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.
Noise has only recently come into my consciousness, but I don’t know whether that is because he is reasonably new to Bristol or whether I simply had a blind spot. Whatever the reason, I seem to see his pieces on a reasonably regular basis, which is great, because I like his rather big brash letters.
Noise, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2023
This piece on the recently bricked up wall under one of the large Dean Lane skate park ramps spells out NOISE in great big chunky letters that take no prisoners. There is plenty of room for fills, which are beautifully done in turquoise and white, bounded by tidy black borders and drop shadow and a red outline. This is another attractive piece from Noise.
With the turnover of art in Bristol being such as it is, I get an awful lot of pieces left behind in my archives, and then I forget whether I have posted them or not. I guess that this is a bit of a first-world problem, but it troubles me a little. I was certain that I had posted this piece by Wxttsart, but it would seem as though I hadn’t. It is still in great condition, so perhaps it is relatively recent, and I am mistaking it for another similar piece. Anyhoo, it is a bit of a blinder.
Wxttsart, River Avon, Bristol, August 2023
I describe Wxttsart’s work as a bit of a blend of calligraffiti with a touch of anti-style. I’m not too sure how the artist would describe it, but it is unique and always recognisable. The red script letters spelling MILK are nicely proportioned (a feature of calligraffiti) and have been bestowed with a deep 3D drop shadow in lilac shades. The whole thing is set on a fine green cloudy backdrop which contrasts well with the letters. This is another great piece from Wxttsart.
A rare foray into a part of Bedminster last week, looking for something that wasn’t there, led me to East Street, long after the shops had shut, which meant only one thing, a glimpse at closed shutter artwork that I hadn’t even been aware of before and which might have been there for some time. Among the discoveries was this gem from Andy Council.
Andy Council, East Street, Bristol, August 2023
From the signature, it looks like Andy Council painted this composite dinosaur piece in 2022, so it is possible that it was painted as an extra piece for Upfest, but more likely it might have been a permitted or commissioned piece from the shop store owners. As with much of Andy Council’s work, the whole monster character is made up of different components, including buildings and mechanical joints. He has thrown in a few toadstools for good measure too. I was most happy to come across this, especially as the things I was looking for didn’t even seem to exist.
I don’t quite know if Mind 49 has moved to Bristol, the West of England or something like that, but he is painting in the city much more frequently than he used to and, I have to say, he is knocking it out of the park on a regular basis. This pink portrait piece was his contribution to Werm’s birthday paint jam a little while back.
Mind 49, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2023
Mind 49 has a great touch, and his artwork almost looks like it has been painted with brushes. His portrait work is excellent, and he hasn’t gone down the route of super photorealistic, giving his pieces a bit of street authenticity, I like to think. The material on the jacket has been well painted, with plenty of texture, shading and folds that give it depth. Mind 49 is really establishing himself with this kind of portrait work in Bristol.
Aspire is no stranger to the pages of Natural Adventures, indeed, when he was still living in Bristol his outstanding bird paintings were a regular feature on the blog. Sadly, for us, he left for London, and now is just an occasional visitor to the city and to street art festivals in and around the Bristol area.
Aspire, Queen’s Road, Bristol, August 2023
It is so good that Apire was invited to take part in the Bristol 650 years celebration paint jam in partnership with Upfest and Bristol BID, and he has done a great job with this magnificent bird piece. The four-panelled mural shows that Aspire is equally good with brushes as he is with spray cans and he has captured the renaissance theme well with the addition of a piece of red material draped from a plant. The Kingfisher and Peregrine are, as you might expect, perfect and both incorporate the pixelation Aspire adopts in his work.
Aspire, Queen’s Road, Bristol, August 2023
The kingfisher is absolutely stunning and is a bird that many artists paint, probably on account of its beautiful blue and gold plumage. Unless Aspire pays Bristol a visit to see friends etc, I can’t imagine we’ll see him again until next year’s Upfest.
I saw this gorgeous piece a little while ago, but kept it on file until I found out who it was by. It turns out that it is by Hiccup (Bloem) who is a rising star in the Bristol street/graffiti art scene and whose works are popping up all over the place. There is something very special about the red/grey/white/black combination of colours that works exceptionally well, and which Decay built his early works on, to great effect.
Hiccup, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023
The piece in Hiccup’s Instagram is called Speaker Flowerz, and in doing so says what it is. The piece is creative, striking and nice and clean. For an artist who has only recently been painting walls, Hiccup has hit the ground running and fast becoming one of my favourite new artists. This piece is right up my street, and I am very much looking forward to seeing what new creations she comes up with.
The work of Slakarts tends to be occasional these days, rather than frequent, but in a way that makes it a little bit more special when it does come along. This double portrait piece was a lovely surprise a couple of weeks back at the entrance to the tunnel, which the council have once again, in their wisdom, buffed over.
Slakarts, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2023
There is a story to this piece I would think, and my guess would be that Slakarts has a dog and he is showing his love and appreciation in this piece. The quick characters piece is filled with a light white backwash and finished with strong clean black outlines, all the hallmarks of a job done in a bit of a hurry. It is nicely thought out though, and the contented couple are accompanied with the words “Man’s best m8”, which is rather sweet really. Great to see that Slakarts has managed to get out again, even if only occasionally.
Doors 232 – Lincoln City doors (Part V) – Lincoln, the old city
Anyone might think I was a little obsessed with doors, and the fact that this is the fifth instalment of doors from a trip to Lincoln in July, they’d probably be right. Just wait until I unleash the Italian doors from our August family holiday in Umbria – my poor, long-suffering family.
This week’s doors are all from the rather well-to-do area of the old city around the beautiful Cathedral. Many of the houses are Georgian, but some are considerably older and some more recent, all of them are well looked after and in good condition commensurate with the wealth of the neighbourhood. This selection is a real hardcore ‘door person’ st of doors – I hope you enjoy them.
Black door, Lincoln, July 2023
Red door with flat roofed awning and boot scraper, Lincoln, July 2023
Blue door and reflected cloudes in the window, Lincoln, July 2023
Green Georgian door with boot scrapers either side, Lincoln, July 2023
Red door and open segmental pediment, Lincoln, July 2023
Grey-green door with portico and an iron garden gate, Lincoln, July 2023
Fancy black door and windows, with tiled decorations above, Lincoln, July 2023
I expect you are a little bored with Lincoln doors by now, but I’m afraid there are more to come next time, perhaps something a little different. Have a greaat 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 