Month: September 2023

5516. Cumberland Basin

The Last One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2023
The Last One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2023

There are times when great pieces appear, and I have absolutely no idea who painted them. In most cases this will be because the artist is a visitor, and their signature undecipherable. When this happens I become reliant on social media channels to try and find out more. This was a piece too good not to include in Natural Adventures, but I had to be patient before I happened upon an Instagram post that provided the artist’s name. It is by The Last One from the ZFG crew – time for me to do some more homework.

The Last One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2023
The Last One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2023

To me, this is a really classy writing/character combo, and stood out when I first saw it. I note that The Last One has since returned and I will be posting another piece by the artist in due course. I would like to think that the writing spells ZFG, but I am not too sure. What is clear is that the writing is accomplished and clean, and easy on the eye. It is perhaps the rendition of Bugs Bunny that really wins the day though – presenting a rather fretful-looking bunny, superbly painted. Welcome to Bristol.

5515. Lower Ashley Road (8)

Kid Krishna, Lower Ashley Road, Bristol, June 2023
Kid Krishna, Lower Ashley Road, Bristol, June 2023

There was a period during the spring/early summer, when I could scarcely take a trip out without meeting Kid Krishna. Our biological clocks were in sync and it was great to be able to chew the fat on a regular basis. Then his activity fell off a cliff, on the streets at least, and I imagine that he was spending more time on his studio art creations. This piece is one that languished in my archive, probably because of the poor quality of photograph.

Kid Krishna, Lower Ashley Road, Bristol, June 2023
Kid Krishna, Lower Ashley Road, Bristol, June 2023

When the sun is behind a wall or hoarding, it is almost impossible to stop the flaring, and to maintain the integrity of the colours and contrast of the artwork, so this is a poor reflection of the piece by Kid Krishna. The letters probably spell out CRIE, but there are other elements woven into the letters. Although there is always a basic structure to Kid Krishna’s pieces, there is also a lot of freedom in the decorations and extra bits. In this case FFS, a crew tag, reads as Fireman From Space.

5514. Dean Lane skate park (639)

Yield, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2023
Yield, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2023

Yield is an artist who has been around for a little while, but whose work in rapidly improving and becoming more dominant. I believe Yield is part of the Sunday Lovers crew, so I would assume he (taking a gamble on gender) is probably Spanish. I haven’t posted much of Yield’s work to date, but the time has come to rectify that.

Yield, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2023
Yield, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2023

The playful piece in Dean Lane, which was painted alongside From Bacerlona, is full of colour and has a really up-beat feel to it. I don’t think that Yield has a particular ‘house font’ and each piece I have seen tends to be quite different from the last. What I have seen recently fills me with excitement about what Yield might be creating in the coming months.

UPDATE: Yield is not part of the Sunday Lovers, it would appear that any work alongside theirs in coincidental.

5513. Dean Lane skate park (638)

Chill,Fade/Face 1st, Soap and Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2023
Chill,Fade/Face 1st, Soap and Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2023

This is a wonderful collaborative wall from the PWA crew from a little while back, and includes a subsequently added piece from Fade, which is both good and bad. Good in that his work is always great and bad because he painted over Face 1st’s section before I had had a chance to see it. This wall has played host to some outstanding collaborations this year, of which this is one.

Chill, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2023
Chill, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2023

The left-hand-side bookend is by Chill, and sets the tone (for those of us who view things from left to right), of the collaboration which has a theme relating to bed time and sleep. Chill’s wonderful character, complete with night cap and a five o’clock shadow, is holding a candle, all looking a little Dickensian to me.

Fade/Face 1st, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2023
Fade/Face 1st, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2023

Next up would have been Face 1st’s contribution, which looks like it was the letters FACE, with a frame of disintegrating green gloop. Fade has overwritten the piece with a nice tidy and sharp piece of writing, spelling out FADE. I have to say I was surprised to see this, but perhaps there is a little history there.

Soap, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2023
Soap, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2023

The third piece, by Soap, looks like a bit of a nightmarish scene, inspired by characters from the cartoon series Adventure Time, I think. I can’t identify the horned character, but the one holding the sword looks like Finn the Human, with a skull face. As with so many of Soap’s pieces, there is a whole story going on here, as well as some perfectly crafted writing, with the letters SOAP.

Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2023
Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2023

Finally and bookending the collaboration on the right-hand-side is Zake’s sleep-time character also with a night cap, but instead of a candle, the face is holding, with its only arm, a spray can, perhaps for a bit of an evening paint session. As ever, the shading and contrast have created enormous depth to the piece. What a lovely PWA paint jam.

Thursday doors – 21 September 2023 – Street art doors

Doors 235 – Street art doors of Bristol

Absolutely out of time this week, so I am, taking a break from Lincoln doors and recycling some street art/graffiti doors that have previously been posted on Natural Adventures, but not under the Thursday doors category. These doors were first posted in October and November 2022. I realise that the interpretation of doors in this post is about as stretched as you can get, and it is a little bit like the children’s book series ‘Where’s Wally?’ but in this case ‘Where’s the door?’ I hope you enjoy them in any case.

Mote, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2022
Mote, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2022
DNT, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2022
DNT, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2022
Pair of doors, Jamaica Street, Bristol, May 2022
Pair of doors, Jamaica Street, Bristol, May 2022
Slava ?, Mina Road, Bristol, November 2022
Zase, Mina Road, Bristol, November 2022
Stinkfish, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2022
Stinkfish, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2022
Taboo, Trinity Street, Bristol, November 2022
Taboo, Trinity Street, Bristol, November 2022
Tack Jucker, River Avon, Bristol November 2022
Tack Jucker, River Avon, Bristol November 2022
Kid Krishna, Cheltenham Road, Bristol, October 2022
Kid Krishna, Cheltenham Road, Bristol, October 2022

That’s it for another week, I hope you have a fine 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.

by Scooj

Door logo, Thursday doors

Mini murmuration

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Starling flock startled

not by me you understand

peregrine falcon

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by Scooj

5512. M32 roundabout (512)

Hiccup (Bloem), M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2023
Hiccup (Bloem), M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2023

Although this is the fourth piece I have posted by Hiccup (Bloem), it was actually the second one I photographed, and at the time of capturing it, I don’t think I knew who it was by, so it drifted into the dark depths of my archive. On seeing more of her work and locating her Instagram account(s) I was able to identify and start posting her work.

Hiccup (Bloem), M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2023
Hiccup (Bloem), M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2023

The photographs are terrible, and at certain times of day, if the sun is shining, this stretch of wall can be near impossible to photograph without a certain amount of flaring. Stupidly, I never returned to get some better pictures, so this is it I’m afraid. There are some recurring themes in this piece – a flower with a wire for a stem and speakers for petals, and a hand with pointy nails. Hiccup is a very creative lady and as well as her street art, she makes jewellery and paints nails. I am so looking forward to seeing what she comes up with in future.

5511. St Werburghs tunnel (383)

Cheo, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2023
Cheo, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2023

In the past couple of months, Cheo has hit the accelerator and is painting with the frequency he was before Covid19 struck. Until this summer, he was painting very rarely, and went almost a year without hitting a wall, apart from perhaps the Ropewalk. Now it is quite a different tale and the giant appears to have woken from his slumber.

Cheo, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2023
Cheo, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2023

This outstanding piece, a tribute to the great Vaughn Bode with Lizard and Screws characters, was created during the recent paint jam in the tunnel, alongside, amongst others, Inkie and Goldie. It was certainly a special day, and I imaging that the pieces will be there for quite some time before getting tagged and eventually overpainted.

Cheo, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2023
Cheo, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2023

Cheo’s piece is so rich in colours and the depth he has created with shadings is quite remarkable. The characters are snappily dresses and have got to work with spray cans and marker pens to create some of their own street art. This is artwork of the highest calibre, and reminds us of what we have missed during the prolonged hiatus in his work. More to come from Cheo.

Autumn field trip

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Blustery morning

not too warm and not too cold

dressed for heavy rain

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by Scooj

5510. M32 Cycle path (227)

Haka, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, September 2023
Haka, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, September 2023

Haka has had a very busy year with painting walls, although his work rate has dropped a little during late summer, so it was fabulous to find this new piece on the M32 Cycle path recently. This joyful piece combines writing with a children’s picture book character, and this time it is the turn of Mog, the forgetful cat, by Judith Kerr.

Haka, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, September 2023
Haka, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, September 2023

Although this reproduction of Mog is not as faithful as some of Haka’s other picture-book recreations, it is very much recognisable and worked into his own style. There is a lot of joy in the piece, which is brought about by great use of a colourful underlay. The letters are really tight – not always the case with Haka’s writing – and the whole thing is a rather charming (I don’t like using that work because it sounds patronising) work. Great to see.