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.

3456. Picton Street (3)

It has taken me far too long to take photographs of this wonderful mural by Alex Lucas. It is in Picton Street on the facade of her shop and replaced one that she had painted a few years earlier and which had begun to look a little tired. The makeover is a huge success.

Alex Lucas, Picton Street, Bristol, January 2021
Alex Lucas, Picton Street, Bristol, January 2021

I think that Alex Lucas deserves a title, something like the Duchess of Montpelier would be appropriate on account of the sheer volume of outstanding murals, big and small, that she has painted in the area, helping to make it a ‘go to’ destination for visitors to Bristol.

Alex Lucas, Picton Street, Bristol, January 2021
Alex Lucas, Picton Street, Bristol, January 2021

The black and white birds are beautifully drawn and sit on a backdrop of outstanding purple flowers on a blue background. This is both sumptuous and eye-catching and a massive part of Bristol’s USP (one that Bristol City Council are conflicted about – I’ll probably leave that rant for another post).

Alex Lucas, Picton Street, Bristol, March 2016
Alex Lucas, Picton Street, Bristol, March 2016

3455. St Werburghs tunnel (222)

Pekoe’s portraits just keep getting better and better and seem to flow with the ease of an artist really enjoying their trade. There is something just a little bit special about this one, Maybe it is the RBF T-shirt, maybe it is something else, but it works very well for me.

Pekoe, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2021
Pekoe, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2021

The lighting in the tunnel, as I have said countless times, is dreadful, and I had to adjust the colours to be a truer representation, because my original photograph was ‘yellowed out’. No tears on the face of this young lady, but an emphasis on cheeks and lips. Big hair as always and an all-round wonderful portrait piece.

Let sleeping dogs lie

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What do they dream of?

a twitchin’ and a squealin’

rabbit, squirrel, fox?

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by Scooj

3454. Dean Lane skate park (385)

I am very much enjoying this little pulse of activity from Laic217, and from all over the city too, what a treat. This is a tidy piece in which he recognises his PAD crew by name, and possibly represents some of them with his skeletal characters… who knows?

Laic217, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2021
Laic217, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2021

The black and white skeletons on a magenta background almost look like charcoal sketches and are very nicely done, and he has managed to achieve expressions from expressionless skulls – very clever. His crew (or kru as he calls them) are Cort, Ugar, who seems to have left Bristol, MRB and Zios (I don’t know either of them) Zbok (followmyrabbits) and Laic217 himself. Some great Polish/Hungarian talent there.

3453. St Werburghs tunnel (221)

I have a feeling that this playful piece in St Werburghs tunnel was the first time that I became aware of the work of Ugloe, way back in October. I have stumbled across one or two others and each of them is carefully thought out and beautifully executed.

Ugloe, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2020
Ugloe, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2020

Ugloe’s style is a clever mash up of graffiti writing combined with illustration and is very effective. It merges the edgy with the safe. In this piece, the colourful letters spelling UGLO are being decorated and given some sparkle by three of her distinctive characters. A joyful piece.

Villainous bastards

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The Covid spoofers

‘fish’ under NHS guise

there’s no redemption

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by Scooj

I was by prompted to write this on receiving a very convincing NHS email to make an appointment for a vaccination, based on ‘family genetics or medical history’. As a healthy 57 year old, this didn’t ring true, but I nearly fell for it. Some people really are the scum of the earth, may they rot in hell.

3452. Brunel Way bridge (87)

My last post featured a piece by Pura Decadensia and in researching that piece I was able to hunt down the artist who painted this mysterious portrait under Brunel Way from a few months back. It is by Moño (she quite rightly stresses the ñ) and it was the first piece painted in Bristol by the Fuerteventurian artist.

Moño, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2020
Moño, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2020

I am staggered by how many Spanish artists we have in Bristol now and I’m not quite sure what we’d do without them. Moño swells their ranks and on the evidence of this piece is a superb addition to our city. I believe Moño is a tattoo artist, but this portrait has some lovely features, in particular the hair which is very nicely done indeed. This is an unusual piece, but really ticks all my boxes. I can’t wait to see more of her work.

3451. Dean Lane skate park (384)

There may be a perception that it is unusual for women to be involved in street art and graffiti art, however, if it is a perception, it is one that I can blow apart right now certainly as far as the Bristol scene goes. This piece on the curved wall is by relative newcomer Pura Decadencia and is a welcome addition to this wall that has been a little stagnant over recent weeks.

Pura Decadencia, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2021
Pura Decadencia, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2021

I am so glad to have seen this and found out a little bit more about the artist from it, because I have a couple of pieces in my archive that I can now post and attribute to her. The piece itself is a nice bit of writing spelling out PURA on a blue bubble background and some vampire teeth getting stuck into the ‘R’. I think that Pura Decadencia is rather fond of vampire teeth if her Instagram stream is anything to go by. Welcome Pura to Natural Adventures.

Comfort food

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Banana custard

treacle tart and clotted cream

plain choc marzipan

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by Scooj

3450. M32 Cycle path (104)

This piece has caused a bit of a stir and has attracted a lot of attention on Instagram. The reason for this is that it is so very different in style from much of what we see in Bristol and is by a new artist on the scene, Hanski.

Hanski, M32 cycle path, Bristol, January 2021
Hanski, M32 cycle path, Bristol, January 2021

Hanski is an art foundation student in Bristol, and I am seriously looking forward to many more pieces like this over the next two or three years. There is a clear and obvious influence from the Cubist movement and Picasso and I absolutely love it. I note that Hanski has painted another piece up at Purdown Battery and I must try to get up there before it gets over painted or tagged. A great introduction to this new to Bristol artist.