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.
Cheba is best known for his cosmic murals, many of which are still present after years, due to the locations of them, many being commissions on the sides of buildings. This piece painted as part of the 650 years of Bristol celebrations paint jam is something of a departure from what we are used to seeing, especially as it has been painted using brushes.
Cheba, Queen’s Road, Bristol, August 2023
The first thing I thought when I saw this painting was that it reminded me of Monet’s Water Lillies, which is a complement indeed. I think that scene could be of Brandon Hill and Cabot’s Tower, only a few hundred meters away from this spot. Bright, breezy and colourful, the piece is full of joy, and beautifully painted. Definitely a hidden aspect of Cheba’s talents.
You know it is going to be a good day when you find an Andy Council piece. When it happens, it is like one of those ‘my work is done here’ moments, if that makes sense. Andy council has had a comparatively quiet summer on the streets, so finding new and recent pieces has been something of a treat.
Andy Council, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2023
This wall is not the easiest to photograph, and before I had the capability to photograph with a wide angle, this piece would have presented me with a bit of a headache, and even with a wide angle aspect, it is still a little awkward. This panther (?) piece is the second animal to be painted by Andy Council on this wall recently (I will post the other one soon) and is styled in his extraordinary component composition. Each element of the creature is made up from bits of grating and pipe work, and other bits that look like they have come from a scrap heap, but combined, they make stunning whole. Beautiful and creative, this is a magnificent piece from Andy Council.
Today is the first day of a short break in Cornwall, and my focus is on dusting off my fishing gear and preparing myself for a day outdoors in the fresh air. Of course, my routine is likely to be a little disrupted, and my posts might get a little erratic as the week wears on, but that is fine. Today’s post features a fabulous piece by Inkie in the tunnel, from a paint jam at the end of August.
Inkie, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2023
I am spoilt. There was a time when I used to get super-excited when I found work by Inkie, whose reputation precedes him, but these days I am fairly nonchalant about it, and even the presence of Goldie in this work in progress shot seem quite normal. Perhaps I have been doing this too long and am losing my edge.
Inkie, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2023
The piece by Inkie is out of the top drawer, and I guess that in a paint jam of this calibre, everyone is under a little pressure to turn out their best work. Beautiful letters, outstanding fills and a sumptuous 3D drop shadow combine perfectly to render an archetypal Inkie piece. We are blessed.
On a recent drive around Bristol getting from one spot to another, I managed to stumble across a few Merny pieces that I hadn’t been aware of or hadn’t been able to locate. This one is on a shutter in Trinity Street next to a Taboo Pink Panther piece a little bit away from the beaten track. Shutters are tricky, because most of the time they are up and you don’t get to see the artwork.
Merny, Trinity Street, Bristol, September 2023
This philosophical piece features three passers-by and the words; “The earth spins on its axis, one man struggles while another relaxes”. I like that. The characters are painted in Merny’s naïve style and reflect everyday people. Naturally there are little identification numbers and lines dotted about the place, consistent with most of Merny’s recent works.
Dibz, Cheo and Fade, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2023
I don’t often place work in progress (WIP) shots as the feature image, preferring to have the completed piece in all its glory, but in this instance I have gone for it, showing three masters at work, Dibz, Cheo and Fade.
Dibz, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2023
The turnover on this wall this year has been quite staggering, and the bar has been raised a few notches on the quality of pieces that appear there. On the left Dibz has done his stuff with pin-point accuracy and a crispness that is synonymous with his work.
Cheo, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2023
The beast of a piece in the middle is by Cheo, and is frankly utterly brilliant. The overweight character is holding a spray can (a popular theme I have commented on many times in this blog) and looking like he might have had a beer too many the night before. The genius of the piece is the ‘Hello Kitty’ underpants creeping out of the top of the character’s trousers. The hairy belly and five o’clock shadow are nice touches too.
Fade, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2023
To the right, Fade reflects the colours, and to a certain extent the style, of Dibz’ writing on the other side of Cheo’s character. There is some mirroring of fills and drips too. The key difference between the two is the complexity of the design and thickness of the letters. Perhaps one day it will not be possible to distinguish between the two. A superb Triptych.
Doors 236 – Lincoln City doors (Part VIII) – Gateways of Lincoln
This September, and the months leading up to it, has been an incredibly busy time for me at work, landing four major projects. I hope that things will start to calm down a bit and that I will have a bit more time to allow space for creativity and imagination. I have found it difficult to keep my blog posts going through this period, but have managed to maintain the discipline, which is good for my mental health. Unfortunately the haikus have dropped off, but I am excited to get back into a rhythm with them.
I will be treating myself to a few days in Cornwall on my annual fishing trip, starting tonight and it is the perfect way to ‘come down’ from such high intensity.
This week I pick up with some more Lincoln doors which I have broadly themed into gateways, most of which would have had gates or doors at some point. After this week, I think there might be a fun leftovers post, before moving on to some Italian treats from the summer. Here we go:
Little and large gates, Lincoln, July 2023
Exchequer Gate, Lincoln, July 2023
Lincoln Guildhall gateway from the north, Lincoln, July 2023
Lincoln Guildhall gateway from the south, Lincoln, July 2023
Priory Arch gateway, Lincoln, July 2023
Stokes High Bridge over the River Witham, Lincoln, July 2023
OK, so a bridge with a Tudor building over a river isn’t technically a gateway, but is is a rather impressive sight and one I wanted to include. The doors below were up the passage way on the right of the building, near the spiral fire escape.
Tudor door, Stokes High Bridge, Lincoln, July 2023
Side entrance door, Stokes High Bridge, Lincoln, July 2023
One final push with work this morning before I go on my escape. I hope you have a great end of week and 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.
Although rather small, this is a rather good piece by Dopes. The choice of hoarding is challenging, being at the top of a DIY skate ramp, and on short boards that have been slapped together. On the upside, anyone who paints this spot is likely to have their work on display for a considerable period.
Dopes, M32 Spot, Bristol, September 2023
Dopes has been out and about a fair bit recently and the quality of his work is always high. Out of necessity, the letters bleed off the top of the hoarding, but in spite of that are nicely proportioned. Great colours and white rather than dark borders and 3D drop shadow. Easy on the eye stuff from Dopes.
I had seen this piece at the entrance to St Werburghs tunnel for a while, and there was something about it that stood out, but I couldn’t pin it down. I didn’t post it because I didn’t know who it was by. A serendipitous catch up with Logoe recently at the other end of the tunnel provided me with some insight about the piece. Logoe was raving about it and said it was by Drax, a highly-regarded old-school writer, and one of the original graffiti writers, from London I think.
Drax, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2023
Armed with that background, I revisited the piece after our conversation, and the ‘something special’ about the piece is its class. It is fairly modest and unsigned, so definitely a piece for those in the know. The beautifully finished letters spell DRAX, and the more you look at the fills and borders, you can see that it is by a highly experienced and skilled artist. My only slight concern (and this is a me thing) is the colour scheme – regular readers will know that I am not a big fan of brown, and I am not too sure about the brown/blue combo. Great to have the mystery solved.
I don’t often visit the BB Gallery (Bristol to Bath cycle path), mainly because the turnover there is fairly slow, and it is a bit of a death trap, especially while walking the dog. The bicycles, e-scooters and e-bikes, whizz along this stretch of the cycle path, making navigation more like running the gauntlet. It is only a matter of time before there are some serious accidents. (Sounding like the old man I am becoming).
Object…, BB Gallery, Bristol, September 2023
What a thrill to find this small piece by one of my favourite Bristol artists and all round nice guy Object…. The curious imaginary beast is all eyes and fingers, creating a rather grotesque image which is somewhat softened by the speech bubble and the words: “Nah, this has gone all wrong, where’s my rubber gone…”. I love the way this has been painted on an old piece of scrap wood and screwed onto the posts as a contribution to this free outdoor gallery. Utterly unusual (unless you are Object…), slightly disturbing and understatedly brilliant. A classic piece.
Natural adventures 