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.
Regular readers might recognise this orange orangutan as the second piece I have posted by Kool Hand, this time in the tunnel at St Werburghs. There is a third one to come still from these sessions.
Kool Hand, St Werburghs tunnel, Bristol, May 2018
Looking forward to seeing more from Kool Hand, and maybe I can try and find out a little bit more about him. For now, simply enjoy those crisp clean lines and fun design.
A few days ago, it would appear that the ASK crew and some friends held a paint jam down at the M32 roundabout. This tends to happen three or four times a year and is always a hugely welcome event. Over the next few days and weeks I will post all of the pieces from the session, starting with this outstanding work from Epok.
Epok, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2018
The first thing to notice about this is that the wall has been prepped really well – this is no throw up, but a fine work presented almost like a gallery. The nicely prepped wall complements the sharpness that Epok achieves with his work. Beautiful angular clean lines and fills, and a nicely chosen pallette. It might not be obvious, but the writing spells EPOK which is beautifully disguised. Epok never ever disappoints.
Ah, how nice to see a fine collaboration piece by Cort and Laic217 down at the M32 roundabout. I was actually on the lookout for some ASK crew work, but this piece was also there.
I think that this time Cort worked on all the writing while Laic217 concentrated on the bookend characters. I say this because the style of the writing is consistent throughout.
Laic217 and Cort, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2018
Laic217 is doing here what he does best, giving us skeletons busy spraying their work. His fantastic use of greyscale colouring is masterful and he is continually improving the textures of the different types of clothing worn by his characters.
Laic217 and Cort, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2018
Of course, no Laic217 piece is fully complete without a bucket hat or brick wall – motifs that he usually adopts. I really like this collaboration, and it is great to see Laic217 up to his productive best again.
Going back a little way, this piece was created as part of the Spring paint jam in The Bearpit. Giraffiti (loving that) is by the Graft Workshop, an organisation which to my shame I was unaware of, that run graffiti workshops and paint murals in the Bristol area. Graft Workshop are Rob, Sophie and Collette, and I am sure to be finding out more about them in future.
Graft Workshop, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2018
The giraffe itself is nicely worked, but I especially like the writing on the bottom right. The main theme of the paint jam is reflected in the piece, with the message don’t bomb Syria – which dates the piece very specifically.
I love this wall. It is next to a bus stop in Stokes Croft, and the hoarding was erected about two years ago or more around a building that had been a rather hip bar. For an eternity, it seemed, nobody tagged or sprayed the wall, but slowly the inevitable succession of vandalism and creativity emerged, and the hoarding has become part of the furniture for some of the more adventurous artists. I believe the owner of the site is not overjoyed.
Daz Cat, Stokes Croft, Bristol, April 2018
This is a nice piece from Daz Cat, who once again presents us with a dog and not a cat although I think it is a very fine dog and not too unlike my own cocker spaniel. Sprayed at the time of Trump and May joining forces to bomb Syria, the message here is loud and clear. Definitely bomb walls not Syria.
Much of the work here is pretty rubbish, but every now and again we get a gem like this one.
This is the second giant ‘thumbs up’ I have posted from Unlucky 15th, and probably only the second of many. The motif is finding its way around the city and the scale seems to be getting slightly bigger too.
Unlucky 15th, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2018
A simpleidea, which is making an impact around the place. I suppose it is really a giant tag, but a lot of care has been taken with the white fill and black lines – this is not a quick throw up. Really interested to see where Unlucky 15th will take us with his work.
Usually I curse bright sunlight and shadows when I am photographing street art, but on this occasion I think it adds to the picture. To me it feels like this blue bunny by NEVERGIVEUP is lurking or hiding in the doorway trying not to be found.
NEVERGIVEUP, East Street, Bristol, April 2018
I would never have found this rather charming rabbit if I hadn’t run into NEVERGIVEUP when he was in Dean Lane skate park, prepping a wall, and struck up a conversation. He told me where this piece was in the context of a conversation during which I remarked on the fact that I liked the way he seems to spray absolutely everywhere in Bristol that he can find a wall, most other artists tend to stick to their favourite places. Bristol is becoming a bit of a warren to NEVERGIVEUP’s bunnies, which is a good thing.
Cort is an artist I don’t know very much about at all. I do know that he likes to paint with Laic217, and if you look very carefully at the feature image, to the left you can see the edge of one of Laic217’s skeletons in a red hoodie.
Cort, M32 cycle path, Bristol, February 2018
This piece by Cort is in two halves, which are sprayed in vert different and distinct styles, I have seen the piece posted on Instagram as two different works, which is understandable, but it is only when you stitch the two pieces together that you can make out the letters CORT – obvious really.
Cort, M32 cycle path, Bristol, February 2018
Cort, M32 cycle path, Bristol, February 2018
There is a lot I like about this piece from Cort, beyond the different styles, particularly the face in the C which has a very strong designed feel about it which reminds me of my childhood (60s?). Anyhow, this ranks very highly as one of my favourite pieces of writing so far this year.