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Resilient fig
unlikely urban foothold
nature will prevail
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by Scooj
For most people, coming across a street/graffiti artist while they are actually painting is probably something of a rarity. Because I am out most days in all the most popular spots, it is quite unusual not to meet someone while they are painting, and on this day I happened upon Zaenone and The Mole as they were working on this collaboration.
I had not met Zaenone before, although we have exchanged a few words on social media before. He was fairly quiet when I met him, and I mostly spoke with The Mole. This is a classic piece from Zaenone, typically bookended with characters and the letters ZAEN sandwiched in the middle. The combination has a psychedelic buzz going on, with the hippy characters and the multicoloured fills, topped off with peace symbols.
The Mole has written INCA and included his familiar mole character on the right of the piece, beautifully filled I might add. I asked him where the inspiration for the word Inca came from, and it is completely as you might expect, he has an interest in the Incas. The Mole character was created and developed during the first lockdown (if I remember correctly). As ever it is always great to welcome these LRS lads back to Bristol for a paint.
I saw an awful lot of street art and graffiti writing in Leicester on a work trip to the city last month, and I have had to be quite selective on what I have selected to post. This piece by Annatomix might not be one of the best pieces I photographed, but I have a soft spot for her work, and the subject matter, a fox, is representative of the city of Leicester.
Annatomix is know for her representations of wildlife that resemble a folded paper model, recreated in her artwork. It is a style that she has perfected and made her own. There is a crispness and accuracy to her work that is admirable, and her ability to create a completely believable image of something that we can imagine, but that doesn’t exist is remarkable. A lovely piece and fond memory of my trip.
On a recent work trip to Leicester, I was fortunate enough to have a little over an hour early in the morning before meeting up with colleagues to wander around the streets. I met a very nice man called Cameron who showed me around the best spots, which probably saved me a great deal of time.
My visit also happened to coincide (utterly unplanned) with Leicester’s ‘Bring the Paint’ festival. Unfortunately, it was the first day of the festival and no new pieces were yet painted. What I do have though is a good record of the pieces that were at the end of their lifespan and were due to be painted over. This extraordinary piece by Smug was not being painted over, thankfully.
This is an iconic piece by Smug, and one that I had seen all over social media, but hadn’t ever registered where it was located, so coming across it in Leicester was an absolute bonus. There are no words really that would do the piece justice, so I will probably leave it there and just enjoy the memory of one of the best murals I have ever seen.
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Uninvited guest
hitched a dog-fur ride and meal
parasitic tick
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by Scooj
I would truly love to post all of Mr Draws’ pieces, but unfortunately, like so many others, I simply don’t have the bandwidth to do so, and many remain in my archive. I think that the only solution is to have ‘sweep up’ posts in which I trawl through unpublished pieces over the last few months and create a mini gallery in a single post. It is a tactic I have used for posting Klashwhensober’s pieces, because of his extraordinary productivity rate.
This is a nicely presented classic Mr Draws piece, written in his easy and familiar style. A chrome fill dominates, with yellow and lilac patterning. The red drop shadow is very neat and tidy as is the yellow border. The final additional touch is in the form of tly disrupting the form to add interest. Nice stuff from Mr Draws.
There is something rather unique and weirdly charming about Awkward’s character pieces. There really is nothing like it out there in Bristol or anywhere else I have been. Not only are the characters unique in style, but his use of strong primary colours grabs the attention and draws the eye.
In this piece two characters are exchanging thoughts, one with a speech bubble saying ‘Awkward’. underneath the conversing heads is the simple message ‘stop war’, which places the piece very much in the context of the present, with the terrible wars in Gaza and Ukraine ongoing. Although his interventions are infrequent, Awkward’s characters are always welcome.
The anti-aircraft gun emplacement at Purdown, is a bit of a hit and miss spot (no pun intended). Sometimes when I go up there, there have been no new additions, other times I seem to find a raft of new work. It is always a bit of a practical struggle for me, because I take the dog along (of course), and he gets very excited in this enclosed area because of the goats – I have to be swift taking pictures and move on, before he gets too frenzied.
I’m not sure how old this piece by 3GV is, but I don’t recall seeing it before this visit I made last month. 3GV has bookended his letters with a tribute to Vaughn Bode, with Lizard to the left and Cheech Wizard on the right. The irregular letters, with a cool colour palette, are set on a blue diamond shaped background. I feel that 3GV’s work is quite raw, but it is great to see the artist out there practising and improving.
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Hourglass waistline
clear veined stained-glass window wings
a perfect flier
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by Scooj
30 Days Wild is an initiative organised by the Wildlife Trusts. It is an annual challenge event, for those who choose to participate, to do one ‘wild’ thing a day throughout the month of June. I will try to write a nature haiku every day if I can as my contribution to this celebration of wildlife and biodiversity. I did this back in 2015 and thoroughly enjoyed the challenge.
Lee Roy is another artist who has gone a little quiet lately, and when I do find pieces by him, I am not sure whether they are old ones or new ones, because they tend to be in spots I don’t visit all that frequently, like this on the warehouse building on the north side of the river opposite the garden centre.
VLAD appears to be the letters/word that Lee Roy is enjoying at the moment, and he is continuing with his flowing anti-style approach. I would say that his work, which might look untidy to casual viewers, is actually highly regarded by his peers and photographers alike. It is a very ‘street’ style of graffiti writing. I would love to see him out more this summer, although I do occasionally see him out walking his dog.
Natural adventures 