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.
A couple of weeks ago I took a week off work and decided to go and visit my mother and her partner on the south coast for. I hadn’t seen them for over a year and it was so good to spend time with them face to face. Of course, while I was there my mother put me to good use getting me to do some odd jobs around the house that had been building up for a while.
One such job was to drive them into Chichester and help with taking watches to be mended and buy some kitchen things in Lakeland. Of course, the opportunity to photograph some lovely doors presented itself and I took leave of my duties for five minutes to photograph these beauties. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.
Stunning door with boot scraper to the left, Chichester, May 2021Large awning and worn steps on this door with boot scraper to the left, Chichester, May 2021Door with beautiful brickwork including a crest above it, Chichester, May 2021Door to the Hospital of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Chichester, May 2021Green doorfie, Chichester, May 2021
So that’s it for another week, I hope you have a good one.
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.
This is another piece from a paint jam in April this year on the long wall at Cumberland Basin. I have posted a couple of pieces from the collaborative wall already, but this one from Bnie is a little gem that I left behind.
Bnie, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2021
I don’t know an awful lot about Bnie and have never had the pleasure of meeting her, but the more of her work I see, the more I like it. The element that she absolutely excels at is the 3D shadow fills, which are usually patterned in a way that few other artists do. It is the part that gives her away, no signature needed. The colour scheme was replicated along the whole length of the wall by all the artists but worked particularly well for Bnie. Always good to see.
This gorgeous piece of graffiti writing from Ryder very nearly got left behind in the archives, however I am trying to go back and dig out such lost treasures which is a real challenge due to the sheer volume of street art being painted at the moment.
Ryder, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2021
I haven’t seen too many Ryder pieces lately (until the day before yesterday, that is) but what he lacks in quantity he has more than made up for with quality. Spelling out RYDER, this is a classic piece of writing from the RAW man with five horizontal fills running through the letters and some rather nice black spot decorations. This is a really classy piece, and there is a little shout out to King Robbo which is rather nice.
This beautiful piece of calligraphic writing is from Todoaciem and a part of a large collaborative wall from an HMR crew paint jam a few weeks back. I have already posted the Dabuten Tronko piece from the same wall, and now it is the turn of Todoaciem.
Todoaciem, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, May 2021
The wall itself can be problematic to photograph, because the sun shines through large trees, creating a dappled effect. The only solution is to come early in the morning or on an overcast day, but beggars can’t be choosers, so dappled pictures is what I have.
Set on a green smokey background, which is amplified by the light quality, Todoaciem has written the letters CIEM in the most beautiful font and with a heraldic colour palette. If medieval knights did graffiti, perhaps this is what it would look like. A hugely accomplished and brilliant piece of writing.
It would seem that with a little encouragement from Daz Cat, CD.TC has managed to get out and paint a little in the last few weeks, which is great to see, and here the two combine in this rather nice collaboration in the middle of the tunnel.
CD.TC and Daz Cat, St Werburghs tunnel, Bristol, May 2021
On the left CD.TC’s monster character is spraying upwards to creat the letters CD.TC and on the right a Daz Cat is dipping a piece of pizza into a can of something with GYS on the side. The cat has two left arms, don’t ask me why. I don’t know what GYS stands for in this piece, but a quick Google search revealed it can mean ‘Get your stuff’ or ‘get you some’ or ‘graveyard shift’. You can decide for yourself what you think it might mean in this context. A nice low-key collaboration.
It would seem that Laic217 has found some rhythm to his street work and is painting more regularly no than he was for much of the winter. This portrait of a rather gaunt character is tucked away on the swimming pool wall at Dean Lane, and is modest by Laic217’s standards.
Laic217, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2021
There are some familiar elements in this character piece, but it does seem to mark a departure from skulls and skeletons continuing from his last Dean Lane character. Smoking and an exaggerated mouth gives this character a bit of a menacing look. All good stuff though.
This is the sixth and final part of the Six Sisters project in North Street, a series of six huge facade murals by six female Bristol artists, organised by Upfest. This final part of the series is by Alex Lucas, who has featured in Natural Adventures numerous times, and a gallery of her work can be found here.
Alex Lucas, North Street, Bristol, May 2021
This piece is an absolute beauty and brings the series to a great crescendo. Alex Lucas brings her illustration skills to the fore with these three poodles and a pug? In amongst some beautiful flowers and clouds. The vibrancy of the colours was enhanced by the gorgeous weather on the day I took these pictures.
Alex Lucas, North Street, Bristol, May 2021
The poodles (not my favourite breed if I am honest) are full of life and movement with suitably daft expressions on their faces. They are frolicking amongst the clouds and amazing yellow flowers. The whole thing resembles fancy bespoke wallpaper.
Alex Lucas, North Street, Bristol, May 2021
When Gemma Compton completed the first of these murals above the Upfest shop in June 2016, I don’t think anyone could have foreseen what a wonder this row of shops would become five years later. Bravo to all the artists and hats off to Upfest for giving the city this amazing landmark.
The ‘six sisters’ – Bex Glover, Alex Lucas, Zoe Power, Gemma Compton, Sophie Long and Ejits, North Street, Bristol, May 2021
