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.
Pieces like this are the best ones to find. I went for a dog walk with my wife last week and on the way back to our house, we came across this Inkie piece on a garage door. I don’t recall ever seeing it on social media, so for me, it was a completely new discovery.
Inkie, Bishopston, Bristol, May 2023
The portrait piece is so typical of Inkie’s style, incorporating all the design elements that one associates with the artist, with the interesting addition of a pair of yellow-tinted glasses. This piece is pure Inkie class, and possibly the closest piece of street art to where I live, and yet I have only just discovered it.
3Dom and Sled One, The Carriageworks, Bristol, May 2023
We have some very special artists in Bristol, and two of the very best are 3Dom and Sled one, and every once in a while these two combine to do something completely amazing. They like to refer to themselves when they paint something like this as the hi-vis crew, becoming invisible when they wear official-looking high visibility clothing.
3Dom and Sled One, The Carriageworks, Bristol, April 2023
I was lucky enough to be passing when these two were still painting these pieces, and it was in fact the first time I have met 3Dom properly, and I have to say what an absolutely lovely bloke he is. These arches have had some fantastic pieces painted on them over the years, and 3Dom and Sled One are continuing that great tradition. I fear that it won’t be too long before the authorities clamp down on painting this wall, but until such time we can only enjoy it.
3Dom, The Carriageworks, Bristol, May 2023
Both artists have a surreal and fantastical approach to their artwork, which in many cases it is probably best not to try and interpret. 3Dom presents a character whose head is made of a balloon filled with water and a couple of fish that might be the character’s eyes and a syringe that forms the mouth. The target and fez are details that add intrigue. Upside-down clouds and a cityscape round off the piece nicely. Brilliant.
Sled One, The Carriageworks, Bristol, May 2023
Sled One has created a portrait piece of a woman smoking a cigarette. Her skin, however, has been stripped away from the middle third of her face, exposing a cartoon-style skull. This is without doubt one of the odder pieces that Sled One has painted, but is certainly arresting and powerful. Also brilliant.
3Dom, The Carriageworks, Bristol, April 2023
If you ever wondered how these artists reach the higher bits of a wall, here is the answer. A perfect collaborative wall from the masters.
Doors 221 – Bristol and Porto street art and graffiti doors
When I do these street art and graffiti doors, it usually signals that I am really busy at work, and don’t have time to do all the necessary admin to prepare doors to share, preferring to trawl existing pictures that I have posted on my blog under the street art category.
So let’s get straight to business with these doors from Bristol and Porto, which were originally posted on Natural Adventures in July 2022:
Jelly and apparan, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Doors painted during Upfest 2022
Aspire, Devon Road, Bristol, July 2022Face 1st, Moon Street, Bristol, July 2022Maybe, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2022
Access hatch on a bridge
Maybe, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2022
Access hatch on a bridge
Sepr, Upfest 22, Bristol, June 2022Mesk, Porto, Portugal, June 2022Costah, Porto, Portugal, June 2022
Cat ghost door
Hazul, Porto, Portugal, June 2022
Abstract ghost door
Hazul, Porto, Portugal, June 2022
Another abstract ghost door
Carvalho, Porto, Portugal, June 2022Unknown, Porto, Portugal, June 2022
OK, so it’s not a door, but I just love this photograph.
Well, that’s it for another week. I hope you have a great weekend. Happy Thursday doors.
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.
‘Who duh fook is dat guy?’ asks Stivs whose portrait pieces are truly outstanding – who knew about this incredible versatility, when he was pretty much exclusively painting his calligraffiti pieces? This portrait piece has very quickly established itself as something of a classic and definitely stands out from the crowd.
Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2023
I didn’t have any idea who was featured in the piece, that was until Paul H posted this piece on social media and helped me out with identification. It is Conor McGregor – UFC champion, which explains why I didn’t know. Although I like to think of myself as having my finger on the pulse, I am not a wrestling/UFC/boxing fan, it simply isn’t in my nature to watch alpha males (or females) knocking seven shades of sh*t out of each other for our entertainment. Great portrait piece though.
There are many artists in Bristol who have created their own unique stamp or style, but none more so than Nugmoose, whose surreal alien pieces entertain and confuse in equal measure. This is a recent one from the long wall in Cumberland Basin.
Nugmoose, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2023
I am not even going to attempt to decipher what is going on in this piece, but it is a mash-up of alien writing, plant-life, hoofed legs and a human face. The whole thing, painted in soft tones, hangs together nicely, and demonstrates so clearly the breadth and depth of street/graffiti art in our city.
It feels like Todoaciem (who writes CIEM) has been a little quiet over the winter months, perhaps returning to his native Spain to keep away from the miserable British weather (my speculation), so it is great to see his work gracing the walls of our city once again.
Todoaciem, New Stadium Road, Bristol, April 2023
This outstanding piece of calligraffiti shows off Todoaciem’s skill as a writer. Set out on a modest wall, with minimal footfall, the piece oozes class and really stands out. I know that there is at least one other recent piece by the artist in another part of Bristol (watch this space) so, with any luck, it is the start of some high quality calligraffiti to look forwar to this summer.
As regular readers will know, Logoe is an artist who visits Bristol several times a year, and one who makes the most of each trip, typically painting about six pieces over a couple of days. On his last visit, Logoe favoured the area around the Junction 2 roundabout on the M32.
Logoe, M32 roundabout J2, Bristol, April 2023
These two pieces were painted opposite each other in a foot tunnel under the roundabout. Painted in his customary script writing, both pieces incorporated a fair amount of gold and orange tones and a liberal smattering of accompanying spots and dots.
Logoe, M32 roundabout J2, Bristol, April 2023
I can only guess that Logoe pretty much sprays these pieces in quick-time. I wonder if the phrase ‘always a little further’ relates in any way to his heroic efforts. In this second piece, the white border is a nice touch which lifts the piece a little. I guess we need to brace ourselves for another visit sometime, although I understand that his work is a little more busy in the warmer months.
Unfortunately, this wonderful and unusual piece by Mudra, didn’t last too long before being dogged. I simply don’t get some people and their determination to spoil other people’s work. I know that there are no real rules, especially on illegal walls, but a little bit of respect is always a good thing, and the rule of thumb is that if you are going to go over a piece, you should cover the whole thing, and preferably with something of equal or superior quality.
Mudra, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2023
Mudra’s skull and patchwork of design elements give this piece something of a 1980s surreal look. I expect that there is quite a lot of symbolism in the piece, but I’m not too sure I can work it out. Mudra is one of Bristol’s busiest and most creative artists at the moment, and certainly seems to be enjoying himself this year.
Natural adventures 