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.
In my archives I have some other pieces by this artist, Slakarts, but for some reason have not posted any of them until now. I would say that this piece is not typical of the other pictures I have by the artist.
Slakarts, M32 Spot, Bristol, August 2019
The column piece is beautifully thought out, with a queue of stylised figures, each holding the one in front like they are doing a conga. I will make my own narrative up for this one preferring the idea that they are in an orderly line to tell Boris Johnson what ann utter **** he is… just saying. Look out for more from this artist (archive stuff) on Natural Adventures.
In the depths of St Werburghs tunnel is this fine piece of writing by Nevergiveup (NGU) which I think, but am not certain, spells out ZBOK. The colours set on a contrasting dark background work rather well in the difficult artificial light of the tunnel.
Nevergiveup, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019
NGU has created horizontal layers in his letters which blend seamlessly from top to bottom. Those of you who recognise the name will know this artist as the creator of #followmyrabbits which have made dozens of appearances on Natural Adventures.
There is something a little understated about this piece by Soap on the footpath under Brunel Way. It is a fine piece of writing spelling out SOAP with nice fills and background, and something of a cosmic feel about it, but for me it just falls shy of the mark, and I can’t get my head round why.
Soap, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2019
After a very active spring and early summer, Soap seems to have slowed down a little more recently, maybe he has been away or been working hard, or equally possible I have just missed his works – I cannot be everywhere all of the time. Looking forward to seeing more of his stuff soon.
Following on from last week’s trip to Lanhydrock House in Cornwall, this time I’ll share with you some of doors from the inside of this magnificent building.
The house dates back to the 17th century, but much of it caught fire in 1881 and following repairs at that time most of the interior furnishings including the doors are Victorian.
Entrance hall doors with etched windows, Lanhydrock House, Cornwall, August 2019
In true aristocratic Victorian style, there are a lot of dead (stuffed) animals in the house – trophies from colonialhunting trips.
Doors and trophy, Lanhydrock House, Cornwall, August 2019
Food was a big deal in this house and the meals prepared in the kitchens were kept warm in this cabinet before being served in the dining room .
This cast iron cabinet kept the food warm between the kitchens and dining room, Lanhydrock House, Cornwall, August 2019
We had a kitchen towel like this when I was growing up.
One of several kitchen doors, Lanhydrock House, Cornwall, August 2019The bread oven, Lanhydrock House, Cornwall, August 2019Dairy door, Lanhydrock House, Cornwall, August 2019Upstairs door, Lanhydrock House, Cornwall, August 2019Canes – a time gone by thank goodness, Lanhydrock House, Cornwall, August 2019
Hmmm – there were several of these cane ‘trophies’ hanging in this room, along with plenty of dead animals – the Empire built on a bloody good caning in the headmaster’s office
Coridoor door, Lanhydrock House, Cornwall, August 2019Screen-separated drawing room, Lanhydrock House, Cornwall, August 2019
The drawing room was an altogether beautiful room which was broken down into sections with screens, but was actually vast.
The long gallery, Lanhydrock House, Cornwall, August 2019
Finally the tour of the house takes you to the stunning long gallery with its 17th century ceiling. This wing of the house was the only one that survived the fire of 1881.
So that wraps it up for another week or so. Enjoy what’s left of the week and have a lovely weekend.
Please go 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.
It is great to be able to post this piece knowing that I don’t have to credit it with ‘unknown artist’ because thanks to the great investigative powers of Paulh121 I know it to be by Lobe (@lobe_ita). This is one of at least three pieces that I have photographed by Lobe (look out for the others coming soon) and each one of them is a cracker.
Lobe, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2019
Lobe tends to use only a few colours in her work and creates these styalised faces which are typified by the solid bold fills and shadowing. If I were to describe her work I’d probably say that it is like a fusion of Tasha Bee and Kool Hand. I really like this piece, and it is the details I am drawn to, such as the little spike on the white outline to the left of the left eyebrow. I really hope that what we are seeing from Lobe is just the beginning and that there is more to come.
Sometimes you glance a piece of street art when driving about the place and make a mental note to go back on foot. This is one of those, and well worth the legwork to find it. It is a beautiful stencil of an owl by Kin Dose, which I figured was several years old, but is probably less than 18 months old if streetview is anything to go by.
Kin Dose, Redcliffe Way, Bristol, August 2019
The first observation is that this spot is a prime location for a stencil. Blocked out windows like this always make such fantastic framed backdrops for street art. I think that this is a barn owl, and the stencil is in very much the same style as his 2018 Upfest stencils, with the animal sprayed over a coloured swirl background. When I spoke to Kin Dose earlier this summer, he said that he has moved away from doing stencils because the cutting out process is tedious and he is preferring his spray-brush style at the moment. Lovely piece.
The stencil in this picture is the second I have posted, although it was the first I had found, by Yoshi. It is an interesting piece of a man, casually dressed, looking at a goldfish in a bowl which is floating away under a blue balloon. Heaven only knows what is going on here, maybe the artist suffers from separation anxiety or something like that. Whatever the story, it is an interesting piece from this relative newcomer.
Yoshi, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2019
The original piece had one question mark over the man’s head, but the additional question marks were added later, presumably by the artist who sprayed the pink pondering face on the left that seems to also be wondering what is going on. It is nice to see this connection and succession between two pieces.
There is absolutely no stopping this guy. I hope he has a good job, because he is absolutely burning through the paint at the moment. I got really lucky with this piece and met Rezwonk for the first time when he was just finishing it off. At the same time I was also lucky enough to meet #Bristiol.graffiti, another local street art hunter and lovely lady. She has been so, so busy this summer spotting old and new art all over the city, and is a great source if you want to get a good idea of the scene in Bristol.
Rezwonk, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2019
Rezwonk takes his ideas to a different level with this piece, by rather cleverly lifting his ‘e’ off the piece and onto the railings of the roundabout. Clearly a lot of thought and preparation went into this one, and it has paid off in bucket loads. This spot is subject to incredibly different light conditions depending on the weather and time of day. These two pictures were taken on different days, and you can see how the light can affect the appearance/colours/shadings of a piece. Once again Rezwonk excells himself.
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