Author: scooj

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.

4990. New Stadium Road (46)

Claro_que_sssnoh, New Stadium Road, Bristol. January 2023
Claro_que_sssnoh, New Stadium Road, Bristol. January 2023

This spot has become rather challenging to photograph in recent months. It is adjacent to the Shah Jalal Jame Mosque, and cars park in every conceivable space at prayer times, including in this tight underpass. If you get the timing wrong (which I seem to with alarming regularity) then it is almost impossible to photograph the street/graffiti art without cars, but such are the risks with pieces being overpainted, that it is better to get whatever pictures you can, whenever you can.

Claro_que_sssnoh, New Stadium Road, Bristol. January 2023
Claro_que_sssnoh, New Stadium Road, Bristol. January 2023

This is yet another wonderful piece from Claro_que_sssnoh, who for a little while I thought might have departed these shores due to a long gap in any new work from him. Set on yellow, his HONS letters in his unique style are beautifully filled and finished. Although this style isn’t necessarily to everyone’s liking, there is no denying that it is technically well worked. Looking forward to more from Claro_que_sssnoh in 2023

Thursday doors – 2 February 2023

Doors 207 – Croatia doors (part 3)

This week, I return to doors of Croatia, after a week of absence skiing in the French Alps (I thought I’d just slip that in). These doors are from the magnificent city of Zadar, at one time an immensely important trading port in the Adriatic, and its former affluence is very impressive indeed. I would thoroughly recommend it as a place to see if you choose to visit Croatia. So, no more flim flam, here are the doors:

Land Gate to the city, Zadar, Croatia, August 2022
Land Gate to the city, Zadar, Croatia, August 2022

The Land Gate, as it is known, is an impressive entrance to the old city, which has very thick fortified walls. You will note the strong Venetian influence with the lion of Saint Mark over the archway.

Gateway, Zadar, Croatia, August 2022
Gateway, Zadar, Croatia, August 2022
Slim door, Zadar, Croatia, August 2022
Slim door, Zadar, Croatia, August 2022
Door with stone surround and arch, Zadar, Croatia, August 2022
Door with stone surround and arch, Zadar, Croatia, August 2022
Ancient doorway with less ancient door, Zadar, Croatia, August 2022
Ancient doorway with less ancient door, Zadar, Croatia, August 2022

I am enjoying reliving our family holiday to Croatia in August 2022 through these pictures. Next up, I will take you to the city of Pula on the southern tip of the Istrian Peninsula.

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 Scooj

badge-2023-teresa-my-camera-and-i

Strike

.

When there is no choice

when negotiations fail

when bills need paying

.

by Scooj

4989. St Werburghs tunnel (346)

Mr Klue and Hana, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2022
Mr Klue and Hana, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2022

It looks like Mr Klue has a new painting partner, which is great to see. This small collaboration appeared in the tunnel a couple of weeks ago and has colour coordinated pieces by Mr Klue and Hana (an artist I have not encountered before).

Mr Klue and Hana, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2022
Mr Klue and Hana, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2022

To the left is a characteristic wispy KLUE (I think), ephemeral as ever and looking like it might evaporate at any moment, and to the right, pulling the colours across, is a beautiful floral design piece by Hana. It would seem that ‘Floral’ is ‘in’ at the moment, and I am fully in favour of it. I know that these two have paired up again since this piece was painted, but I can’t recall where – I’ll need to investigate.

4988. Purdown (52)

Mr Sleven, Purdown, Bristol, January 2023
Mr Sleven, Purdown, Bristol, January 2023

It is a rare thing indeed to find a Mr Steven piece these days, so it was extra pleasing to see this small burner up at Purdown. Although only a small piece, it is really nicely  finished, and stands out from the crowd in this unusual Bristol spot.

Mr Sleven, Purdown, Bristol, January 2023
Mr Sleven, Purdown, Bristol, January 2023

The letters ‘Slev’ are delineated by the lovely green 3D drop shadow, with a pink trim border. The fills are rather lovely, with three horizontal colour layers and an array of complementary spots. This is a lovely ‘quick one’ from Mr Sleven, and I hope to see more from him soon.

4987. St Werburghs tunnel (345)

3F fino, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2023
3F fino, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2023

The turnover in St Werburghs tunnel is always high in Winter, but this winter it has gone off the scale. New pieces emerge daily, and there have been a plethora of paint jams involving several artists painting together. I hope to get down there today, having been away for a week, and expect to find quite a lot of new work.

3F fino, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2023
3F fino, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2023

This lovely piece by 3f Fino is slightly haunting, with a yellow-coated character hanging, phantom-like, over the green and purple FINO letters. The folds in the clothing have been worked really well, with some great shading and highlight work. Overall something a little bit different and also rather good from the LRS artist.

4986. St Werburghs tunnel (344)

Peggy, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2023
Peggy, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2023

I met Peggy for the first time yesterday in Dean Lane, but it was the most fleeting of meetings. Peggy was finishing off a piece on a sloping wall and wasn’t really in a position to stop and chat, so I left her to it, and will I’m sure, have another opportunity to say hello.

Peggy, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2023
Peggy, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2023

This is a gorgeous piece at the farm end of the tunnel, which I don’t think lasted very long, which is a great pity. Clearly Peggy has a great eye for design and proportion, and manages to create a piece that fits a space very well. I expect she gets lots of practice from the henna work she does. As with other pieces she has created, there is an eye in the floral design. Quite what the eye signifies, I don’t know, but I will ask, if I ever get the chance. A fine piece from Peggy.

4985. M32 roundabout J3 (447)

Haka, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2023
Haka, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2023

I think that Haka might have been let off childcare duties recently, because he has been prolific with his stunning recreations of children’s picture book characters, and this magnificent piece on the M32 roundabout is a perfect example. I genuinely don’t know where he gets the energy from to paint so much, but am glad that he does.

Haka, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2023
Haka, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2023

This piece features a worm, Superworm, from the book by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. Superworm, faithfully recreated, is wriggling his way through some beautiful chrome letters spelling out HAKA. A great way to start the year.

Extremes

.

From flooding to drought

extreme weather more often

from drought to flooding

.

by Scooj

4984. St George skate park (561)

Conrico, St George skate park, Bristol, January 2023
Conrico, St George skate park, Bristol, January 2023

Conrico is an artist who sees to keep himself very busy either with commissions or his street art. Either way, there always seems to be something new by him to go out and find. This is a lovely piece on the back of a skate ramp in St George skate park, where the turnover of artwork tends to be rather slow.

Conrico, St George skate park, Bristol, January 2023
Conrico, St George skate park, Bristol, January 2023

In this piece Conrico has written his name in chrome on an oriental scene, a recurring theme for Conrico. The house on the left has beautiful architecture from, I would guess, China. A night time sky with a full moon leads across to a fox appearing from a wisp of smoke. As with most of Conrico’s work, there is a story here – I guess it is up the viewer to fill in the gaps. Lovely work, photographed on a very cold icy day.