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.
The four pedestrian/cyclist tunnels around the M32 roundabout are absolutely covered from top to bottom with graffiti and street art, most of it pretty useless if I am being honest, but in amongst it all there are some better pieces. One artist who frequents these tunnels and who I have recently started to post about is Nevla.
Nevla, M32, Bristol, February 2018
Nevla produces these cartoon style black and white pieces, which portray street characters in various poses – maybe they are friends and acquaintances or just figments of Nevla’s imagination. Either way, the style is fairly unique to Bristol, and I am looking forward to watching the artist develop.
Every now and then, a significant piece of street art is created, one that becomes a landmark or a statement in the locality. This commission piece, Turbo Island’s coral reef, by Alex Lucas is one of those significant works. Turbo Island is a little patch of green created by a fork in the main road with Jamaica Street, directly opposite.
Alex Lucas, Stokes Croft, Bristol, December 2017
The piece was completed on Christmas Eve 2017 and took some six weeks to complete. I am not entirely sure who the commission was from, but I think it is the company who own the building/offices.
Alex Lucas, Stokes Croft, Bristol, February 2018
Alex is steadily brightening up Bristol building by building and I think that this is one of her finest yet. Of course, my marine biology background means that I am particularly fond of this one.
Alex Lucas, Stokes Croft, Bristol, February 2018
The detail on the piece is typical of Alex’s work and each of the creatures is crammed with its own character from the rather grumpy shark at the top of the piece to the little hermit crab at the bottom right.
Alex Lucas, Stokes Croft, Bristol, February 2018
This is a piece that can be studied over a long while, making little discoveries each time you look at it. A huge asset to the area and worth hunting down if you happen to be visiting Bristol. Thank you Alex Lucas!
He keeps on painting them and I just keep on writing about them – this is another nice piece at the M32 by Face F1st. My first impression about this piece though it that it looks a little hurried…the lines are not very clean and the white surround looks like the work of a bomber.
Face F1st, M32, Bristol, March 2018
The face, as with all his pieces, is simple and charming and provides the focal point for the rest of the decoration. Normally, the surrounding patterns spell out FACE, but I can’t see it in this piece. Not his best work, but worth including, I felt. I snapped up two more of his pieces on my way to work this morning.
With collaborations in Bristol, there are few that are finer than those between Gemma Compton and Copyright. This particular mural is a triumph, and for me, what makes it really special is the backdrop of blue and white tiles. This is a gorgeous piece, and is at great odds with the busy road and traffic adjacent to it. An oasis of calm.
Copyright and Gemma Compton, Newfoundland Street, Bristol, March 2018
The central stencil of a girl with butterfly wings is by Copyright and provides a focal point in the centre of the piece with the warm colours contrasting with the blue and white surrounds.
Copyright and Gemma Compton, Newfoundland Street, Bristol, March 2018
I think that Gemma Compton may have done the girls wings, and certainly the other blue and white butterflies that adorn the mural.
Copyright and Gemma Compton, Newfoundland Street, Bristol, March 2018
As for the blue and white tiles, I am not too sure who did these, but I have seen tiles feature a lot in Gemma’s work before. I suspect they both worked on these. The overall effect is stunning, and I hope that we see more of these collaborations in 2018.
Once again I find myself in unfamiliar territory presenting a beautiful collaboration in Barcelona without knowing a single thing about it. Writing about street art away from home is a challenging enterprise and one that requires research time that I have difficulty freeing up. I seem to be much happier improvising my copy when writing about Bristol street art. What I am clumsily saying is that I am way out of my comfort zone with this one.
Bumble and Worm, Jardins de les Tres Xemeneies, Barcelona, March 2018
Firstly I goofed taking pictures of this collaboration between ‘Bumble and Worm’ and Meisone – I don’t have an image with both of the fish side by side. My bad.
The fish on the left is by Bumble and Worm who are Sarah Charlotte Watson and and David Goode Hill, who I think are a couple and collaborate as B&W. They are from Mallorca, although they sound like expats to me.
Meisone, Jardins de les Tres Xemeneies, Barcelona, March 2018
The fish on the right is by Meisone, a Chilean artist living in Barcelona. Regular readers will know that I am particularly partial to fish street art, tapping into my marine biologist roots, and this collaboration ticks all my boxes.
This is the first of my posts from an Easter trip to Barcelona with my daughter. Although it was not a street art hunting break, I managed to come across some great spots thanks entirely to the great advice and help from Lewis Duncan, author of the excellent ‘No Grey Walls‘ WordPress site, to whom I am indebted.
I do not pretend to know anything about the artists in this collaboration and Lewis writes much more authoritatively about this piece in his own recent post about it, so I will direct you there for more detailed information. Instead I will leave you with some pretty pictures to look at. If I knew this spot better, I would know to come at a different time of day, as the sun was behind the wall making photography a little challenging.
Christian Blanxer, Jardins de les Tres Xemeneies, Barcelona, March 2018
The left hand side of the collaboration is by Christian Blanxer.
Saturno, Jardins de les Tres Xemeneies, Barcelona, March 2018
The middle section is by Saturno
Erase, Jardins de les Tres Xemeneies, Barcelona, March 2018
The right hand section by Erase.
The collaboration really is a treat, and one of the best pieces I saw in Barcelona – I’m just so glad that I timed my visit to perfection.
Christian Blanxer, Saturno and Erase, Jardins de les Tres Xemeneies, Barcelona, March 2018
Natural adventures 