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.

4067. Gloucester Road

Since the first lockdown, my daughter and I have watched quite a few old shows by Bob Ross, and been mesmerised by them. Our viewing is interspersed with comments like ‘how does he do that’ or ‘that is just ridiculous’. As amazing as his landscapes are, they are not really my cup of tea, but watching him create them is truly awe-inspiring. This reference piece by John D’oh is a nice nod to the talent of Bob Ross.

John D'oh, Gloucester Road, Bristol, November 2021
John D’oh, Gloucester Road, Bristol, November 2021

This stencil is one of many by John D’oh adorning the walls of Bishopston Tiles, and if you are in the area, it is well worth stopping by for a few moments to enjoy them. The words are another witty commentary on the disastrous state of deforestation, something that the COP26 climate agreement might at long last be starting to address. Our role in all of this is not to let our Government off the hook, even for a moment, and to continue to campaign hard for systemic policy changes in how we do things in the UK. Plastic bag tax was just a start, but shows what can be done.

This is the first of many posts I’ll be writing about this wall.

4066. Brunel Way (133)

Zake is fast becoming one of the most prolific artists in Bristol. His wonderful stylised faces are appearing all over the place with regularity, and of course improving all the time. This lovely recent piece is at the curved end of the concrete support wall under Brunel Way.

Zake, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2021
Zake, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2021

Zake’s work is typified by his extraordinary understanding of light and shadow, and the features on his faces are accentuated by the shading, gaining real depth. Often, his work will be under-lit or side-lit, but this one has a fairly uniform front-lit aspect. This piece is beautifully presented too.

Shutdown shutout

.

Rhythm disrupted

Microsoft Windows update

computer says no

.

by Scooj

4065. Catherine Mead Street (1)

This domestic wall was first painted during Upfest 2018, when a few artists clubbed together and had a paint jam on this unofficial space. I believe they had the permission of the owner to do it, and these pieces remained in pretty good condition until fairly recently when they were on the wrong end of quite a lot of tagging. Recently, several artists, including Laic217, Nightwayss, Tack Jucker and Zake, refreshed the wall to great effect, including this fine piece from Laic217.

Laic217, Catherine Mead Street, Bristol, November 2021
Laic217, Catherine Mead Street, Bristol, November 2021

Laic217, as regular readers will know, is a particular favourite of mine and this piece is a reversion to some of the recurring themes seen in his work. The brick wall glasses, the ghetto-blaster, the bucket hat and of course, skeleton, all point towards it being a Laic217 piece. The colours are a good match with the fairly benign purple backdrop helping to lift the gold colours incorporated in the character. 

More to come soon from this wall.

4064. Peel Street Green (1)

It is always worth going the extra mile, or a few hundred yards at least. I recently followed the River Frome from the M32 roundabout into town, because I wanted to stretch my and the the dog’s legs a bit. What we found was a little green with a long wall covered in graffiti writing, that I have long been aware of, but never actually found before. Well now I have found it and the spot will be assimilated into part of my regular ‘rounds’ when I have a little extra time on my hands (some chance these days).

3Dom, Peel Street Green, Bristol, November 2021
3Dom, Peel Street Green, Bristol, November 2021

Opposite the long wall and on the other side of the green is a small wall with this single recent piece from 3Dom. This is so typical of his surreal style, featuring a character with a cloud head, dotted with a string of alternating happy and sad smiley emojis. This beautifully painted and colourful piece probably has a back story going on, but I am not too sure what it is. Might it have something to do with the changing climate?

A great spot and a great piece.

Thursday doors – 18 November 2021

Doors 169 – Looe doors, Cornwall – Part 3

A quick one for you this week. The concluding part of my doors from Looe in Cornwall. You will notice that several of the doors have little brick walls in front of them. Looe is prone to flooding during high spring tides when they coincide with storm surges and low pressure. To prevent the water entering homes, walls and flood gates are placed in front of front doors. It is the owners of these homes that will need to be especially tuned in to climate change and the impacts of it.

So, here are the doors:

Blue door - Lobster Pot Cottage - Please mind your head, Looe, Cornwall, October 2021
Blue door – Lobster Pot Cottage – Please mind your head, Looe, Cornwall, October 2021

Green door - Tiree 'n' Tyrina - with brick flood defence, Looe, Cornwall, October 2021
Green door – Tiree ‘n’ Tyrina – with brick flood defence, Looe, Cornwall, October 2021

Blue door - Jack's - with brick flood defence, Looe, Cornwall, October 2021
Blue door – Jack’s – with brick flood defence, Looe, Cornwall, October 2021

White door with flood gate slots on either side, Looe, Cornwall, October 2021
White door with flood gate slots on either side, Looe, Cornwall, October 2021

Grubby back door with a chain curtain, Looe, Cornwall, October 2021
Grubby back door with a chain curtain, Looe, Cornwall, October 2021

Three doors at Riverside hall, Looe, Cornwall, October 2021
Three doors at Riverside hall, Looe, Cornwall, October 2021

Well, that just about wraps things up for another week. Have a fantastic 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

Resumption

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Music club resumes

the theme this week is colours

band, single, album

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by Scooj

4063. Brunel Way (132)

I knew about this piece, by Lemak, a long time ago, but never actually knew exactly where it was. I never found out at the time and then forgot it had even existed, so I was super happy to find it a week or two back, and although it has been a bit tagged, the quality of the piece shines through.

Lemak, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2021
Lemak, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2021

Lemak is an artist who spends a lot of time in his studio, but occasionally he treats us with one of his highly complex multi-layered stencils on the streets. I’ve not seen anything new since lock down, but that doesn’t mean to say there hasn’t been anything.

This piece, on the Greville Smyth Park side of Brunel Way was painted way back in April 2019 and features Daddy’s Lil Monster, Harley Quinn, a DC comics character. Superb work from a superb artist.

4062. Sparke Evans Park (20)

Life has become uncomfortably cluttered and busy in recent weeks, both at home and at work, and I am struggling a little to keep on top of my daily blog posts. Today for example I am using my lunch break to write this post, because I simply ran out of time last night and early this morning.

Pl8o, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, November 2021
Pl8o, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, November 2021

So here we have a delightful piece of graffiti writing from Pl8o, possibly the tightest I have seen from him. The clean lines of the letters are somewhat eclipsed by the fabulous orange border. Beautifully designed and executed. Surely it must be time for a Pl8o gallery.

4061. M32 Spot (124)

Feek doesn’t paint nearly as a often as I would like him to, but just often enough to keep me interested and on my toes. Dean Lane Hardcore and Halloween seem to be occasions that he likes to mark. The other thing about Feek’s work is that, like many other street artists, it is very often associated with skating.

Feek, M32 Spot, Bristol, November 2021
Feek, M32 Spot, Bristol, November 2021

This long wall is part of the M32 Spot DIY skate park, and tends to get fairly marked fairly quickly. Feek has made a little joke with his letters, spelling out M32 OOOH, in a ghostly way to mark Halloween, and in the centre of the piece is a nice big pumpkin.

Feek, M32 Spot, Bristol, November 2021
Feek, M32 Spot, Bristol, November 2021

The pumpkin is cleverly painted, incorporating a hole in the panel as the open mouth of the scary fruit. The writing is covered in warts and eyes providing a cartoony scary scene, just what Feek does so well. A nice seasonal piece.