The death of a friend
is a time for reflection
nearest and dearest
by Scooj
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.
2536. Cheltenham 2019 (15)
This is an incredible piece by Fabio Petani, an Italian muralist who rarely paints at festivals because he makes his living from commissions and can rarely afford give up the time to paint ‘for fun’. So this is a rare treat and a bit of a coup for organisers of the Cheltenham Paint Fesitval.
His work is symbolic of connecting people with nature, which is something of a strong societal theme these days and his sketch-like illustration, on a grand scale, brings nature to the urban setting. I think the stark and perfect yellow ring reminds us of human endeavour and how we have divorced ourselves from nature. This is a thoughtful and beautifully painted piece.
I managed to snatch a few words with the artist on the Friday and on the Sunday I just happened to be there as he finished the piece and moved the scissor lift out of the way. I believe I was the first to photograph the completed work.
2535. Cheltenham 2018 (7)
Three wonderful and elaborate tags from three amigos, painted I think at the 2018 Cheltenham Paint Festival and still all looking in pretty good nick. From left to right the artists are Decay, Nol and The Agent.
Decay has been including ‘Chuck’ as a central character in most of his work for longer than I have known him. A former citizen of Cheltenham, he now lives in Bristol, but seems to paint pretty regularly in both places. Nol is a Dutch artist who will be familiar to anyone who has visited Upfest in recent years, his regular visits to Bristol are always more thasn welcome. The Agent is Bristol through and through and has encouraged his son to become one of the most inventive street artists in the city. His Minion pieces appear less regularly than they used to, but cometh a festival, cometh the man. A charming little triptych.
Rubenator
.
Two years and a day
more work than ever we thought
and a lot of love
.
by Scooj
2534. Dean Lane skate park (258)
I was up at Dean Lane yesterday, and although this picture is from a while back, the little face by Mutatee is still there which is great news, because all too often installation pieces get vandalised or stolen.
When I see this face it reminds me of the little toys of the 1970s called Gonks although with teeth, which I don’t think they had. I love these little curiosities that Mutatee has glued to various walls in Bristol, and I will continue to hunt them down. I do think that she needs to find a translucent glue though, as the white one used here is a little bit distracting. Always fun finding these.
2533. M32 Cycle path (35)
Around this time of year it is traditional for some street artists and crews to paint Haloween pieces although there have been few opportunities to spray recently, with so much rain. It is with not a little surprise then that this rather nice character piece by Jaksta appeared about a week ago as part of a collaboration along the M32 cycle path.
Jaksta is the king of characters and has appeared in Natural Adventures a number of times. This is Betelgeuse from the Tim Burton film of the same name and is wonderfully worked, especially those teeth. I have a feeling that the blond hair might be a reference to Boris or Donald, or perhaps both. I’m not sure what the Rake thing is, but I think it might be a crew name. Really nice work.
Mimi
Childhood cornerstone
and mother of my best friend
go well Mrs R
by Scooj
2532. L Dub (6)
Hats off to DJ Perks for this amazing character piece of Hong Kong Phooey in the depths of the underpass at Lawrence Weston. There is no doubt about it, this spot is very much favoured by Perks and the walls here are peppered with his writing but I think that this was his first character and what a start.
The piece is nice and clean, and the colour matches are great. Seeing how well DJ Perks has been doing over the last few months fills me with inspiration and hope for my own exploits, which are probably on hold now until the Spring.
2531. Lower Approach Road (8)
This is the second of two #onyourside pieces down at TempleMeads station in Bristol and is by the brilliant Jody. The campaign is called ‘Goals worth talking about’ and this mural features Bristol City’s David Noble who scored a memorable goal at Selhurst Park.
It is great to have two such outstanding murals painted by two of Bristol’s best artists representing the two footballing halves of the city side by side. There is great rivalry between the two teams, but sometimes there are more important things to consider. This piece is not typically identifiable as a piece by Jody, as we are more used to seeing portraits of beautiful women. This is a concession perhaps to the beautiful game. Worth getting down to the station to see these two murals.
O Mio Babbino Caro
This sweetest of songs
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa
and I in duet
by Scooj
Natural adventures 