A quick couple of posts today. I am recovering from shingles – a very nasty affair – and return to work this morning with a rather large backlog of emails and messages to action. This mortal coil!
I have always had a big soft spot for Butch’s work, and this combination piece on the roundabout is a real beauty. His overlapping full cap letters are somewhat eclipsed by a dog/rabbit(?) riding a bicycle at haste. It is a wonderful piece of cartoon illustration full of energy and humour. Love it.
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In dreamy woodlands
shaped by foresters of old
canopy cover
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by Scooj
Tera, like many other artists, has awoken from his winter ‘recess’ and is painting with energy and regularity this spring, which is so good to see. This is a wonderful piece painted alongside fellow tattoo artist Kid Crayon.
The combination piece has a demon as the focal point with lettering either side of it spelling TERA. The light conditions and the style of Tera’s painting makes it a little difficult to make out the demon clearly, so I have included a close up of the central part to show off his detailed artwork.
It is fairly clear and obvious that Tera is a Tattooist who has picked up street art and is upscaling his work, and his co-worker Kid Crayon is an artist/designer and street artist who has down scaled his work into the tattoo art form. The more, the merrier I say.
I have a feeling that Vermo is going to become a fairly regular ‘contributor’ to the pages of Natural Adventures as the artist’s pieces are appearing all over the city and show no signs of slowing. I might need to delve into my archives too to bring to the surface some pieces from the last year or so.
Vermo’s unique ‘floating’ letters are unlike any other graffiti writing I have seen in Bristol or for that matter anywhere else. In this piece, the letters cryptically spelling VERMO have a form of drop shadow in pink and yellow drifting to the right, and unusually the whole thing is contained in a turquoise border, giving it something of a more conventional appearance. Watch this space for more from Vermo.
Another piece from John D’oh’s awesome outdoor gallery underneath the M32, this time adopting cartoon characters to describe a fairly laid-back Bristol lifestyle.
What better characters to adopt than a combination of Shaggy and Scooby Doo alongside a Bristol crocodile, all smoking weed and looking contented. I guess that Bristol is no different from any other western world city, but somehow this weed-smoking culture appears to have become inextricably linked to the place. A knowing stencil poking fun at at the city’s culture.
I took these photographs on one of those rare occasions that my wife joined me on a ‘street art’ dog walk. She doesn’t share my enthusiasm for paint chucked at walls, but to be fair, not many people do. On the upside I did manage to introduce my wife to a new route for her road runs, for which she was most grateful.
These letters from Seam spell out his name with a series of characters in monochrome colour. There is a lot to like about this line up of cartoon-style characters, which although quite crudely drawn, have something about them. I love this take on combination graffiti writing.
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Hospital visit
unplanned Bank Holiday trip
awaiting verdict
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by Scooj
Sled One, like so many other artists has had a rather quiet winter, and in a conversation with his earlier this week, he happily admitted that he is a ‘fair weather’ painter and doesn’t much like going out on cold, wet days.
This is a distinctive ASK piece painted on the curved wall at Dean Lane. Sled One has painted so many of these over the years, that I expect he could probably do it with his eyes closed. Great letter shapes, great colour combinations, and a piece that feels rather energetic without being frenetic, if that makes sense.
Dave Bain is a muralist whose work I have photographed in both Bristol and London. I think he is an artist who errs towards commissions, and I don’t think I can recall any ‘street work’ on illegal walls from him in my time recording street art and graffiti in Bristol. I guess that for some that earn a living from their work, crossing the line can be high risk.
This is a loverly piece sitting above the entrance of the Flour House cafe on North Street – which their Instagram profile states was voted the best cafe in Bristol in 2022. The mural is a contented and comforting scene in which a lady seems to be immersing herself in the atmosphere and ambience of the place. The words ‘who cares wins’ is a nice twist on the better known slogan ‘who dares wins’. An all round wholesome piece.
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Close-cropped sandy bank
three nonchalant rabbits munch
the earth still spinning
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by Scooj
Natural adventures 