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.
Here is a recent fun piece from Ryder down at the M32 roundabout featuring characters from the Willo the Wisp children’s TV programme from the 1980s. There is always something that makes me smile about incorporating children’s characters into the subversive world of graffiti art.
Ryder, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2020
The writing is, as always, perfectly painted, with nice letter shapes and horizontal colour fills that complement each other well. The 3D shadow has a vanishing point in the centre of the piece which is less common than the shadow going in one direction.
Ryder, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2020
The piece is bookended with characters from the show, with Willo on the right and on the left Evil Edna, the TV set. A very nice holiday piece from Ryder.
It was great to see that Zace was getting into the Christmas spirit down at the M32 Spot with this alien face wearing a Father Christmas hat. One of the good things about 2020 for me has been the sheer number of new artists spraying their work in Bristol of which Zace was one.
Zace, M32 Spot, Bristol, December 2020
I think the best part of these new artists is the diversity they bring. One might think that the ‘market’ was flooded, but as with all art, there are no limits to the variety of styles and subjects that people bring with them. I am really looking forward to watching Zace develop over the coming year.
When I first saw this piece I thought it might have been by Mudra, mainly because of the bright colours and capped character, but I couldn’t find his recognisable signature anywhere, so I had to think again. It is in fact by Dit Oner, whose range of styles is to be admired.
Dit Oner, Brunel Way, Bristol, December 2020
This is a writing-character piece with the character being incorporated as one of the letters. The letters are beautifully designed and filled and the little white highlights help with the 3D effect. The character too is very nicely done and integrated into the writing. I have my doubts however about the yellow background. it simply doesn’t work for me, just a bit yucky and insipid. perhaps a darker colour might have worked better. Nonetheless a fine piece of writing from the Spaniard.
There was quite a good show of Christmas pieces this year including this colourful beauty by Taboo in Dean Lane skate park. As we expect, Taboo’s unconventional writing style challenges us and pushed the boundaries of what we are accustomed to. I love that about his work, he really is leading the way by thinking outside the box.
Taboo, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2020
Although his style is progressive, the format is more conventional with a character, in this instance Father Christmas, combined with the graffiti writing. Santa is looking a little worse for wear, enjoying some Christmas bubbly but the writing, spelling out TABOO, is uplifting and colourful to reflect the Christmas spirit. This is probably my favourite Christmas piece year.
I got lucky a few days back when I got to meet 3F Fino for the first time while he and some friends were spraying a column not too far away from the one featured in this post. I chatted for a while and it turns out that he has only recently arrived in Bristol, I think he said from Reading, it I might have got that wrong. He has only done a few pieces in Bristol so far, but looks like he’ll be something of a fixture on Natural Adventures going forward.
3F Fino, M32 Spot, Bristol, December 2020
This piece resembles one he painted down in Cumberland Basin and features a woman (?) draped in a headscarf covering most of her face. Although a simple concept, the shading from left to right works really well. I look forward to seeing more from 3F Fino over the coming months/years.
I’ve had this Dott Rotten SPOILT piece in my queue for a little while, mainly because I thought I’d already posted it… turns out I hadn’t. It is yet another demonstration of this artist’s graffiti writing skills. I’d like to make comparisons with other artists in Bristol, but I have decided not to simply because we are so very fortunate in having so many outstandingly talented graffiti writers in our city. There surely cannot be another city in the world with such a collection of top drawer writers… suggestions please…
Dott Rotten, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2020
In this piece Dott Rotten spells out SPOILT in fabulous letter shapes with his trademark spots adding interest to the fills. The piece is complex, with joins overlapping one another… I don’t quite know how he keeps on top of it, and the subtle shadows add to the overall 3D effect. The piece doesn’t stop at the red boundary, but is set on cosmic cloudy background. Brilliant.
I took a little pre-Christmas walk around my neighbourhood with the pooch because even in my familiar patch there are some doors of interest, as well as an awful lot of ordinary doors. Often it is what is around the door that makes them interesting and there are one of two examples of that in today’s post.
I still haven’t been to any country houses or estates since March last year, which is a shame as these tend to be rich hunting grounds for doors. We’ll just have to make door with what we find on our doorsteps for a little while longer.
Enjoy these doors from Redland in Bristol:
222 Yellow door and kids go Kart, Redland, Bristol, December 2020
Green door and lots of trellis, Redland, Bristol, December 2020
King George V post box, Redland, December 2020
Mint green door with castellation, Redland, December 2020
Bright yellow door with crazy awning, Redland, Bristol, December 2020
So there we have it, my first Thursday doors of 2021 and keeping it local for a change. I might have to delve into some archives very soon as we have just plunged into another national lockdown, and it sounds as though this one might continue into March.
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.
