I met Mest for the first time the day before the Euro 20 final while he was painting an England variant of his letters (to come). We stopped for a long chat, and as with so many graffiti/street artists, he was a lovely bloke, happy to answer my rather inane questions and observations.
Mest, New Stadium Road, Bristol, June 2021
This piece under the M32 is a nice example of his work using three fill colours in his letters with some additional swirly decorations, but it is the red circles which have been incorporated into his letters that stand out for me. It won’t be too long before I have enough of his pieces to do a gallery.
I have had a few days away from Bristol, which came on the back of a period of self-isolation, and as a result have gone into a bit of blind panic. This is the 15th 75×75 Upfest piece that I have written about, and I understand that 50 have now been completed, so I have a lot of work to do to catch up on some of these. This piece from Sophie Mills was one of the first I photographed, and was lucky enough to be there when she was just finishing the piece off.
Sophie Mills Thomas, North Street, Bristol, June 2021, Upfest 21
A rhinoceros wearing a party hat is certainly a fairly unusual theme, and the hat looks a little incongruous, not only in it being a hat, but also in the painting style, almost as if it had been added by someone else after the event. Another interesting thing which might have been deliberate or coincidental is that Sophie Mills Thomas’s trousers are a perfect colour match for the piece she is painting.
Sophie Mills Thomas, North Street, Bristol, June 2021, Upfest 21
This is a small but impactful piece that is bang in the middle of North Street and next to an Inky/Cheo Mibsy tribute piece that has remained intact for several years. A fine addition to Upfest’s summer event.
The wet fish shop on Gloucester Road is a bit of a landmark, and certainly you always know when you are walking past it. At weekends and in the evenings you might get lucky and see the shop when the shutters are down and enjoy this fishy mural from Nina Raines.
Nina Raines, Gloucester Road, Bristol, June 2021
Although the piece has been here for some time, I only recently walked past it at the right time with a camera handy. As a marine biologist (by training and in my heart) I love seeing marine themed street art and these lobsters, crab and mackerel are just the ticket. Something of a contrast with Nina’s wonderful collaboration piece on the dental practice in Bedminster, showing off her versatility.
Finding pieces you were not looking for is probably the most rewarding part of photographing street art, and with the 75 walls in 75 days event being held by Upfest, I am having to explore a little bit more of Bedminster and in doing so I stumbled upon this wonderful stencil piece from Stewy.
Stewy, Park Road, Bristol, June 2021
The stencil is part of a local icon series and features Ken who is something of a character and legend in the neighbourhood. Bristol, like so many towns and cities, seems to have a great many local characters, bringing colour to the city. Stewy’s work is pretty much always a single-layer stencil, and counterintuitively is probably more difficult to portray depth and detail than multi-layered stencils. This is a skilfully crafted and most excellent piece.
I mentioned in a recent post that Zake has been busy of late, and this new piece is a fine example of the rich vein of form he is in at the moment. Painted in collaboration with Soap and arte.mis.29 on the M32 roundabout wall.
Zake, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2021
The face (what else?) appears to be that of a woman and her hair blends into a head scarce, and it is hard to know where the one ends and the other begins. As always with Zake’s work he pays a lot of attention to shading and shadows to create relief in the feature of the face. A really lovely piece.
This piece, and one or two other recent ones, mark a slight change in style for Pl8o, whose large block letters might be more familiar to regular readers. This time he has gone with something more akin to script lettering and it all comes together rather well.
Pl8o, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2021
It is always refreshing to see artists try something different, switching things up a bit. I like this piece a lot, but I think that prepping the wall with a slightly more solid wash would have been beneficial. Other than that a fun new direction from Pl8o.
What a terrific way to mark my 3,800th street art post with this magnificent mural tucked away just off North Street in a miniature park called Ebenezer gate pocket park, by Hampshire artist Sian Storey.
Sian Storey, Ebeneezer Pocket Park, Bristol, June 2021, Upfest 21
The park is so small that it is quite quite difficult to get a full shot of the wall, so it is best visited in the flesh where you can soak up all the beauty and detail from the comfort of a bench. The watercolour effect of the piece brings a light and delicate touch to the wall, and the composition of two hummingbirds surrounded by flowers over a central patterned circle is delightful.
Sian Storey, Ebeneezer Pocket Park, Bristol, June 2021, Upfest 21
This is a skilfully painted piece that typifies the high standard of murals at this year’s Upfest event, and although things haven’t quite turned out as expected this year, the 75 walls in 75 days initiative has really captured the imagination and will leave a legacy of stunning artwork for both Bristol citizens and visitors alike.
Oh my goodness, Laic217 has just raised his already very high bar a little bit higher with this stunning piece on the long wall at Sparke Evans Park. He really is one of my favourite artists in Bristol, and seeing him develop over the last five years or so has been such a pleasurable experience. One of the great thrills of wandering around the graffiti spots of the city is coming across a fresh Laic217 piece.
Laic217, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, June 2021
In this elaborate combination piece we get not only a sensational character, but also some pretty sharp writing too, spelling out LAIC. I could go on for hours about this piece, but I will try to keep it short. The cyborg head and face is straight out of the dystopian future world of films like Terminator or A.I. and is simply brilliantly well painted with a real sense of metal, flesh and material combining to create the character. The letters ain’t half bad too. Overall I have only good things to say about this outstanding piece.
This stunning piece from RichT was painted way back in April, before I even knew of the existence of this little alleyway, and has been in my archive for a little while too, so I am a little late to the party. But better late than never.
RichT, Muriel Alleyway, Bristol, May 2021
The mural is beautifully proportioned and makes really good use of the gateway and turns it into a feature. The message is clear – breathe – smell the flowers and connect with nature… slow down. It took me a little while to notice the hand holding the flower to the right hand side of the piece because it is quite stylised. A really lovely piece from RichT.
It is a great pleasure to bring you two more delightful pieces by Maybe from beneath the rather noisy Brunel Way flyover. Particularly gratifying is observing the tangible improvements being made in his work, and with these two examples, it is easy to tell which is the older and which is the newer.
Maybe, Brunel Way, Bristol, May 2021
The space kite is a sophisticated piece in which the artist has really nailed his planet ecosystem – I’d love to know the technique he uses to get this effect. A kite, with a face, drifts serenely through space. This is a wonderful creation and one of my favourites.
Maybe, Brunel Way, Bristol, May 2021
Rather less sophisticated, but using the two interlocking face theme, is this simple circle. With all his work there is a dream-like quality and an element of humanity, hope and joy. These are all things we could do with these days. Keep it up.
