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.
After the fortunate exhibition of doors right next to my work last week, I am left wanting a bit this week. I have gone into my Thursday Doors folder and will share with you three doors from my family trip to New York back in October 2017…is it really that long ago?
So here they are – I don’t quite remember where any of these doors were exactly as I was in my doorscursion infancy and didn’t make a note at the time. In the East Village area I think.
Thursday door, New York, October 2017Thursday door, New York, October 2017Thursday door, New York, October 2017
I love this kind of illustration street work…something that could appear in a children’s book, but is on a huge scale. The detail and interest that Dima Kashtalyan has managed to capture in this piece is inspiring.
Dima Kashtalyan, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
I know little of the artist other than that he is an illustrator/artist from Minsk in Belarus. He uses a pointillism style and likes to pose questions and burning issues in his work. Here he asks the question ‘to draw or not to draw?’ probably a crowd-pleasing slogan at an art festival.
Dima Kashtalyan, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
There is something very comforting and familiar about this piece and I would gladly have it hanging on a wall at home. Really great stuff.
There is so much going on in this magnificent piece by Andrew Burns Colwill, but it is not busy…on the contrary it is calm and peaceful which is somewhat at odds with a fragmenting world it represents.
Andrew Burns Colwill, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
I like Andrew Burns Colwill very much, both as an artist and as an acquaintance, and I managed to catch up with him a couple of times during the festival. He had started early, so by the time I first found him on the Friday, his work was already well underway.
Andrew Burns Colwill, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
The piece combines several ideas and themes, but the obvious one is a representation of the biggest issue of our time (other than climate change), Brexit. The world is represented by an apple, and we hold it in our (multicultural) hands.
Andrew Burns Colwill, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
A bite has been taken from the apple and is seen sinking in the water below. A closer look at the lost piece of apple shows the UK cut-off and drifting away all alone. One can read in so many metaphors into this work – brotherhood, loss, a gift, urbanisation and so on, but for me it is the isolation of the UK that stands out.
Andrew Burns Colwill, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
A most brilliant piece, and one of the highlights of the 2018 festival.
About Ponny left us a few of his poignant wheatpastes about the place during Upfest, of which this is the third I have posted. All of them have featured subjects who have hit upon hard times. The beautiful stencils in dark tones highlighted with copper have a sad but gentle feel to them and they are full of pathos.
About Ponny, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
I am full of admiration for the work of this Italian artist, and how, in a quiet and subtle way, he reflects the troubles of our age of austerity and economic struggles. No fuss, no ranting, simply an honest portrayal.
Here we see yet another great new wall for Upfest 2018… the organisers really pulled out all the stops for the tenth anniversary festival. Slightly off the beaten track, but well worth the walk is this enormous piece by Andy Council on a Wessex Water building.
Andy Council, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
This is a really wonderful piece that features a couple of Otters, characteristically for this artist composed of architectural landmarks from Bristol. Andy Council needed extensive scaffolding to get the piece completed safely, which remained in place beyond the end of the festival, so many visitors might not have seen the completed piece.
Andy Council, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
He seemed to be enjoying himself up there, but was well away from the bustle of activity in the main painting areas.
Andy Council, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Three landmarks clearly visible on the otter on the right are the Clifton Suspension Bridge, the Create Centre and the Tobacco Factory. This is yet another outstanding piece from Andy Council and one that I hope remains for a long while.
Ok, ok I hear you, I should have posted this last year, but I didn’t right? so I am doing it now. Continuing on the theme of trawling through archives, I found this piece by Bonzai from a trip to Shoreditch back in February 2018, but hadn’t made the connection to the piece I posted by Bonzai from my more recent visit in November.
Bonzai, Shoreditch, London, February 2018
These pictures are a bit rubbish for two reasons. I had dropped and broken my camera about five minutes earlier and so had to use my iPhone and the road was rather busy, and I couldn’t get out far enough (without risk of death) to catch the whole piece. Maybe this is why I never posted it first time round. It is a great piece though…that melting chrome look is stunning.
Aaah, familiar stuff from Mr Draws and one that had been inadvertently omitted earlier in the year, which is surprising really, because it is so very good.
Mr Draws, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2018
There is always something very cheery about his work that works for me. In this piece, the filler is absolutely beautiful, the two colour palettes above and below the yellow line are brilliantly complementary and the bubble effect imperious. I really love the simple idea and lovely execution of this one. Can’t believe it has taken almost a year to post it!
Natural adventures 