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.

2388. Frogmore Street (9)

I love this beautiful stencil by JPS for so many reasons. Firstly, and I make no bones about this, it is bloody brilliant. Secondly, it was the art of JPS (and Kid Crayon) in this area that led me down this path of discovery several years and as a result has brought me a great deal of happiness.

JPS, Frogmore Street, Bristol, August 2019
JPS, Frogmore Street, Bristol, August 2019

The cat is on the side of the King’s Shilling in Frogmore Street and is adjacent to his gladiator piece and round the corner from his ‘Big Deal’ stencil… a proper little JPS hotspot. My only complaint is that he doesn’t do nearly enough work in Bristol, and we have to wait literally years for him to come and paint.

JPS, Frogmore Street, Bristol, August 2019
JPS, Frogmore Street, Bristol, August 2019

The cat is, as I said at the top, beautiful. So elegant and full of poise, and it could easily be mistaken for a real cat at a glance. The other clever thing I should point out, that once spoken about cannot be taken back (spoiler alert), is that the markings on the cat’s flank spell out JPS.

I know of at least one other JPS cat which is in West Pallant in Chichester, an altogether more colourful cat. I love, love this stencil and am pleased that JPS made a recent visit to Bristol to spray it. It is especially good that it is very close to where I work and I can see it as often as I choose. Thank you JPS.

JPS, West Pallant, Chichester, August 2016
JPS, West Pallant, Chichester, August 2016

 

2387. New Stadium Road (17)

Oh I really hate the light in this bridge/tunnel it is almost impossible to get decent pictures of anything, especially near the edge of the wall. Even though the picture doesn’t do it justice, I still felt it was worth sharing this recent collabortation between Decay and Ryder with you.

Decay, New Stadium Road, Bristol, August 2019
Decay, New Stadium Road, Bristol, August 2019

Decay as you know already is simply smashing it out of the park with every piece he does at the moment, and although the general shape of his writing is reasonably consistent from piece to piece, the colour palette and shadings and backgrounds continue to amaze.

Ryder, New Stadium Road, Bristol, August 2019
Ryder, New Stadium Road, Bristol, August 2019

I haven’t posted anything from Ryder for a while now, even though he has painted quite a lot recently, no reason, it just hasn’t happened… I’ll have to raid my archive and unlock a few I think. This small part of the collaboration hosts a couple of Ryder’s trademark character ‘Rs’ one of which is shooting laser beams across the whole thing.

These pieces are two of a larger collaboration which included Tasha Bee and T-Rex (to follow).

2386. Dean Lane skate park (240)

This is a favourite spot for small pieces under one of the ramps at Dean Lane skatepark and has recently been painted by Pekoe. I have an awful lot of time for her work and am really enjoying seeing the journey she is on and the improvements she is making.

Pekoe, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2019
Pekoe, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2019

This piece demonstrates so well her naive art style which is in fact more complex than might first meet the eye. She is known for producing female portraits with ‘big hair’ which is always carefully thought out and beautifully executed. There is obvious emotion in this piece too with the word ‘cry’ written over the top and tears on the girl’s face. All good, although the location merans that its longevity will be very limited. Glad to haver captured it.

2385. Dean Lane skate park (239)

The No Frills crew have been pretty busy this summer, and this is the latest of several recent collaborations in Dean Lane. The common contributor with all the collaborations appears to be Biers (AKA Jimothy Kool Aid), who writes ‘Oh Yeah’ and combines the letters with a characer.

Biers, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2019
Biers, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2019

The left hand side is by Biers and the character is a rather fun and young-looking Mick Jagger. The writing is tight and just what you’d expect from Biers, nicely thought out and the colours are great.

Slim Pickings, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2019
Slim Pickings, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2019

On the right there is a ‘TES’ from Slim Pickings with a magnificent fill that transitions between orange with red spots to red with orange spots, a technique I have seen him use before to great effect. Another nice collaboration from this pair.

Thursday doors – 15 August

Doors 80 – Some Bristol graffiti doors

Another quick one from me this week. These doors were snapped during a street art hunting walk about a month ago in the St Paul’s area of Bristol:

Blending in with the background, Door, St Paul's, Bristol, July 2019
Blending in with the background, Door, St Paul’s, Bristol, July 2019
Nude door, St Paul's, Bristol, July 2019
Nude door, St Paul’s, Bristol, July 2019
Site Safety door, St Paul's, Bristol, July 2019
Site Safety door, St Paul’s, Bristol, July 2019
DBK door, St Paul's, Bristol, July 2019
DBK door, St Paul’s, Bristol, July 2019

I said this was a quick one, and so it is.

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.

Have a great end of week and weekend.

Scooj

 

2384. M32 Cycle path (33)

I know that skulls are not everyone’s cup of tea, but in the street art world they are a common subject for many artists from many genres. Laic217 rather specialises in demonic skulls or in distorted faces, but in my view, rather than being something creepy, thay are actually often quite humorous and light-hearted. This piece however is dark, whichever way you look at it.

Laic217, M32 cycle path, Bristol, August 2019
Laic217, M32 cycle path, Bristol, August 2019

Laic217 has used the pink eyes before to great effect and they convey a sense of absence of soul, demonstrating just how important eyes are in making judgements. One of the things I love most about Laic217’s work is his attention to the fabrics worn by his characters. He puts a lot of thought into every fold of their clothing, and this aspect of his work just gets better and better. A steady piece along the M32 cycle path.

2383. Dean Lane skate park (238)

It would seem that Rezwonk and Decay are inseparable at the moment, they are churning out so many exciting and vibrant collaborations this summer. Some of these display a common theme used by both artists or some like this, one present two very different pieces side by side.

Rezwonk, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2019
Rezwonk, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2019

On the left is a colourful Rezwonk piece of writing, that is reasonably simple in concept – different coloured letters with melting drips, but complex in its execution. How on earth would you start such a piece? I’m not entirely sure the white ‘dusting’ works though, if anything it looks like someone has tried to obscure the piece… it might have been better without.

Decay, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2019
Decay, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2019

Then on the right is the Decay piece which shares only drippiness with Rezwonk’s. In all other aspects the writing and colour selection could hardly be more different. It is rermarkable to think how much Decay’s work has come on over the last twelve months or so. Perhaps a quick squint at his updated gallery will give you some idea of the progress made.

 

 

2382. St Werburghs tunnel (92)

Fiver or Fiva, consistently turns out highly distinctive burners, each with its own twist or story. Most of his work features the word FIVA or FIVER, often accompanied by a character, or given an interesting fill or sometimes both. In this piece Fiva has chosen to go for a silhouetted cityscape skyline running through his letters.

Fiva, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2019
Fiva, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2019

I have tried to write one of my own letters (teaching myself to spraypaint (with limited success)), the letter H in his style and it really isn’t as easy as it looks once it is up on a wall. Of course practice makes perfect, and Fiva has been doing these for some years. In addition to creating these fine pieces, I love the way that he has a little shout out to people, nothing over the top, just a simple ‘Yo xxxxxx’ in this case Desmond was feeling the love.

Scooj, H in the style of Fiva, Bristol, June 2019
Scooj, H in the style of Fiva, Bristol, June 2019

2381. Greville Road (9)

Another wonderful piece painted as part of the Upfest Summer Editions celebrations outside the Hen and Chickens. This one is by Upfest stalwart Karl Read. The very large stencil is beautifully proportioned to fit this space and has a serene look about it.

Karl Read, Greville Road, Bristol, July 2019
Karl Read, Greville Road, Bristol, July 2019

The stencil is interesting because it has some simplicity to it, with large areas of single colours, but also in other parts it has complexity. I have seen Karl Read at work before and he uses large sheets of paper for his stencils that look quite unwieldy, but somehow he makes it all work.

Karl Read, Greville Road, Bristol, July 2019
Karl Read, Greville Road, Bristol, July 2019

The jewel in the crown of the piece is the girl’s hair which, if you look closely, is in the style of a Hokusai wave. The result is most effective, and the whole piece a triumph. Karl Read has absolutely nailed this blend of simplicity and complexity. I fully expect him to return for Upfest 2020.

Context

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Fearsome predator

adept at riding currents

helpless on the beach

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by Scooj