No retrospective romp through the archives would be complete without a piece from Face 1st, and this one in Hepburn Road from July 2018 is a real beauty. This piece is one of his more ‘traditional’ single face pieces with a hairdo that cryptically spells out FACE.
Face 1st, The Bearpit, Bristol, July 2018
I had mistakenly thought that this was from The Bearpit, because there is not much to go on, but I am pretty sure it is actually from Hepburn Road. One of the dangers of not posting immediately. Great colours, great shapes, great smile, great work.
This is another piece from a little while ago on a column under the M32 by Kool Hand. This artist has done a few pieces at this M32 spot in recent years, and often pairs up with Daz Cat for his sessions.
Kool Hand, M32 Spot, Bristol, July 2018
Kool Hand has created a rather dashing crocodile kitted out with hoodie and trainers and clasping a spray can in his tail. I like the way Kool Hand works, with strong outlines and clean solid fills. A nice piece.
It seems somewhat remarkable that so many Soker pieces have been left behind in my archive over the last few years, but on the upside, it means I can share them with you now, while there is something of a slowdown with the appearance of new work in Bristol at the moment. I feel that things might be about to change however, with a slight relaxation of lock down.
Soker, Raleigh Road, Bristol, June 2018
This is a stunninng, crisp, clean and very easy on the eye piece of writing from Soker on a hoarding that sadly no longer exists. A beautiful design, great colour selection and fabulous 3D shadow that lifts the piece from the background all add up to piece of the highest quality from this master graffiti writer.
Doors 106 – Some more archive street/graffiti art doors
Although I did manage to snap a few doors over the last week, I haven’t yet had time to download them from my camera, so for today’s Thursday doors I am trawling through images I have previously posted on Natural Adventures of street/graffiti art that feature doors. Up-cycling if you like.
Most of these doors have not appeared in Thursday doors before, so unless you read my street art posts as well, most will be new to you. These ones are from 2016 (so expect plenty more to come for future posts).
Stinkfish, Rivington Road, Shoreditch, London, August 2016PZY, Tropicana, Weston-super-Mare, August 2016Shok 1, Fournier Street, Shoreditch, September 2016Decay, Backfields Lane, Bristol, September 2016Aspire and D7606, Charles Street, Bristol, August 2016Deamze, Devon Road, Bristol, May 2016Dale Grimshaw, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016Angus, North Street, Bristol, June 2016
That’s it for another lock down week. Look after yourselves and keep posting those doors.
If you have made it this far, you probably like doors and you really ought to take a look at the Norm 2.0 blog – the originator of Thursday Doors where there are links to yet more doors in the comments section at the end.
This is the last piece for the time being from St Mark’s Avenue, although I still have several in the archive to share at another time. It is yet another masterful piece from Deamze whose work still occupies the dark recesses of various folders on my computer.
Deamze, St Mark’s Avenue, Bristol, September 2019
I am not overly fond of the Smurfs. I was just a little too old for them, when they first emerged onto our screens and so I sneered at the show considering it to be babyish. Furthermore, I just don’t like gnome type things. Deamze however has managed to create a rather special Smurfs piece in St Mark’s Avenue, probably some time ago.
Deamze, St Mark’s Avenue, Bristol, September 2019
The pink and blue shapes spell out DEAMZ although it is difficult to see from the tight angles of the pictures, and the cheeky little Smurf, like so many of Deamze’s characters is painting the wall with a spray can. Great work once again.
I bring you the second piece from a little cluster of pictures I took in September last year from a visit to the exceptional St Mark’s Lane in Easton. This magnificent collaboration is from RichT and 45RPM.
RichT and 45RPM, St Mark’s Avenue, Bristol, September 2019
The large wall is not unlike their tour de force which adorned the nightclub in Frogmore Street a while back, in terms of its style. This is a true collaboration where it is difficult to unpick who painted which elements of the work.
RichT and 45RPM, St Mark’s Avenue, Bristol, September 2019
There is a magnificent story going on in this marine scene, both above and below the surface of the water, depicted in two different colour schemes. The underwater part is frenetic with a dangerous combination of large scary fish and high explosives. WTF?.
RichT and 45RPM, St Mark’s Avenue, Bristol, September 2019
This is an extraordinary collaboration and probably doesn’t get seen as much as it deserves to. The narrowness of the lane makes it really tricky to photograph and I have tried my best with these pictures. This is so utterly worth the trip to Easton simply to soak in the detail of the scene. A stunner.
Richt and 45RPM, Frogmore Street, Bristol, November 2015
Back in September 2019 I discovered an alleyway in Easton for the first time. It was one of those moments when I realised just how little I knew about street art in Bristol, that I could have missed this extraordinary spot with so many extraordinary pieces painted there, many of them dating back years.
3Dom, St Mark’s Avenue, Bristol, September 2019
This piece at the entrance to St Mark’s Avenue (a very grand name for an alleyway) is by 3Dom and features one of his surreal and dreamlike characters that immediately tell you who the artist is. The only other artist in Bristol with whom his work could be confused is Sled One.
3Dom, St Mark’s Avenue, Bristol, September 2019
There is some deep pathos in this scene, in the way that the character is looking at a small flower plucked from the human-created devastation all around. An environmental message here. I don’t know how old the piece is, a few years at least, but I am still excited by discovering it.
If you’d like to see more from this artist/tattooist check out his Instagram account
Silent Hobo, I have said countless times, manages to paint scenes and characters that represent the beating heart of the city of Bristol. He captures a mood so well through his observations and translates them into identifiable things about the city so that you can say ‘hey I get that’ when you see his work. I have a feeling although I can’t be 100 percent certain that the writing is by Logoe.
Silent Hobo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2019
The main scene shows a fox (a famous Bristol fox) overlooking a cityscape where there is a lot of construction work taking place. There is a tree growing out of a cardboard box, maybe representing some kind of hope for the future.
Silent Hobo and Logoe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2019
The writing is in a slightly different style and since Logoe and Silent Hobo collaborate a lot, I am guessing that it is by Logoe and I think it spells out his name, but it is not entirely clear. A lovely collaboration from September 2019.
Rezwonk is one of the most productive artists in Bristol, or at least was pre-coronavirus, so it is inevitable that I haven’t been able to post all his works as we go along, or there wouldn’t be any room for anyone else. This pause on activity on the streets has enabled me to catch up a little.
Rezwonk, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2020
As always with Rezwonk, this piece is on point in terms of design and execution. I would point out though that the colour selection either of the piece or the wall is not ideal as the whole thing looks a bit lost. If it were on a lighter background it would probably stand out a little more. (Splitting hairs… sorry). Always great work from Rezer.
This wonderful triptych collaboration from Piro, 45RPM and Epok appeared last september on the garage wall at Dean Lane. Don’t ask me why I never posted it… inexplicable. This collaboration follows the format of sharing a wall and colour scheme with three associated pieces.
Piro, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2019
On the left is a fabulous piece of graffiti writing from Piro, an artist whose work is almost entirely absent from Natural Adventures, which is a pity, because he has an incredible style and technique. His work is always incredibly tight.
45RPM, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2019
The centrepiece character is by 45RPM depicting a devilish glass of beer or perhaps ginger beer or something more alcoholic altogether. This is a nice feature that joins the two pieces of graffiti writing really well, a segue beer if you like.
Epok, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2019
The piece on the right is from Epok and is absolutely stunning in my book. The letters spell out EPOK and the design and colour elements of the writing are so very easy on the eye. I haven’t seen much from Epok lately, so finding this one in my ‘coronavirus’ archive was a real treat.
Natural adventures 