About Ponny left us a few of his poignant wheatpastes about the place during Upfest, of which this is the third I have posted. All of them have featured subjects who have hit upon hard times. The beautiful stencils in dark tones highlighted with copper have a sad but gentle feel to them and they are full of pathos.
About Ponny, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
I am full of admiration for the work of this Italian artist, and how, in a quiet and subtle way, he reflects the troubles of our age of austerity and economic struggles. No fuss, no ranting, simply an honest portrayal.
Here we see yet another great new wall for Upfest 2018… the organisers really pulled out all the stops for the tenth anniversary festival. Slightly off the beaten track, but well worth the walk is this enormous piece by Andy Council on a Wessex Water building.
Andy Council, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
This is a really wonderful piece that features a couple of Otters, characteristically for this artist composed of architectural landmarks from Bristol. Andy Council needed extensive scaffolding to get the piece completed safely, which remained in place beyond the end of the festival, so many visitors might not have seen the completed piece.
Andy Council, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
He seemed to be enjoying himself up there, but was well away from the bustle of activity in the main painting areas.
Andy Council, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Three landmarks clearly visible on the otter on the right are the Clifton Suspension Bridge, the Create Centre and the Tobacco Factory. This is yet another outstanding piece from Andy Council and one that I hope remains for a long while.
Ok, ok I hear you, I should have posted this last year, but I didn’t right? so I am doing it now. Continuing on the theme of trawling through archives, I found this piece by Bonzai from a trip to Shoreditch back in February 2018, but hadn’t made the connection to the piece I posted by Bonzai from my more recent visit in November.
Bonzai, Shoreditch, London, February 2018
These pictures are a bit rubbish for two reasons. I had dropped and broken my camera about five minutes earlier and so had to use my iPhone and the road was rather busy, and I couldn’t get out far enough (without risk of death) to catch the whole piece. Maybe this is why I never posted it first time round. It is a great piece though…that melting chrome look is stunning.
Aaah, familiar stuff from Mr Draws and one that had been inadvertently omitted earlier in the year, which is surprising really, because it is so very good.
Mr Draws, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2018
There is always something very cheery about his work that works for me. In this piece, the filler is absolutely beautiful, the two colour palettes above and below the yellow line are brilliantly complementary and the bubble effect imperious. I really love the simple idea and lovely execution of this one. Can’t believe it has taken almost a year to post it!
I really like trawling back through old pictures because when I revisit them I almost invariably look at them through new eyes. This is a piece by DNT going back to January last year which contains several elements of interest. His name appears in the middle of the piece and on the left is a yellow face with something of a pained expression and on the right is some cool dude with a sharp flat top haircut.
DNT, Thomas Street, Bristol, February 2018
The letters MBG stand for Matchbox Gallery, which is a gallery a few doors up the street owned and managed (I think) by DNT himself. Note to self…I really need to pop in there and say hello. A nice quick one from this artist who frequently paints in this area of Stokes Croft.
One problem with prolific artists is that it is easy to let good pieces remain in archive, because time and tide wait for no man, blah blah blah. This beauty from Face 1st is from January last year, but is well worth the wait.
Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2018
Tucked into one of the pedestrian tunnels, a favoured spot for Face 1st, is this striking face…striking because of its strongly contrasting colours. For every piece by this artist that I post, there is probably one still in archive.
Over the Christmas break I decided to spend a bit of time trawling through my archives of 2018, to see if I might have missed some pieces that deserve a post. This piece by Khoi had been overlooked, probably because I am not familiar with the artist, and rarely see his/her work.
Khoi, Raleigh Road, Bristol, January 2018
I am guessing that Khoi is an occasional visitor to Bristol, because the artist’s pieces are few and far between, or maybe they are just an occasional writer. This piece was created in January last year and was part of a paint jam with Sled One and Corupt. There is something unusual and rather compelling about the piece, and while perhaps not to everyone’s taste it does have a charm to it.
This is a piece that passed me by in many ways. I hadn’t been aware of it on social media and only found it on a recent mission to seek out the Muckrock piece at the far end of North Street. In fact I had walked straight past it, and only saw it on my return. What a treat.
SPZero76, Greville Street, Bristol, December 2018
This is a large commission by SPZero76 at Beaver Electrical on North Street and is a scene that conflates all sorts of ideas, with a robot, a Samurai warrior, A tiger/robot and some ladies and in the centre of it all a paddle boat/junk sort of thing.
SPZero76, Greville Street, Bristol, December 2018
I am sure there is a wonderful story to all of this, but I expect it resides in SPZero’s mind and we can just sit back and admire the whole thing. To round it all off and as a little nod to the owners of the store, SPZero76 has added some beavers at the bottom right corner of the work.
SPZero76, Greville Street, Bristol, December 2018
All in all this is a magnificent piece with so much to look at. A real treat for anyone strolling through this part of Bedminster – just remember to look behind you in case you walk past it.
Although not her best work technically, I love this piece by Tasha Bee in Dean Lane, because of the incorporation of the budlia bush as the character’s hair. I love it when artists incorporate the surroundings of a piece into the work, and Tasha has done it beautifully here.
Tasha Bee, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2018
I think that this was done as a little extra while she participated in a recent collaboration with Soap and Stupid Stupid Meathole, posted a week or two back. A quick one with that touch of magic.
I have held back for a long time from posting any work by Spoilt (I am guessing that is the artist’s name) because I know nothing about them nor the work he/she produces. All I have seen is a few pieces of writing about the place with the word SPOILT.
Spoilt, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2018
On going back through my archives, the odd piece keeps popping up and maybe the time is right to start posting a few. I have noticed that Spoilt has painted with members of RAW, but I don’t think that Spoilt is a member of the crew – maybe just a friend. Technically this is a good piece which is why I am posting it. One of a growing number of Bristol graffiti writers.
Natural adventures 