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.

4522. Upfest 2022 (19)

How wonderful to see a familiar Bristol artist taking up one of the semi-permanent walls at Upfest this year. The artist in question is the magnificent Kid Crayon with the first of two Upfest pieces, the other being on a temporary board in Greville Smyth Park.

Kid Crayon, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Kid Crayon, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

This rather rare (these days) street piece by Kid Crayon features his name in blues and pinks, nicely worked around the notice board on the wall and a beautiful cartoon-style portrait. The portrait of a silver-haired woman wearing a choker round her neck, is a fine portrait indeed and works so well with his style. The best bit is a return of a floating crayon just in front of the woman’s mouth. It is so good to see Kid Crayon hitting walls again, I only hope he finds time to keep up the momentum.

Thursday doors – 23 June 2022

Doors 187 – Porto doors (Part 1)

A little part of me was rather hoping that Porto (or Oporto in Portuguese), meant door, as Porte in French and Porta in Italian do, however it means ‘harbour’. In a way though, I guess that a harbour is a type of doorway into a city/town, so I will run with the analogy because it works for Thursday doors.

At the very start of June my daughter and I went to Porto in the north of Portugal, for a mini-break, and what an amazing city it is. Over the three full days we walked miles and miles up and down steep hills but without a plan, and we were rewarded with making some incredible discoveries. The other thing about not having a plan is that stopping to take photographs of doors is completely legitimate, and my daughter was most accommodating in this respect.

This is the first of several Porto door posts, which I will be sharing over the coming weeks when time permits. Forgive me if I become a bit of a Porto door bore. I hope you enjoy this first selection:

Small church door, Porto, Portugal, June 2022
Small church door, Porto, Portugal, June 2022
Fish Fish and door below, Porto, Portugal, June 2022
Fish Fish and door below, Porto, Portugal, June 2022
Red door on the waterfront, Porto, Portugal, June 2022
Red door on the waterfront, Porto, Portugal, June 2022
Not a door, but a very beautiful doorway, Porto, Portugal, June 2022
Not a door, but a very beautiful doorway, Porto, Portugal, June 2022
Red panelled door, Porto, Portugal, June 2022
Red panelled door, Porto, Portugal, June 2022
Green double door, Porto, Portugal, June 2022
Green double door, Porto, Portugal, June 2022

These doors are just a taster of what is to come, and I am very much looking forward to sharing them with you. Have a fabulous weekend wherever you are.

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

Wren 2

.

Tiniest fledglings

no tail feathers to speak of

ground-hugging test flights.

.

by Scooj

4521. Upfest 2022 (18)

One of Bristol’s biggest losses (in street art terms) in recent years was the departure of Aspire, who took up residence in the old smoke, making the opposite decision to the one I made many years ago. I definitely know where I’d rather live, and it is not in London. On the upside, Aspire does come to visit Bristol from time to time, and he always seems to dazzle us during Upfest.

Aspire, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Aspire, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

Aspire specialises in creating the most beautiful pictures of birds and in this Upfest piece he has perfectly captured my favourite British bird, the Goldfinch. His work is never complete without his trademark pixelation, and it is interesting to see from this work in progress, that he adds the pixels at the end of the painting process.

Aspire, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Aspire, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

I love this piece, it feels very uncluttered, and the neutral skyline background serves to lift the goldfinch out from the boards. If you are interested in seeing more of Aspire’s work, I recommend you take a little look at a gallery I compiled in 2018, and updated today.

I leave you with three Haiku poems I wrote about goldfinches:

Charm

Goldfinches return

colours exaggerated

in bright winter sun

Lucky Charm

One…two…five…seven…

nine goldfinches together

in our silver birch.

Haiku 7

Vibrant tricolor

and flanking golden flashes

majestic goldfinch

4520. Upfest 2022 (17)

This is an extraordinary piece from TEAone for Upfest 2022, and one of my firm favourites this year. From a distance, the piece has a photorealistic quality, looking like an old photograph from a scrapbook or something like that. The effect is quite amazing.

TEAone, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
TEAone, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

TEAone manages to create an incredible atmosphere in this scene with what looks like a continental street. It is set in a warm climate, with the air conditioning units and washing hanging out to dry, and the archway and shopfront and awning have all the hallmarks of a European country, and the word Cucina suggests it would be Italy. I absolutely love this piece… it fills my nostrils with the smells of abroad and a longing to be where this is. I can lose myself in this piece and forget that I am standing in the middle of Bedminster. Bravo TEAone.

Wren

.

Across the decking

like a bullet, a fledgling

It’s maiden voyage

.

by Scooj

4519. Upfest 2022 (16)

I have met Goin only once and it was at an Upfest a few years ago. He had just finished a stencil piece in a spot that was not a recognised Upfest wall (let’s call it) and was looking rather sheepish. I tried to strike up a conversation with him, but he wished to keep his anonymity intact and was backwards in coming forwards (and who can blame him). Things have moved on since then, and Goin has created this magnificent wall for Upfest 2022.

Goin, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Goin, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

I had to have a couple of goes at photographing this piece, because there were shadows running across the wall in my first attempts. This was one of the first walls to be completed at this year’s Upfest, and is a real statement piece. Big, bold and simple the girl in greyscale is wearing a beret, but the only revolution here is for love. The only colour is a red badge on her beret and the heart cushion she is clasping to her chest. The piece feels important and significant and is a strong message in these uncertain and troubling times.

4518. St Werburghs tunnel (298)

I don’t see enough of Inca the Mole’s work, not because he isn’t painting, but more because I don’t seem to be very good at finding his spots. I couldn’t miss this one in St Werburghs tunnel though on my last visit there.

The Mole, St Werburghs, Bristol, June 2022
The Mole, St Werburghs, Bristol, June 2022

This piece of graffiti writing from The Mole is absolutely fabulous. The letters are really crisp and sharp along with a thin white border. The letters spelling out Inca are filled with four colours transitioning horizontally really nicely. To cap off the piece, and the bit that stands out are the little peace signs floating through the middle. Some good drips too. All in all a well executed piece from LRS artist The Mole.

4517. Leonard Lane (35)

Back to Leonard Lane, and this special Queen’s platinum Jubilee celebration piece by John D’oh. This is another fantastically presented piece from John D’oh, who has been producing some really outstanding work lately, really stepping up a level.

John D'oh, Leonard Lane, Bristol, June 2022
John D’oh, Leonard Lane, Bristol, June 2022

This one is an irreverent glance at the Queen, with specific reference to her second son’s indiscretions and rather odd alibi, for his involvement in a sex scandal, that he had taken his daughter to a Pizza Express in Woking on the day in question. It is nice to have these little reminders of British history so perfectly illustrated through John D’oh’s stencils. I have noticed that he has stencilled this one in another of his favourite spots, and need to get over there to photograph it.

John D'oh, Leonard Lane, Bristol, June 2022
John D’oh, Leonard Lane, Bristol, June 2022

I thought I’d include a little extra piece from John D’oh, which I think is from some time ago, but is right next to the Jubilee pizza piece. Gotta love this one!

4516. Dean Lane skate park (500)

A little bit of a milestone today for Natural Adventures – this is the 500th post from Dean Lane skate park, and we mark it with a small and slightly weird piece from Sprat. Any fish-based street art will always get my seal of approval, and there is something about the bonkersness of this piece that really tickles me.

Sprat, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2022
Sprat, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2022

This is only the second piece I have posted by Sprat, but I am certain that there will be many more to come. The fish has legs and is running. It is quite a straightforward piece, contained within a black border. I think the impact of the piece that it is an unusual image, out of the ordinary, and therefore eye-catching. The location on a raised section of wall also adds to the quirkiness of it. I’ll be on the lookout for more from Sprat.