I am Stephen. I live in Bristol, UK. I decided to shorten my profile...to this: Wildlife, haiku, travel, streetart, psychogeography and my family. Not necessarily in that order.
I’m still excited by Devon Road. This is an exceptional piece by the brilliant Sepr. Typical of his pieces, it is in shades of gray and features a musician, in this case a guitarist.
Sepr, Devon Road, Bristol, May 2016
The mustachioed character has a continental look about him and there is something rather peaceful about the work. I can almost hear the music.
Sepr, Devon Road, Bristol, May 2016
I think it is fairly obvious, but I am a big fan of Sepr’s work and to find this near-perfect mural in Devon Road made me very happy indeed. Imagine my surprise when I came upon another one just around the corner. More on that one soon.
Back in April, there was a massive explosion of new pieces appearing in the tunnels of The Bearpit. This beautiful piece by Beastie, I believe, only happened because he was hanging out with some other artists and decided at the last minute to join in.
Beastie, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2016
As is often the case at the moment, you have to be very quick to get ‘clean’ photographs of anything in the Bristol hotspots. By the time I got to this one, it was already quite heavily tagged. It is a really lovely work, Beastie is a very talented artist. Sadly, his cat in Hillgrove street has recently been defaced, which is a real shame, it is one of my favourite pieces in Bristol.
Every now and then, life throws wonderful surprises at you. On such days it is hard to contain one’s joy and enthusiasm. I am having one of those ‘red letter days’ that my grandmother used to talk about.
Shalak Attack, Clandestinos Collective, Stokes Croft, Bristol, 9 May 2016
My walk to work on a Monday via Stokes Croft always gives me a bit of a thrill, because the graffiti artists tend to spray over the weekend, especially when the weather is nice, and many walls in the area get a facelift. This morning I was greeted with a double surprise on the archways of the Carriageworks. Two spanking new, clean pieces by internationally famous artists.
Shalak Attack, Clandestinos Collective, Stokes Croft, Bristol, 9 May 2016
This husband and wife team come under the combined name of the ‘Clandestinos Collective’ and are ‘Shalak Attack’ and ‘Bruno Smoky’. This stunning colourful portrait is by Shalak Attack and is one of the most beautiful pieces I have seen in Stokes Croft.
Shalak Attack, Clandestinos Collective, Stokes Croft, Bristol, 9 May 2016
Shalak Attack, Clandestinos Collective, Stokes Croft, Bristol, 9 May 2016
Shalak Attack is a Canadian-Chilean artist who has been spraying urban murals across the world for over a decade. She and her husband are currently in the UK (London) with an exhibition ‘In the Raw’ of their work. What I love about this piece is that of all the places in the UK that they might have gone for the weekend, they chose Bristol and Stokes Croft…getting in some recreational spraying. How cool is that? I will post the second half of this happy event very soon.
I am often left wondering how street artists manage to do pieces which can only be accessed from a roof. Do they have permission? Do they jump up a ladder? Do they find some other way to get up? I guess it depends. Anyhow, this appeared a month of two back (I think) above a bar in Stokes Croft.
Akarat and Hoax, Stokes Croft, Bristol, March 2016
The piece is by Akarat and Hoax. I think that the birds on the left are by Akarat and the stencil is by Hoax. This is a tribute piece to Buzz, and you will see all the little Buzz words all around the piece.
Akarat and Hoax, Stokes Croft, Bristol, March 2016
I think I can also see a bit of a Mr Klue mural to the left. This is strange as it can’t really be seen from the road, but I suppose a wall is a wall. As we have come to expect from Akarat and Hoax, this piece is full of symbolism, but what it means…?
Dean Lane skate park is situated between Dean Lane and the Eastern end of North Street, and is a major draw for street and graffiti artists. The skaters quite like it too. Just on the way out of the park I noticed this poster, which I kind of walked past without really registering it, and then went back to it, thinking it was rather unusual. It is in fact a pasteup piece by Copyright an artist who has graced the streets of Bristol previously, notably during Upfest. His website is here.
Copyright, Dean Lane skate park, Bristol, April 2016
Since taking this picture at the end of April, I have since found another poster in North Bristol, equally striking.
This is beautiful. A simple stencil and a lovely portrait. His style is very recognisable…I say that now that I know who he is and have done some searches on his work. I really like this work and rather wish I could peel it off the wall and take it home. I think his works for sale are a little outside my price bracket.
I’m just so excited about Devon Road and the wealth of street art that it offers, that I am having to contain myself and even out my posts a bit. This is a lovely piece by Deamze of Ren and Stimpy – a cartoon show I rarely watched. Somehow it works really well on this alley wall, and even the door in the middle of the piece fails to disrupt it.
Deamze, Devon Road, Bristol, May 2016
I am more used to seeing the wildstyle writing that I associate with Deamze, but occasionally he does these character pieces, and has an extraordinary talent for them.
Natural adventures 