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.
One of the first pieces that I recall from Upfest 2018 is this magnificent hummingbird by L7M, a very well-known artist originally from São Paolo who first picked up a can at the tender age of 13. Obviously practice makes perfect.
L7M, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
The vibrancy and movement in ther piece is remarkable, and the hummingbird itself is absolutely stunning. L7M was one of the featured artists last year and we certainly got our money’s worth as he did another excellent piece a little further down North Street (to follow).
Many years ago I recorded a Supertramp concert from the the TV, using a cassette recorder and microphone pointed at the TV speaker…it was how we did things in those days. My brother was having a small party of teenage friends on the same evening, so my recording was polluted with the sounds of a party going on in the background. When I played the recording back, I heard one of my brother’s friends exclaim ‘wow wee!’ at the start of one of the songs (he obviously liked it), and to this day, I can still hear that boy’s voice in my head, and do so every time I say wow wee. This digression is relevant only in that when I saw this brilliant piece by Peter Sheridan at last year’s Upfest, the voice in my head said ‘wow wee!’.
Peter Sheridan, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
This was absolutely one of my firm favourites from the festival. There is so much to like… the composition, the colours, the perspective and the brilliant execution. Even the observation of how the bark on this particular type of tree looks (similar to a silver birch or cherry bark). An absolute belter, and for comparison, I have included his unflattering but brilliant piece depicting Teresa May (boo) and Pokeman Go in 2016.
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.
Soap, Hazard and Tasha Bee, Stokes Croft, Bristol, January 2019
The collaboration itself is nicely balanced and colourful and combines three distinct but complementary styles.
Soap and Tasha Bee, Stokes Croft, Bristol, January 2019
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.
Hazard, Stokes Croft, Bristol, January 2019
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.
Tasha Bee, Stokes Croft, Bristol, January 2019
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.
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.
Diced Mango, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2019
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.
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.
Soker, Stokes Croft, Bristol, January 2019
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.
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.
Soker, Raleigh Road, Bristol, June 2017
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.
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, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2016
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.
Natural adventures 