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.
By god I think he’s got it. After a few months of experimenting with an organic fluid style, Ments has triumphed with this piece down in Cumberland Basin. It is beautiful, stylish and classy and just shows where practice and creativity can get you.
Ments, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2020
I could rave about this piece all day, but it is difficult to know exactly where to start. Ments usually writes the letters MENTS in his work, but I am struggling to find any letters in this piece, instead we are presented with a free-form abstract piece that is simply a pleasure to look at. I am so looking forward to where this journey is going to take us.
* Arsenal win the FA Cup and that means an awful lot to this life-long fan. This has been an awful season, but the team have given us something to smile about… at last.
Every now and then we take a walk up at Purdown because it is a wonderful open space for the dog. When we get there he just runs and runs and then runs some more. There is an additional interest for me, which is the twenty or so 6×6 walls which occasionally get a makeover. This one is by the fabulous Conrico.
Conrico, Purdown battery, Bristol, July 2020
I haven’t seen too much new stuff from Conrico of late, so this was a nice surprise. For the dog lovers, I think the ‘sniffin balls and hittin walls’ phrase will resonate. I like the freedom in Conrico’s pieces, they somehow feel much more like conventional paintings rather than spray art, the sign of a good artist. Woof, woof.
We don’t get to see early enough work from Flava136 in Bristol although the artist tends to keep himself pretty busy in Cheltenham where he lives, so when you come across a piece it is always a nice surprise.
Flava136, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2020
Flava136 always creates these pieces which are incredibly clean, and by that I mean the lines are sharp and the fills nice and solid. In style I would say there is some similarity with Nevergiveup’s rabbits. I love these toothy monsters and think that Flava136 is a classy artist.
I think that this might just be my favourite mural from Mr Penfold to date. I like everything about it. The proportions seem to work really well, the colours, the balance the designs and the shadows come together perfectly in this bright abstract piece.
Mr Penfold, Merrywood Road, Bristol, July 2020
Because Mr Penfold generally works to commissions, we don’t get to see nearly enough of his distinctive brand of abstract work on the streets, but for him to do so would probably erode his strong commercial brand. I really love this piece.
This is the third recent Kool Hand orangutan piece that I have seen and once again he is branching out into the use of patterned fills rather than the solid ones that have been such a central part of his past work.
Kool Hand, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2020
The character’s face has been filled with what looks like an army print camouflage effect, but is probably just a random green and white pattern. I am enjoying watching Kool Hand adding a layer of sophistication to his pieces.
Natural adventures 