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.
Although I didn’t get a chance to catch up with her, it was a pleasure to watch T-Rex and her Read and Weep (RAW) crewbies (is that a word?) paint a long hoarding wall at Upfest this year.
T-Rex, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
T-Rex certainly rolled out the red carpet with these two, a dragon and dinosaur, in her beautiful illustration style. I think, and have always thought, that these characters would make excellent material for children’s picture books, although I wouldn’t want too many distractions keeping T-Rex away from her street art work.
I feel I have been neglecting the remarkable street art work that was created at the end of May during Upfest 2022, such has been the volume of new work in the city, so I am making up for lost time with a quick segment of ten Upfest pieces, starting with this one by Sake One.
Sake One, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
This is an absolutely stunning and arresting piece, hidden behind some verdant trees, on a wall that has hosted several wonderful Upfest pieces in the past. I understand that the piece is inspired by the track Paradise Circus by Massive Attack. The California-based artist, who is no stranger to Upfest, said of this piece
“Since many apple trees are covering the wall, I wanted to make it appear like they are forest nymphs peering through. I thought it would work to give the mural this title, since she has a devilish grin. I also wanted to give a wink or Easter egg to Massive Attack and Bristol”
Sake One, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
This is a fine work from a celebrated artist, and it was great to welcome him back to Bristol again for the festival.
Another classy piece from Saor alongside his NTS friends on the long wall at Dean Lane. His work is so on-point, always neat and tidy. He achieves this without the comfort of borders, which means that all of his lines have to be cut-in perfectly, which is a terrific skill.
Saor, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2022
The blues and yellows on a grey background work very well and are in line with the colour scheme for the whole collaborative wall. The stylised letters SAOR give way to some animation in the middle of the piece, with elements of a smiley face. This is an outstanding piece, which, to be fair, is consistent with most of his work.
I am rather hoping that Peggy will become a regular on the pages of Natural Adventures, because I really like her floral designs and her use of space in the spots she paints, bringing a touch of class and joy along with her.
Peggy, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2022
Peggy has used the space on the side of this skate ramp really cleverly, and produced a stunning array of leaves and flowers with decorative swirls. There is something a little similar in her style to Alex Lucas, certainly in the subject matter. I’m really looking forward to seeing much more from this rising star.
I think that I have posted more Hypo pieces in the last couple of months than I had for the last few years before. He seems to be going through a very productive phase, finding time to paint with his friends. I imagine that there has been a change in life circumstances that has led to this liberation.
Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2022
This modest piece in gentle colours was painted alongside Benjimagnetic, and perhaps reflects the winter weather, with its blues and greys and drips. This is another piece to add to the collection, which is pretty much big enough for a gallery – watch this space.
For once, Logoe came to Bristol and dropped only one piece, as far as I can make out. I believe he might have visited with his Mrs, whose piece lies next to this one. That is speculation based on second-hand information, and since Logoe has no social media presence, it is difficult to confirm one way or the other.
Logoe, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2022
Not only am I late in posting this sensational Halloween piece, but I think that Logoe was late in painting it. This has all the ingredients of a top piece of writing, with Logoes characteristically slim script letters on a fiery background and festooned with a band of colourful ovals. A rather cute ghost character tops off the piece beautifully. A great Hlloween festival piece from Logoe.
How has it taken me so long to post one hundred pieces from my beloved Moon Street? I guess, in recent years, painting here has reduced as the gentrification of the area has taken a grip, and so it is not so much of a graffiti destination, with artists preferring St Werburghs, Bedminster, St Paul’s or the River Avon. However, we do stopill get some beauties down there, including this very Zake, Zake character piece.
Zake, Moon Street, Bristol, December 2022
The rather disturbing face, exaggerated by its asymmetry, is arresting to say the very least. A slight reversion to his early form of portrait, his strengths come to the fore, especially his use of shading and highlights to create depth of features on the face. A worthy piece for my one hundredth Moon Street post.
