a wonderful natural style, has painted a female figure handling a futuristic gun and standing in front of a four-wheel drive vehicle with its headlights on.
Conrico, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2023
There is tons of atmosphere in this piece, and in common with other Conrico pieces, there is a great story going on here. The dark buildings in the background and rubble to the left of the piece, speak of a war zone, in the narrative of many films in this genre. I can’t help thinking that there is a little bit of Sarah Connor (The Terminator) in the character, which intentional or not is a good thing. A nice touch is a shout out to Dibz and Fade whose epic piece was painted over during this paint jam.
Kool Hand, Conrico, Werm, Korbe and Daz Cat, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2023
There is never a time when I am not thrilled to find a Pekoe piece. She belongs to a small handful of artists who define the Bristol scene and ones that I always keep a special eye out for. This modest piece on the M32 roundabout marks a return to her portraits, which have been playing second fiddle to here writing recently.
Pekoe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023
This pink faced girl with green hair is in three-quarter profile and is glancing out of the side of her eyes, giving her a slightly irritated or angry look. With great lips and the signature tears, this small piece reminds us what a great artist Pekoe is. It is amazing that she has found the time to paint this piece, given her bust summer festival itinerary.
Natural adventures 