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.
Logoe has been visiting Bristol again recently, and that generally means that he painted several pieces over a weekend. Unfortunately this time I goofed up some of my photographs and on returning to the pieces they had already gone. Not to worry though, he is so prolific and this is the first of a few posts from his trip earlier in the month
Logoe, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2024
This is a particularly fine example of his work; beautiful, clean script writing, spelling out LOGOE in turquoise, set on a grey-green background. He has painted a subtle patterned green drop shadow, that complements rather than dominates the writing. No contemporary Logoe piece is complete without a string of oval spots running through the middle of the writing. All great stuff.
Although she has only relatively recently come under my radar, Nips is a definite favourite whose work I always feel pleased to see. I often wonder whether I would be able to identify writers’ work if they didn’t use their customary letters, and the truth is I don’t know, some have a style that is easier to recognise than others. I would like to think that I would always recognise a Nips piece even if other letters were used.
Nips, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2024
Nips’ graffiti writing here has used a wonderful palette of colours that work incredibly well together and, as ever, her fill patterns and ideas are superb. The character ‘dot’ on top of her ‘i’ is one of the identifying features of her work. This is a great piece that stands out well from the noise of the messy background wall.
Doors 262 – Doors from Highgate, London, November 2023 (Part I)
Last November I went to London to visit one of my uncles who has been rather unwell. He lives in Highgate in North London, where I lived for much of the first eighteen years of my life. After paying my uncle a visit, I thought I’d nip up to Highgate Village which was once so familiar to me when I was growing up, and where I went to secondary school.
Of course when I lived there I never really took in the special place, the architecture and of course the doors – I think appreciation of doors is something that comes with age. This post is the first of several selections of doors that I managed to snap in the space of an hour, before a rapid retreat back to Bristol. My uncle, in case you are wondering, is recovering well albeit quite slowly. I hope you enjoy this week’s selection:
This is Highgate! – door and glass-panelled shopfront, Highgate, London, November 2023The gates to Waterlow Park where I spent many happy moments, Highgate, London, November 2023High security door? Highgate, London, November 2023Park View blue door, Highgate, London, November 2023Yellow door with fancy crest, Highgate, London, November 2023Red door and steps, Highgate, London, November 2023Green door with large flat awning and worn steps, Highgate, London, November 2023Grey doors of the Angel Inn where many happy hours were spent, Highgate, London, November 2023
Spending time in Highgate and writing this post now fills me with nostalgia. There will be plenty more doors to come from Highgate in the next few weeks. May I wish you a very 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.
By the time this post is published I will be half way through a team away day in Derbyshire, planting trees. I have to leave right now so that I am not late for my lift.
Bean, M32 Cycle path, Bristol April 2024
This is another magnificent piece by Bean whose Easter break return to Bristol has been both productive and seen some real improvements in his work. I love the character’s hair in this piece. Norma’s service resumes tomorrow I hope.
I don’t do this too often, but I forgot about today’s posts until just now (8.42am). I have a lot on my mind. I am in Buxton in Derbyshire with work. Today’s posts are going to be super-short.
Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2024
A brilliant pairing of Face 1st and Zake from the PWA crew. Zake smashes it with this gorgeous cartoon portrait full of texture and depth.
Face 1st, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2024
The writing from Face 1st is a little unusual but nonetheless captivating. Spelling out FACE and no smiling girls this time.
We are blessed in Bristol with having not one, but three calligraffiti artists, each bringing their own take on the style. The three are Stivs, Wxttsart and Todoaciem. There may be others, but if so, they are a little under my radar. This outstanding piece under Brunel Way was painted beneath Brunel Way, next to a piece painted by compatriot Pura Decadencia (to come).
Todoaciem, Brunel Way, Bristol, April 2024
The letters spell CIEM, as you might expect, but what is really special here is the additional decorative scrolls on the edges of the script, creating a wonderful flourish. The colours blue and gold give it a regal look that works surprisingly well on the backdrop of black and pink spots. This is a top piece of calligraffiti from a confident and technically very skilled artist.
This is a special piece for me, because I was present while Tao Create was painting it (for a short while, at least) and met her for the first time. I have been wanting to meet her for a while to be able to tell her how much I admire her work and how much she has improved in recent months. I think that meeting the artists is the bit I love most about photographing their art, as it gives you glimpses of insight into their personality and sometimes their inspirations and ideas.
Tao Create, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2024
This piece was painted to promote a Femme Fatale event on 6 April. Now, I am a little bit old and never been all that well-connected with the music scene since the 1980s, so I had to find out a little bit about what this was all about. This is what I came up with:
Femme Fatale Heartek MicroCabaRave
An event held at 395 on Saturday 6th April. Doors are at 17:00 with entertainment starting at 18:00. The event finishes at 01:00. The event has been tagged in the techno, jungle, dub, reggae and industrial categories.
I don’t much like posting promotional pieces, because I am a bit funny about that, it feels akin to advertising, but of course I make exceptions.
Tao Create, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2024
Tao Create’s portrait is copied from an image, not of anyone in particular, to represent the Femme Fatale idea. Given that Tao Create hasn’t painted all that many pieces in the photorealistic style, this is absolutely remarkable. I very much hope to see more of her work during 2024 and beyond, she is a real talent.
Cort tends to keep a very low profile, and I think he likes to keep it that way. On the few occasions that I have met him, he has been a man of few words, letting his artwork do the talking. Although he is not as productive these days as he has been in years gone by, the quality of the work has made up for the infrequency.
Cort, Peel Street Green, Bristol, April 2024
This piece in Peel Street Green is a belter, and he has replaced his usual CORT letters with the word DRUNK. I wonder if that references the state he was in when painting it, or whether there is another story behind the letters. The piece is nice and sharp with good colours and some nice letter fills. There is both fun and movement in the whole thing that gives it some vibrancy, and it certainly stands out in this long gallery wall.
