I’m attached to things
because of what, when or who
they remind me of.
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.
1984. Stokes Croft, Turbo Island (3)
Turbo Island has taken on a new lease of life since the PRSC (the People’s Republic of Stokes Croft) and associates tidied things up here. They should be really proud of the work they have done to set this wall up as a viable curated street art spot. Just look at this amazing montage of an old Sepr piece on the right, some monstrous advertising hoarding and an extraordinary collaboration by Soap, Hazard and Tasha Bee below it.
The collaboration itself is nicely balanced and colourful and combines three distinct but complementary styles.
Starting on the left is an interesting combination from Soap and Tasha Bee, who are collaborating a great deal at the moment. It is great to see Tasha Bee working on a different design, this time a rather pretty stylised cat.
In the centre of the collaboration is a magnificent grayscale portrait by Hazard…have I said yet how great it is to have her back in Bristol creating these beautiful artworks around the place? And those flowers and cacti bring an exotic touch and richness to the piece.
Finally, on the right hand side of the collaboration is a trademark Tasha Bee portrait looking on with deep serenity. This is how a great wall should look, and well done to the three artists who do so much to uplift the streets of Bristol.
1983. Dean Lane skate park (186)
I get a great thrill when I see work from an artist new to me, and this piece from Diced Mango in Dean Lane came as a most welcome surprise. This work reminds me a little of the work of Pekoe, simply because it has some commonalities of bright colours, a female face and ‘scribbled’ hair.
I have since seen more work from Diced Mango and I think that this might be a thing…I hope so. The artist is Alexander Richardson A.K.A. Alex the Maverick of Maverick Media. It is great to see real people with real jobs doing real street art/graffiti art, always striving to brighten the place up. A nice first piece by this artist for Natural Adventures.
COYG
F.A. Cup jitters
time to silence babyface
come on you Gunners.
by Scooj
- on anticipating a tense match tonight between my beloved Arsenal and Manchester United (boo). Always a juicy fixture.
1982. Stokes Croft, the Canteen
There is a new piece in town on one of the most famous walls in Bristol thanks to Banksy’s ‘Mild Mild West’ piece, which I am privileged to enjoy every time I walk to work. I had noticed a short while ago that the wall below had been prepped and there was a notice indicating that something new was going to be painted soon.
The piece in question is this ‘study’ by Soker (yes two Soker posts in a row), and when I first saw it I thought it was incomplete. I read subsequently that it is a piece designed to look like a sketch on lined paper with annotations. In meeting that brief, Soker has once again excelled and the piece will be keeping good company with the teddy bear above. Clever stuff.
1981. Raleigh Road, vector (27)
How can it be that my archive is stuffed full of great art? This is a case in point, a fabulous piece of graffiti writing from Soker from back in June 2017 that I didn’t post at the time. I really ought to pull my finger out, but short of posting four or five pieces a day (which I don’t have time for), I’m not sure how to do it.
Should I be more selective in what I post first time round? I don’t think I can really do that, because this blog is about honesty and seeing the world warts ‘n’ all. There are other people who publish sanitised street art for the ‘coffee table consumer’, I like to think that Natural Adventures is a little more inclusive and raw (as well as documenting contemporary Bristol artists). This piece has a retro feel to it and would not look out-of-place on the New York subway. Always great work from Soker.
Insight
.
Is it rude to look
into the eyes of strangers
to understand more?
.
by Scooj
1980. Dean Lane skate park (186)
Another overlooked piece from my archives, this time from Elvs in Dean Lane. It is very possible that this remained on file for so long because at the time of seeing it, I didn’t know the artist and so left the picture in a folder. Because the turnover of pieces in Bristol is so high, many that I photograph never see the light of day, but on my occasional trawls through the archives I like to dig some oldies out.
Elvs’ skills are obvious for all to see, and the crisp lines on his distinctive writing style are a pleasure to observe, and in this one, the shading within the letters is masterful. A great piece on the bit of wall that is very difficult to photograph…as you can see.
1979. M32 roundabout J3 (122)
More archive stuff, this one from Deamze in 2016. You can be certain that it isn’t recent, because Deamze is currently in Hobart, Tasmania turning out some utterly awesome work. I am not sure if he has moved out there for good or if this is a temporary arrangement, but either way our loss is their gain.
I have seen this particular design and colour scheme a couple of times before from Deamze, but that doesn’t detract from it in any way. In fact it might be that the other works were from roughly the same time, which would make sense.I wonder if ‘Quick’ refers to this being a quick one.
Thursday doors
Doors 58
Something a little different this week. I have had trouble with door inspiration, call it door writer’s block if you like, and didn’t even manage a post last week, so made a big effort this week to go out and damn well find some doors.
Salvation came in the unexpected form of Bristol Harbour Railway rolling-stock doors (I guess they all count). BHR is a heritage railway which runs for about a mile alongside the floating harbour from the M Shed to the Create Centre (a renovated former tobacco warehouse) passing by the SS Great Britain en route.
The railway operates two steam engines, Portbury (1917) and Henbury (1937) that carry people along the Harbourside during the summer for that nostalgic smut, smoke and steam experience – a must for young families.
On the sidings just beyond the M Shed (a Bristol science/heritage museum) there are several of these wagons in varying stares of repair. Most have doors:
This red wagon is no longer operational and has been converted into a little cafe.
Two sets of doors for the price of one
OK, so no doors on this one but it is a stunning sulphuric acid tanker and its very recent renovation was completed on my birthday a couple of weeks back.
I think this one might be a guard’s wagon.
So, that wraps it up for this week. Plenty more great doors at: Thursday Doors – Norm 2.0
by Scooj
Natural adventures 