I was fortunate yesterday in being in the right place at the right time and bumped into Inkie, Sepr and Haka who were painting a wall alongside the M32, I think with some links to St Patrick’s Day, or at least that is what Inkie implied. I managed to have a quick chat with Haka who continues to smash it with his writing/character combination pieces, heavily influenced by the picture books in his household.
Haka, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2024
This wonderful piece, painted as part of Ryder’s RAW paint jam, features The Very Busy Spider, created by Eric Carle (author and illustrator of The Hungry Caterpillar).Bookended by the letters HA-KA, the spider is waiting patiently in its web, faithful to the style of the illustrator. A fun piece that sadly didn’t last very long.
One of the most fulfilling things about wandering around the known street art spots in Bristol is finding pieces that are beyond my expectations. I mean that I can go to spots and either be searching for something specific that I have seen on social media or be pretty sure what kind of artwork I am likely to find and by whom. So when an outlier like this one by Amy Magee comes along, I get extra excited.
Amy Magee, Picton Lane, Bristol, February 2024
Although Amy Magee comes from Bristol, I am not familiar with her work and I don’t recall seeing anything by her before, and I suspect that she doesn’t often paint walls. This beautiful portrait piece was painted alongside a piece by Kosc, and I am guessing they were painted at the same time, with Kosc sharing one of his favourite spots with Amy Magee.
Amy Magee, Picton Lane, Bristol, February 2024
The portrait is stunning and is greatly enhanced by the colourful surrounding wisps of cloud and the atmosphere generated. The beautifully proportioned subject has a wistful expression, and incredible eye makeup. It would appear that colour is very important in Amy Magee’s work, which comes across in this piece. I hope that this adventure into painting a mural on the streets isn’t a one-off, and would encourage her to do it again – perhaps at this year’s Upfest.
Limestone hillside, Cheddar Gorge, Somerset, October 2023
From the sunny climes of Umbria in Italy to a damp autumn landscape in rural Somerset – the contrast couldn’t be greater. Last October I found myself at a launch event for a new National Nature Reserve – the Mendip NNR – which runs along the Mendip Way from Cheddar to the coast. I took the opportunity to have a quick wander up and down the gorge to see what doors were on offer (obsessive behaviour?) and wasn’t disappointed.
The weather was pretty miserable, but dramatic, with heavy showers interspersed with sunny breaks in the cloud. Cheddar Gorge sits above the small town of Cheddar, famed for being the home of cheddar cheese, and runs through imposing limestone cliffs, lined with caves and tea rooms. This selection of doors might give you a little taste of this quintessentially English landscape and tourist attraction. Enjoy.
Gate into a winter attraction cave, Cheddar Gorge, Somerset, October 2023Entrance to Gough’s Cave, Cheddar Gorge, Somerset, October 2023Sweet shop doors, Cheddar Gorge, Somerset, October 2023Picket fence, gate and doors, Cheddar Gorge, Somerset, October 2023Tearoom doors, Cheddar Gorge, Somerset, October 2023Cottage and green door, Cheddar Gorge, Somerset, October 2023Cottage green door, Cheddar Gorge, Somerset, October 2023Corner cottage door, Cheddar Gorge, Somerset, October 2023
More from Cheddar Gorge next time. May I wish you a very fulfilled 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, and in his Sunday round up.
I am very pleased to see that Slakarts appears to have a little bit of time on his hands and has been painting a few pieces recently. For fans of his work, this is of course great news, although it might indicate a slackening off of his work, which might not be so good. I would like to think it represents a good work/life balance.
Slakarts, Greenbank, Bristol, February 2024
This piece is a little more considered than some of his archetypal ‘mega-tag faces’, and carries a pretty strong message in today’s context. The character appears to be reading ‘War and Peace’, although he is in fact reading two different books, ‘War’, and ‘Peace’. It is encouraging to see that the larger volume is on Peace, but distressing to see the character reading War. The line-drawing style of the piece is brilliantly executed, being tight and tidy. Watch out for more from Slakarts coming soon.
There is something visually poetic about great calligraffiti, and whilst not always the easiest on the eye, it somehow feels like it is at the ‘high-brow’ end of graffiti writing. Whatever one’s opinion on the final product, there is a lot of control, discipline and skill required to create a stand-out piece of calligraffiti.
Todoaciem, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, February 2024
Todoaciem is one of two top-class calligraffiti artists in Bristol, and this piece on the M32 Cycle path amply demonstrates his quality. Painting in blue and yellow, a combination he has used to good effect before, Todoaciem has letters that stand out, because of their contrast, the yellow providing a drop shadow for the blue letters. A tidy piece from a skilled writer.
When I think about Hire’s art, I pretty much always visualise it in Dean Lane, and although he has painted other spots in Bristol, it is his favoured spot. This long piece of graffiti writing spells out ODIAH. I am not sure why Hire sometimes writes the word, and I have checked in Google translate that it isn’t a Polish word – something to ask him next time I see him.
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2024
Hire has prepped the wall nicely in this writing/character combination piece, creating something that is neat, clean and tidy. I suspect that writing on brick walls is a little easier as the uniformity of the letters can be measured on the brick courses, making things easy on the eye. I have no idea what the panda is all about, but it looks a little menacing, with its eye patch (clever) and broken bottle. It is always good to find Hire’s work, always.
A couple of weeks ago, Ryder organised a massive Read and Weep (RAW) paint jam in St Werburghs tunnel, drawing artists from Bristol and beyond, to congregate in the darkness and damp and produce some amazing art in a party atmosphere. One of the artists, who doesn’t paint nearly often enough, was Lokey.
Lokey, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2024
Lokey has a special place in Bristol graffiti writing, because, other than Zase perhaps, he is the only artist who paints his letters in an anamorphic style. Anamorphic in this sense means that the letters appear to stand out from the wall, almost as if you are looking through 3D glasses. It is on the same spectrum of art as trompe l’oeil, designed to deceive and confuse the eye. Clever stuff, and always very welcome.
This is a really interesting paint jam piece from Evey, celebrating Desi’s and her own birthday a few weeks back. The reason that it is interesting is that Evey has gone with a totally different style of graffiti writing from her comfort zone. This piece is a little bit more ‘hard-core’ and traditional, demonstrating her growing confidence and skills with a spray can.
Evey, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, February 2024
I would say that this is a really great piece of writing, although I feel the bottom half is stronger than the top half, which may have something to do with the colour selections. The bottom half pops, the top half less so. This phenomenon is not peculiar to Evey, I see this in quite a lot of pieces of writing, where the top half drifts a bit. More contrast with the background might do the trick… but what do I know?
Mr Crawls and Mote, Cattle Market Road, Bristol, February 2024
The ‘dynamic duo’ continue to entertain us with their increasingly frequent monster/character collaborations. Since Mr Crawls and Mote teamed up, they have been creating some fabulous monster pieces spread around the city and they don’t appear to have a favourite spot, so finding them seems to be a bit of a random process.
Mr Crawls and Mote, Cattle Market Road, Bristol, February 2024
This one, on the ever-shrinking hoardings behind Temple Meads station, features a bird from Mr Crawls and a monster from Mote, set perfectly on a chrome background, something they seem to enjoy adopting in their work. As they continue to work together, they are learning from one another, and here they have gone with a black border that matches in thickness, and draws the collaboration together. I have plenty more pieces in the can waiting for posting.
Natural adventures 