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.
Unify, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
One of the very earliest street art pieces I posted on Natural Adventures was by Unify, painted on the side of the Highbury Vaults in Kingsdown. Both Unify and I have come a long way since then. This wonderful monkey in a spacesuit stencil piece is perfectly presented on the side of a ramp in the Cheltenham skate park.
Unify, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
The freehand background is very dramatic and sets the scene perfectly for the intricate stencil work. I love the reflection of the earth in the space helmet. I don’t know why, but I have seen a lot of space monkey street art over the years and it appears to be a really popular theme (note to self – potential for a themed gallery). This is a classy piece from Unify, whose work can be found all over London where I think the artist lives.
Pekoe, Vozie, Bnie, Wispa and Evey, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
The Resting Bitchface (RBF) crew appeared to have a ball at the Cheltenham Paint Festival, painting this long collaborative wall, and then going on to decorate the multi-storey car park, which was opened up as a CPF venue for the first time this year. The dayglo colours of the piece give is a bit of a 1980s look, but with a contemporary RBF twist.
Pekoe, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
On the left and starting off the collaboration is a writing/portrait combination from Pekoe. This is as good a piece of writing I have seen from Pekoe and the character to the right is something a little different, a punk or skinhead girl with a plaster on her head. Vibrant stuff.
Vozie, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
Next up is a classy piece of writing from Vozie, spelling out her name and breaking up different sections of the letters with different colours from the paint jam colour palette. The overall design is top class and the execution brilliant. Amazing stuff.
Bnie and Wispa, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
The next section has Bnie and Wispa snuggly side by side. Bnie’s writing picks up on the colour palette, but designs in the colours in a completely different way to Vozie. Bnie has gone for some horizontal layers, and a horizon line running through the midpoint of her BNIE. Finished to perfection, this too is an outstanding piece. Wispa has gone for a character piece overflowing with attitude. She has also decided not to go with the ‘corporate ‘colours and the impact of that is her character stands out as being a bit different. I get a feeling that the attitude isn’t constrained to Wispa, but runs through the whole collaboration in its loud colours and boldness.
Evey, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
Finally, the right hand end of the collaboration is represented by a fabulous piece of writing from Evey. In recent posts I have spoken about her rate of improvement this year, and this piece only goes to reinforce my view. Great letter shapes and delightfully eclectic fills that somehow work incredibly well together. This collaboration has all the hallmarks of a very successful and enjoyable day out for the RBF Crew. Outstanding.
#DFTE, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
One of the rather nice things about the Cheltenham Paint Festival is that due to its proximity to Bristol, it often feels a bit like a home from home, as a lot of the domestic artists that paint at the CPF are from Bristol. #DFTE is no stranger to the streets of Bristol, and this one at the festival was a real cracker.
#DFTE, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
‘Thoughts are not facts’ – I love this. It is so true, and yet for so many people thoughts are projected as facts – and I am sure I am guilty of this myself to some degree. I come from an analytical evidence-led training, and work in ma sector where evidence is crucial, so the phrase chimes very strongly with me. #DFTE’s unique font – in this instance with lots of lovely drips – is bold and accessible. A truly wonderful piece, from the unusual philosopher/graffiti writer.
Sam Art, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
Each time I do a burst of ‘festival’ pictures I become mindful of just how far behind I am with my posts – I still have dozens/hundreds of pieces to share from Upfest 2022 and many more from Cheltenham last year and this. I simply have to face the fact that I won’t be able to publish them all, at least not until I have retired. This is an unbelievable piece by Sam Art at this year’s Cheltenham Paint Festival.
Sam Art, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
Sam Art uses spray paint to create his photorealistic masterpieces, but he does so in a studio and then transports the piece to the festival site. Some might consider this cheating, but it is not. The pieces take a long time to paint and would probably be next to impossible outside exposed to the elements. The portrait of a young girl is stunning and the kingfisher – a street art favourite – sensational. The splashes of colour contrast perfectly with the greyscale portrait. Magnificent stuff once again from Sam Art.
A classic Pekoe portrait piece looks like this, although this year Pekoe has been developing her style and experimenting more with graffiti writing. With regard to her portrait pieces, they have become a little bit less busy and more thoughtful in composition, of which this is a great example.
Pekoe, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, October 2023
Pekoe painted this alongside RBF crew friends, in one of two consecutive paint jams, supplying me with plenty of material to post. There is a very strong comic-book cartoon style happening here, especially with the eyes and nose, which I really like. The hair too is different from anything I have seen from Pekoe, and overall the piece is a good one. I am enjoying this slight shift in Pekoe’s work.
I have pretty much said it all when it comes to collaborations between Dibz and Fade. How on earth they find the time, the energy, the inspiration and the money for paint I will never know, but that is why they do what they do and I do what I do, I suppose.
Dibz and Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023
This is one of those collaboration fusion pieces where each artist has contributed to all parts of the piece, although Fade probably did most of the writing and Dibz the character. I had to do a little research, and found out that the character is from the 1977 film Wizards and is called Avatar. I am pleased with myself finding this out, especially when there isn’t much to go on. These guys are far from done, more to come soon.
Another fine character piece from the irrepressible Bean, on the long hoardings (getting less long by the month) along the Bristol to Bath cycle path. Subsequent to my visit to thak this picture, he has added another character piece adjacent to this one.
Bean, Greenbank, Bristol, October 2023
The character, painted in his distinctive two-tone style, is representative of a sub-culture, with baseball cap, gold ring and chain and spray can to hand – I hasten to add that most street/graffiti artists don’t look like this, but they certainly paint like this. Still more to come from the prolific Bean.
This week I am sharing some more doors from our summer trip to Umbria. I fear that I am becoming a bit of a compulsive door collector and bore. The family have stopped waiting for me when we walk through towns together, instead I have to take pictures and then do that funny middle-aged jog kind of thing that is actually no faster than walking, to catch up with them. On the odd occasion, one of them will say – ‘hey that is a great door, why don’t you photograph it?’… but it is rare.
Todi is door heaven – like so many Italian towns and cities, and one or two of the doors in this selection rank in my top ten all-time Italian doors. I hope you enjoy these now as much as I enjoyed them back in July.
Ghostly ghost door, Todi, Umbria, Italy, July 2023
Three front doors of Chiesa di San Fortunato, Todi, Umbria, Italy, July 2023
Impressive central door and stonework of Chiesa di San Fortunato, Todi, Umbria, Italy, July 2023
Five doors of the Teatro Comunale, Todi, Umbria, Italy, July 2023
Door to the Teatro Comunale, Todi, Umbria, Italy, July 2023
Wooden panelled door between two ghost doors, Todi, Umbria, Italy, July 2023
Old door within a large ghost door, Todi, Umbria, Italy, July 2023
Arched door and impressive stone steps, Todi, Umbria, Italy, July 2023
Another week has passed – this year is unfolding at an alarming speed – and I wish you a 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.
Natural adventures 