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.

1134. Upfest 2017 (99)

I am rather fond of this fishing collaboration between Shane Ha and Niall O’Lochlainn, neither of whose work I have come across before (I think). Both are artists and illustrators from Dublin although I’m not sure if they have collaborated before.

Shane Ha and Niall O'Lochlainn, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Shane Ha and Niall O’Lochlainn, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

In doing just a little Instagram research on this piece I have rather fortuitously come across a couple of extra pieces they left behind in Bristol, so I will be popsting those before too long I hope.

Shane Ha and Niall O'Lochlainn, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Shane Ha and Niall O’Lochlainn, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

I was trying to establish which artist did which character, but I’m not sure I can tell, and this might be one of those examples of a collaboration where they both did bits of both. I’m not sure I will ever know. Nice piece.

Love and respect

.

The workshop

was where we spent time

away from

all others;

my grandpa the carpenter

I the observer.

.

by Scooj

Dad joke

.

Last words to colleagues –

‘armageddon outta here’;

pained groans and laughter.

.

by Scooj

Context is all – the office conversation as I was packing up to leave was about the terrible and declining state of the world, of everything.

1133. Upfest 2017 (98)

Rob Wass took a lot of care and attention in producing this piece, and was out on both days, dodging the showers like everyone else. Some of you may remember his beautiful fox from Upfest 2015 which shares the same distinctive characteristics with this beautiful tree.

Rob Wass, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Rob Wass, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

Simplicity splashed with carefully selected colours leaves us with a very pleasing piece that generates a sense of calm and connection with our environment…I think I am a fan of his work.

Rob Wass, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Rob Wass, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

1132. Upfest 2017 (97)

My guess is that this is a cheeky little unofficial piece by Whysayit at Upfest this year. To my reasonably trained eye this looks like an opportunistic ‘quick one’ from an artist beter known for his ‘marginally less than legal’ tags and graffiti art all over the City.

Whysayit, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Whysayit, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

It is a nice piece executed in his square style, which looks like it was put up in a bit of a hurry. I suspect he saw a free board at the festival and took his chance to make his mark, and why not? Festivals run the risk of being too clinical and up their own backsides with ‘corporate’ pieces – it is only when we have some real local street/graffiti artists that we remind ourselves what this is all about. Thank you YSAE.

The wall

 

Those days can happen,

when you don’t know what to do

when you hit the wall.

 

by Scooj

1131. Upfest 2017 (96)

Perhaps better known for his smaller pieces, stencils and wheatpastes, this large blue face by Beastie came as a bit of a surprise to me at Upfest, so much so that I didn’t even know it was by him when I photographed it.

Beastie, Upfest, Bristol, July2017
Beastie, Upfest, Bristol, July2017

This was a striking piece that stood out and grabbed the attention and would appear to have an environmental theme to it too. It is interesting that this year’s Upfest appeared to have quite a lot of large portraits, many in single shades of one colour – maybe it is a thing or maybe just coincedence.

Beastie, Upfest, Bristol, July2017
Beastie, Upfest, Bristol, July2017

Looking forward to seeing what direction Beastie takes with his street art as his work is always interesting.

1130. Stanton Street, New York (1)

I was so glad to have found this piece because I have seen it so many times on digital social media. As it turns out, it was about a one minute walk from our hotel, but because of its orientation I only saw it on the last day of our trip.

Gumshoe, Stanton Street, New York, October 2017
Gumshoe, Stanton Street, New York, October 2017

Somewhat iconic, Gumshoe’s (Angela China) art is so very eyecatching and original. The piece of course has some chewing gum sticking to footwear, in this instance a high-heeled boot. Her art is overtly erotic, which makes it intereting to be so exposed on the street. A piece like this in the UK would probably be dogged or sabotaged by those who might be offended. We rarely see work like this in Bristol, which in my view is a pity.

Gumshoe, Stanton Street, New York, October 2017
Gumshoe, Stanton Street, New York, October 2017

A superb piece and one I will remember from the trip.

1129. SoHo, New York (2)

Walking with my family on the obligatory clothes shopping trip in SoHo, we came across this magnificent tiger by Sonny. It is difficult to convey just how spectacular this piece is. Furthermore the piece is actually raising awareness for the global campaign ‘Project Cat‘ which aims to protect wild tigers and their habitat.

Sonny, SoHo, New York, October 2017
Sonny, SoHo, New York, October 2017

Looking at his website, it seems that Sonny is a specialist in painting large wildlife pieces, and has a special talent for this. I love the way he incorporates patterns into the face of the tiger and how cleverly the colours dribble down from the face to create a pool of blue and yellow.

Sonny, SoHo, New York, October 2017
Sonny, SoHo, New York, October 2017

This is a spectacular piece.

League

.

In the sun

the boys play football

the sky blues

play at home

against the claret and blues;

Sunday league football.

.

by Scooj

My first shadorma.