Inkie is arguably the second most well known street artist in Bristol, but unlike his contemporary (Banksy) still visits and paints in the city frequently. I was in the right place at the right time when he, Sepr and Haka were painting this wall together and although I have met Inkie on a few occasions, we actually had quite a long chat this time, whereas usually it is a ‘hi’ and ‘bye’ kind of thing.
Inkie, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, March 2024
This is a classic piece of Inkie writing, almost archetypal, which oozes confidence, capability and class. Green and orange work really well together, and we discussed the merits or otherwise of orange paint, which in this case was really thin, and he wasn’t overjoyed about it. There are some paints that just seem to be partially transparent and require more coats, and this was one of them. Unless you knew about the thin paint, you probably wouldn’t notice. Classy work.
Every time I find a piece with the Clifton suspension bridge in it, which is reasonably frequently, I am reminded that I want to do a bridge gallery, it is such an obvious theme. The slight problem is that it would take rather a long time to compile, and isn’t going to happen until I have some free consolidated time. The aspiration is there though.
SPZero76, Midland Street, Bristol, March 2024
This is a wonderful piece by SPZero76, who has been quite busy this spring, featuring a couple of young people sitting on the suspension bridge, the uprights of which have been crafted into enormous speakers. SPZero76, despite altering the bridge, has remained true to the design and details, so there is no mistaking which bridge it is. This is a piece that speaks loudly and proudly of the culture and heritage of Bristol.
• In the grounds of Peterborough cathedral I was lucky enough to witness a red kite making a kill, taking it to a perch and plucking it. I was alone and was unable to share the moment.
I happened to be in the company of a bird expert in the workshop I was running later on, and he identified the bird from the film I took and said that it was very unusual for red kites to kill prey as they are not designed for it and are carrion feeders, so this was a rare occurrence.
Werm is a naturally gifted artist, who is versatile and gently meandering through different writing styles, and I rather like the gentle style he is settling on at the moment. Some of his previous writing styles have been slightly overwhelming, technically brilliant, but almost trying too hard, but he has settled down a bit now and there is more calmness in his work.
Werm, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, March 2024
This piece was painted as part of an LRS paint jam at Spark Evans park last month. The letters WERM are beautifully presented in reds and oranges with white borders and blue shadows, and the whole ensemble works very nicely. The continuity of the fill patterns is really well done, and the piece has a slightly retro psychedelic feel to it. A very nice piece from Werm.
Profanity alert! It is a long held tradition for graffiti writing to be edgy, either in location, style or content, and sometimes writing profanities disguised or otherwise is part of that attitude, without which street and graffiti art would be nothing. Some of the earliest graffiti from Roman times was essentially cock and balls doodles in public spaces.
Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2024
Stivs presents us with the word ‘FUCK’ styled with his exquisite calligraffiti writing that brings a bitter-sweet challenge. Great colours that smack you in the face and beautifully finished, this is graffiti art at its subversive best.
Nina Raines, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2024
A piece by Nina Raines can only mean one thing, and that is a Bristol Mural Collective paint jam. There were several excellent pieces painted by artists of Bristol, unfortunately most unsigned, during the paint jam, and this one stood out. Nina Raines paints scenery for productions as a profession, and her skills have certainly come to the fore in this small piece.
Nina Raines, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2024
One of the things I like about artists swapping a day in the studio for painting public walls is that they have a very different take from regular street/graffiti artists, not having any rules or conventions to follow, and often their work is incredibly creative. This piece is simple… a pair of arches, one with a cloudy scene and the other with something a little bit more cosmic, a nighttime sky, perhaps. I will try to post some other pieces from the paint jam, because the work of the Bristol Mural Collective definitely has loads of appeal.
Awkward tends to drop his pieces in twos and threes, which is something he can easily do because his mega-tag characters are generally quite small. On this occasion he painted one on the door at the bottom right-hand end of Dean Lane and the other on the wall of the swimming pool, about 50 meters apart.
Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2024
This door is a candidate for the One Wall, Many Faces series of posts which I will get on to when I have a bit of spare time (thumbs diary, that’ll be 2029 then). Awkward has created a vision in yellow, with vibrant blue eyes and speech bubble set on a gorgeous black and red background. The characters he paints are a little bit on the eccentric, some might say, weird side, but they are distinctive and compelling.
Awkward, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2024
The character on the swimming pool wall uses the same three colours which are rotated, so the face is blue, the eyes and background yellow and the speech bubbles red. The writing in the speech bubbles is usually a signature, AWK WARD split over two lines, and in this piece he has included a year date ’24’. It is always a great bonus to find his work.
Doors 261 – Doors of Nottingham, November 2023 (Part III)
I am writing this post yesterday on a rather nice LNER train travelling from Peterborough, via London, to Bristol. Of course, I took the opportunity during an overnight stay to find some doors and street art while in Peterborough, but that is not important right now (Police Squad reference).
This is the third and final part of doors from a Nottingham doorscursion I made in November last year. There will be a follow-up series of posts from Nottingham following a visit I made earlier this spring, but I’ll post those in due course.
There are quite a few doors this week, another rather eclectic mix, but that is what happens when you wander aimlessly through a place. I hope you enjoy them.
Huge depot hinged doors, Nottingham, November 2023
High door with the steps mysteriously missing, Nottingham, November 2023
Old door in an old wall, Nottingham, November 2023
Door with floral gateway, Nottingham, November 2023
Panelled arch doors, Nottingham, November 2023
Vibrant blue door, Nottingham, November 2023
A touch of Art Nouveau in these doors, Nottingham, November 2023
Notts Bank Chamber doors, Nottingham, November 2023
Recessed door up steps, with fine entrance, Nottingham, November 2023
Peeled paint on a door creating a patina effect, Nottingham, November 2023
Old building, with a single door (established 1643), Nottingham, November 2023
Farewell then Nottingham for a little while at least, it has been fun. I haven’t yet decided which collection from my files to share next, suffice it to say, I have tons. May I wish you a happy 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.
When visiting artists come to Bristol, they will often paint more than one piece, and in the case of some, such as Logoe, they might paint several over a single weekend. I think that this is one of two pieces painted by Jest Soubriquet earlier this year.
Jest Soubriquet, Purdown, Bristol, March 2024
The portrait piece is set on a Palestinian flag, thus making it a relevant contemporary addition to the complicated and troubled commentary on the conflict between the Israeli government and Hamas. The portrait is cleverly painted in a patchwork of colours that shouldn’t really work, but somehow do. This is a wonderful and highly distinctive piece from an artist who will always be welcome in Bristol.
There is so much to like about Bloem’s work at the moment, and more than that, she is a really lovely person and talented artist and jewellery craftswomen. Her pieces are becoming more confident with each trip out, and she is spreading her wings, improving all the time.
Bloem, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2024
This piece on the roundabout contains a few themes that she specialises in, for example the hand with sharp nails and the old-style brick mobile phone, with keypad. Springing from the phone display is a tangled growth of flowers, complete with personalities. The whole piece is set on a glorious red backdrop softened with a few patterns. This is truly stunning work from Bloem.
Natural adventures 