It looks very much like Mudra and Nugmoose have recently discovered the joys of painting the columns under the M32, which in turn brings happiness to people like me who enjoy seeing their work, and making little discoveries in dark and dingy places.
Nugmoose, M32 Spot, Bristol, November 2021
This alien column piece, with cut-away skull and hair exposing a purple brain, is a bit of a beauty from Nugmoose and clearly demonstrates his creative and rather eccentric work. The alien script at the bottom is better than any signature for identifying the artist. A cool piece.
I said that I would be posting more John D’oh pieces from this wall outside Bishopston’s Tiles on Gloucester Road, and true to my word here is another. This wonderful single-layer stencil is so much more than just a cute cuddling Simpsons piece, it is a nod to the genius of Banksy with a John D’oh twist.
John D’oh, Gloucester Road, Bristol, November 2021
Some of you may recall Banksy’s amazing ‘Mobile Lovers’ which appeared on the door of a boxing club in Bristol. Well, this Homer and Marge embrace is a little pastiche of that piece and brought an instant smile to my face. On this occasion John D’oh is not being political, but his humorous look at popular culture and commentary on social behaviours is alive and kicking. Great piece – even down to the detail of placing it on a door.
It is too easy to forget that nearly all of the artists who decorate the streets of Bristol have jobs, and that they have to fit in the painting around their work and families etc. For this reason, many artists will have peaks and troughs in activity. Slakarts, it would seem has recently emerged from one of those troughs and is firing on all cylinders with some marvellous work.
Slakarts, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2021
This piece on the M32 is a beautiful example of his work and is full of life and dynamism. Slakarts likes to work with big bold shapes and strong solid fills, and in this piece he has sprinkled in some additional decorative circles and dots. A lovely confident piece and another in his superb portfolio of work. More on the way.
Well bless my soul, a rare appearance from the once ever-present Decay along the M32 cycle path. Ever since he moved out of Bristol, Decay’s work has been very much missed, by this observer at the very least.
Decay, M32 cycle path, Bristtol, November 2021
Decay has changed his design again, something he seems to do on roughly an annual basis, and here he brings us the letters D and K separated by his little character ‘Chuck’. The artwork is tight as usual and the letters are filed with some nice details, including some brick wall work, a favourite of street artists. So good to see him back and I hope we won’t have to wait too long for his next visit.
A week ago, the Bristol Womxn Mural Collective got really busy down in Dean Lane, and there was barely a wall untouched by their work. The BWMC has become a powerful group bringing women into the street art scene in a safe and supportive environment. We, the citizens, are the beneficiaries of this movement.
Yoliws, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2021
Some of the work contains political or social comment such as this lovely piece by Yoliws. Her assertion ‘everyone deserves to walk the streets in peace’ is absolutely bang on, and is a commendable theme. To the left are some typical inappropriate and utterly unwelcome phrases, sadly still too often heard. Yoliws has illustrated the piece with one of her fabulous characters standing up to the comments. Enough is enough!
I cannot help but absolutely love this recent portrait piece from Pekoe, for lots of reasons. Of course, I am a big fan of her work in any case, but the wonderfully stylish haircut absolutely does it for me, and it is a major departure for Pekoe whose portraits normally have big and sometimes disorganised hairstyles.
Pekoe, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, November 2021
Pekoe has been doing a lot of full front or three-quarter face portraits, and the difference here is that she has gone for a profile, and I think it works really well. I like it all – the grey face and pink cheek, the blue hair and lips and the yellow border. This one is definitely a keeper.
It looks like Zake has been taken under the wing of PWA (Pirate Wall Art crew) recently, at least he seems to be painting a lot alongside Face 1st, Soap and Nightwayss. This is a superb and fun collaboration between Face 1st, Soap and Zake, and plays to their collective strengths.
Soap, Face 1st and Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2021
I like this collaboration, because it is a merger of all three artists, with the outer two smiling girls from Face 1st, the laughing scull/mouths from Soap and the jolly centrepiece from Zake. All of these characters set on a boiling bubble splash of orange, red and pink. A joyful and fun collaboration, which I don’t think lasted too long – nothing much does on this wall these days.
On the big wall at Dean Lane is this wonderful collaborative piece from Etza and Chill, which absolutely demands to be looked at, there is no chance of passing it and not noticing it.
Etza, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2021
The bright pink background is the perfect setting for the black and white characters. On the left is a piece by Etza, whose work I’ve not come across before. It will not surprise you to know that both of these artists are tattooists, and it shines through in these pieces. The skull design with a frog perched on top is beautifully worked, and a great advert for Etza’s skilful work.
Chill, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2021
To the right is a stunner from Chill, whose work I have recently featured on Natural Adventures a couple of times. The cartoon man looks like he has just been lifted from a kid’s comic of the 1970s and is full of character and fine detail. A magnificent piece.
This collaboration falls into that category where adjacent pieces have adopted the same colour scheme but each is a separate design, particular to the artist that painted it. Great to see, and just about still there when I looked yesterday.
It is not too long ago that I first met Desi while she was painting a wall alongside the M32, and what a pleasure that was. During the course of our conversation she told me that she had been spraying walls for about a year, and I have to say that she seems to be progressing really well.
Desi, River Avon, Bristol, November 2021
Desi’s letters tend to be uniform and stick to a basic design which incorporates a heart on top of the ‘i’. Such a decoration is almost exclusive to female artists, and seems to be a legacy of handwriting. I haven’t yet met a man who uses hearts or open circles instead of a dot over the ‘i’.
It would seem that Desi is working on the technical aspects of her fills, and she is doing well with this, adding variety and texture which seems to improve with each new piece. Desi is up-and-coming on the graffiti writing scene and I am looking forward to watching her progress. A lovely piece alongside the River Avon.
Since the first lockdown, my daughter and I have watched quite a few old shows by Bob Ross, and been mesmerised by them. Our viewing is interspersed with comments like ‘how does he do that’ or ‘that is just ridiculous’. As amazing as his landscapes are, they are not really my cup of tea, but watching him create them is truly awe-inspiring. This reference piece by John D’oh is a nice nod to the talent of Bob Ross.
John D’oh, Gloucester Road, Bristol, November 2021
This stencil is one of many by John D’oh adorning the walls of Bishopston Tiles, and if you are in the area, it is well worth stopping by for a few moments to enjoy them. The words are another witty commentary on the disastrous state of deforestation, something that the COP26 climate agreement might at long last be starting to address. Our role in all of this is not to let our Government off the hook, even for a moment, and to continue to campaign hard for systemic policy changes in how we do things in the UK. Plastic bag tax was just a start, but shows what can be done.
This is the first of many posts I’ll be writing about this wall.
