6455. Cumberland Basin

Haka, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2024
Haka, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2024

My first thought when I saw this piece was ‘who the hell is Remy’ this was not an artist I was familiar with, but very quickly the style, signature and characters leapt out making it blindingly obvious that it is by Haka. I am not sure who Remy is, but this is a rather lovely tribute to them.

Haka, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2024
Haka, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2024

Haka paints an awful lot of characters from children’s picture books and I suspect the characters here are more of the same, but I can’t identify them. The fills and patterns in the letters are rather more elaborate and tidy than I would expect from a Haka piece, and they look really fantastic. This is a lovely piece, full of fun and joy.

6407. Brunel Way (292)

Klashwhensober, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2024
Klashwhensober, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2024

Klashwhensober is consistently one of the most prolific graffiti writers in Bristol, tracing out his SOBER letters wherever he finds a free wall. Some of his pieces are obviously rather hurried while others, like this one are a little bit more considered and tidy.

Klashwhensober, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2024
Klashwhensober, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2024

The way that Klashwhensober has overwritten the piece underneath is quite clever in that instead of buffing out the wall completely he has created a cloudy covering obscuring it enough to nullify it. The chrome letters are really nicely worked with a tidy two-tone drop shadow and clean black border. Definitely one of Klashwhensober’s better ones.

6393. M32 roundabout J3 (625)

Unknown artist, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2024
Unknown artist, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2024

I photographed this piece before I knew that Mena had had an accident and that she couldn’t have possibly painted this piece. I initially thought it was hers, but had doubts, because it isn’t really in her style. This leaves me with a bit of a problem, in that I don’t know who to attribute this shout-out piece to, hence the label of  ‘unknown artist’.

Unknown artist, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2024
Unknown artist, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2024

There are some clues in the piece as to who painted it… there are lots of graffiti arrows, used a lot by artists such as Hypo. There are also some nice subtle stars in the fill patterning, which many artists use. This one will remain a mystery until somebody tells me who painted it, but the sentiment is, I’m sure, much appreciated by Mena and her family/friends.

6383. Dean Lane skate park (754)

Foksymoron, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024
Foksymoron, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024

There is no doubt about it, Foksymoron is expanding his portfolio, painting larger fox character pieces with more variety, adding something extra to his familiar mega-tag foxes dotted about the city. I, for one, am very much enjoying this pushing of boundaries, and am wondering how much more sophistication will be added to his work.

Foksymoron, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024
Foksymoron, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024

The rather cool looking (if not a little overweight) fox in this piece is reclining, with his sunglasses dazzling. He is saying “put a donk on it” – I’m not entirely sure what this means, but donk is Australian slang for a penis, but I can’t see how that would apply here. Anyhow, the fox remains cool and joins his larger-scale counterparts in Foksymoron’s expanding portfolio.

6303. Cumberland Basin

Mote and Mr Crawls, Cumberland Basin, Bristol,July 2024
Mote and Mr Crawls, Cumberland Basin, Bristol,July 2024

This fine Mote and Mr Crawls collaboration is at the northern end of Ashton Avenue Bridge, and greets with good humour all who cross it. The pair appear to have gone with a full-on monster theme for this collaboration, combining their styles well.

Mote and Mr Crawls, Cumberland Basin, Bristol,July 2024
Mote and Mr Crawls, Cumberland Basin, Bristol,July 2024

Once again we see their preferred chrome background, which is a quick and easy way to identify the artists. On the left, Mote’s monster, in pink, has a little bit of Frankenstein’s monster about him, perhaps sub-consciously. On the right, Mr Crawls has gone for the melting face look, a device used by other artists such as Laic217. It works really well with this character piece. All in all, a tidy and fun collaboration.

6301. M32 roundabout J3 (617)

Kid Crayon and I Am Ian, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024
Kid Crayon and I Am Ian, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024

You’ve got to grab the opportunities when you can, and that applies equally to artists as it does to me. Kid Crayon and I Am Ian have been out and about a few times this summer, and knowing that they are busy people, it is great to see them painting walls and enjoying themselves.

Kid Crayon, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024
Kid Crayon, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024

This recent collaboration on the M32 roundabout wall showcases their artistic skills beautifully. kid Crayon has produced one of his light-hearted writing/character combinations, which I have to say is really good. It is always nice to see the floating crayon, KC’s signature symbol, in front of the character’s mouth. There is a little shout-out to the Gums and Tongue crew on the character’s baseball cap.

I Am Ian, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024
I Am Ian, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024

I don’t think I have ever seen any writing from I Am Ian, I don’t think it is his thing, but his characters are always interesting and usually humorous. This rather forlorn character at least is able to comment ‘What a beautiful day!!! I Am Ian’s pieces are often accompanied with the words ‘sit up’, although I am not entirely sure of their significance. A wonderful collaboration from these two fabulous artists.

Small moth, big name

Small fan-footed wave moth, Redland, Bristol, August 2024moth
Small fan-footed wave moth, Redland, Bristol, August 2024

.

With modest cream wings

moth boasts the craziest name

Small fan-footed wave

.

by Scooj

Fig – 30 Days Wild (4/30)

Fig tree, Ficus carica, River Frome, Bristol, June 2024
Fig tree, Ficus carica, River Frome, Bristol, June 2024

.

Resilient fig

unlikely urban foothold

nature will prevail

.

by Scooj

  • 30 Days Wild is an initiative organised by the Wildlife Trusts. It is an annual challenge event, for those who choose to participate, to do one ‘wild’ thing a day throughout the month of June. I will try to write a nature haiku every day if I can, as my contribution to this celebration of wildlife and biodiversity. I did this back in 2015 and thoroughly enjoyed the challenge.

6055. Dean Lane skate park (719)

Fishlock, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2024
Fishlock, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2024

This is another striking piece from Katie Fishlock which I had meant to post back in March, but it simply didn’t happen. Fortunately my regular trawls through my archives allow me to unearth special pieces like this one.

Fishlock, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2024
Fishlock, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2024

Fishlock’s punchy pieces tend to be quite modest in size, but usually make up for it in both attitude and message. These big red lips contain the words ‘self-sabotage is misguided self-love’, which I think I get. Katie Fishlock’s art punches above its weight because of its arresting combination of design and message, and I am a fan.

Phour

A gallery of fabulous graffiti writing from Bristol’s Phour.

All photographs by Scooj

Phour, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2023
Phour, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2023

Phour, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2023
Phour, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2023

Phour, Peel Street Green, Bristol, June 2023
Phour, Peel Street Green, Bristol, June 2023

Phour, New Stadium Road, Bristol, June 2022
Phour, New Stadium Road, Bristol, June 2022

Phour, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2022
Phour, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2022

Mena and Phour, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, April 2022
Mena and Phour, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, April 2022

Phour, M32 cycle path, Bristol, August 2021
Phour, M32 cycle path, Bristol, August 2021

Phour, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2021
Phour, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2021

Phour, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2021
Phour, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2021

Phour, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2020
Phour, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2020

Phour, Hepburn Road, Bristol, September 2020
Phour, Hepburn Road, Bristol, September 2020

Phour, Dean Lane, Bristol September 2020
Phour, Dean Lane, Bristol September 2020

Phour, M32 cycle path, Bristol, June 2020
Phour, M32 cycle path, Bristol, June 2020

Phour, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2020
Phour, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2020