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.

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Escaping their homes

to see a world through new eyes

each moment savoured.

 

by Scooj

I thought I’d try something new… it might go nowhere. Every day I will take the last line of the previous day’s haiku as the first line of a new one. I’m sure it is far from an original idea, but I thought I’d give it a try.

This takes me back to my student days when a friend of mine, Jasper and I would spend our time in boring university lectures writing one line of a poem alternately for the entire lecture, and then continue the next day. I recall that occasionally we’d hit on something really good, but mostly it was puerile nonsense.

yesterday’s haiku was:

 

Gloom, it’s in the air

forlorn folk ‘exercising’

escaping their homes

 

 

 

 

2850. M32 roundabout J3 (203)

There is no question about it, I have seen a whole ton more work by Hemper in the last six months than I have over the previous five years. He seems to be free to paint more regularly for whatever reason. Unfortunately nobody can escape the Covid-19 lockdown and his productivity might be dented for a little while.

Hemper, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2020
Hemper, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2020

This is an all-round crowd pleaser with nice colours, gently curved letters and some very pretty fills. Clearly this is the work of a highly experienced graffiti artist and there is an ease and self-confidence about it.

2849. York Road (2)

Another old gem discovered on a ‘Covid-14 dog walk’ in Montpelier by very local artist Alex Lucas. This part of Bristol is liberally sprinkled with commissions by Alex Lucas and her murals have become part of the USP in this Bohemian district of the city. I had toyed with the idea of reserving this one for my Thursday doors post yesterday, but wanted to highlight it as a fine example of Alex’s work.

Alex Lucas, York Road, Bristol, March 2020
Alex Lucas, York Road, Bristol, March 2020

The front gate features a spider and a (Bristol) fox and the words:

“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery”

It is beautifully painted in her distinctive illustrative style and although looking a little weathered is a charming addition to her portfolio. My recent dog walks are proving to be fruitful in ways I would not have predicted.

Gloom

 

Gloom, it’s in the air

forlorn folk ‘exercising’

escaping their homes.

 

by Scooj

2848. St Werburghs tunnel (163)

This epic piece probably signals the last for a while from Bristol-based artist Fiva. Clearly Covid-19 related, the two breakout pieces of text spell out:

“Stay safe” and “look after your gran”

There has been a lot of this kind of language spoken and written in recent weeks and this I think captures the state of national compassion exhibited by the vast majoity of people with dissenting arseholes remaining silent or out of sight.

Fiva, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2020
Fiva, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2020

As with the previous post, less is definitely more although this less is also more, making it more less is more. This is the second epic piece by Fiva in recent months and I have a feeling that this one might last rather longer than the last one.

Fiva, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2020
Fiva, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2020

There is little that Fiva can do wrong in my eyes and I find this a thrilling and brave piece. A nice touch is the grey shadows just to the right of each letter giving the whole thing a bit of a lift. This piece oozes class and I love it.

Fiva, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2019
Fiva, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2019

2847. St Werburghs tunnel (162)

Sweet and simple, this is a classy piece of writing in the tunnel from Nightwayss. His recent awakening with the start of sprinng has been put on hold, just like all the other artists by the Covid-19 outbreak and lock down rules. I think it would be hard to justify spraying a wall as essential exercise. Some artists have taken to painting on boards in their gardens/yards and I will get my board out of the greenhouse, just as soon as the robins that have taken up residence in there have hatched and fledged

Nightwayss, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2020
Nightwayss, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2020

Sometimes less is more and I think that is the case with this piece from Nightwayss. There is something about this that is very easy on the eye, its simplicity, the font style perhaps. Just because it is simple doesn’t mean it is easy. Great care has been taken with the piece and it is not a simple throw up, just look at the background for evidence of that. A nice one from Nightwayss.

Thursday doors – 2 April 2020

Doors 100 – Montpelier doors

I become a centenarian with this post – have I really done a hundred of these? With an average of about five doors per post, that is some five hundred doors I have shared on Natural Adventures. I hope you have enjoyed them as much as I have.

This week’s collection is from a dog walk over the weekend which took me into the depths of Montpelier, a Bohemian district of Bristol sandwiched between St Paul’s, St Andrews and Stokes Croft.

The dog has become my ticket (him and the allotment) out of the house for my daily exercise fix and because I take fairly random routes for my walks I am exposed to a whole ton of new door opportunities. I guess you might call these dog-doorscursions.

Enough chit chat, here is this week’s selection:

Artistic/badly painted door, Montpelier, Bristol, March 2020
Artistic/badly painted door, Montpelier, Bristol, March 2020
Old-style door with awning, Montpelier, Bristol, March 2020
Old-style door with awning, Montpelier, Bristol, March 2020
Pink door with a stained glass sun, Montpelier, Bristol, March 2020
Pink door with a stained glass sun, Montpelier, Bristol, March 2020
How to make a secure entrance look cheerful, Montpelier, Bristol, March 2020
How to make a secure entrance look cheerful, Montpelier, Bristol, March 2020
Utility door, Montpelier, Bristol, March 2020
Utility door, Montpelier, Bristol, March 2020

I hope that I can bring you more doors next week.

If you have made it this far, you probably like doors and you ought to take a look at the Norm 2.0 blog – the originator of Thursday Doors where there are links to yet more doors in the comments section at the end.

 

by Scooj

Window strike

 

A sickening thud

but the penny didn’t drop

a dead long tailed tit.

 

by Scooj

 

2846. Brook Hill (1)

At last I have found it and better late than never. Thanks to the lock down restrictions, my driving to street art spots has been replaced by my walking the dog/exercise walks and when you are on foot so many more possibilities are open to you. It is easy to nip down this lane or trundle over to that place without worrying about parking, one way streets etc etc.

I have been aware of this piece by 3Dom for a couple of years now, and without realising it have been agonisingly close to it without ever finding it, that is until last week. I could scarcely hold back my exclamation of joy and sense of relief that it is still in great condition.

3Dom, Brook Hill, Bristol, March 2020
3Dom, Brook Hill, Bristol, March 2020

The work itself has an aesthetically pleasing symmetry to it and although there is nothing specifically 3Domish about it, it is instantly recognisable as one of his pieces. My life is now complete (well that might be a bit of an exaggeration but I do feel a tremendous sense of relief).

The strangest thing about walking in Bristol at the moment is the curious juxtaposition of avoiding other people, by walking out into the road or crossing it altogether, and yet saying hello to them by way of an apology for having to avoid them in the first place. These are indeed curious times.

2845. Camden Town, London

Digging deeper into the archives. I took this picture in November 2017 in Camden Town, a full year and five months after it was painted by JXC. Frankly it is probably as good a photorealistic piece you are going to find anywhere, anytime. Why didn’t I post it before? I baffle even myself.

JXC, Camden Town, London, November 2017
JXC, Camden Town, London, November 2017

The picture may feel familiar and that is because it Chunk from the film The Goonies although with the addition of a tattoo on his stomach of JXC. I met the artist at the Cheltenham Paint festival last year, and he is such an incredibly nice guy and so modest with it.

JXC, Camden Town, London, November 2017
JXC, Camden Town, London, November 2017

It can be difficult to process that this piece has been painted with spray paint, and the sharpness of the patterns on the shirt are simply extraordinary. Similarly the out of focus background adds to the apparent authenticity of the piece. A small miracle.