On shingle beaches
exposed by the ebbing Thames
history revealed.
by Scooj
314, North Street, Standard (2)
A little while ago, Jody created this beautiful detailed piece, which was very quickly adopted as the Upfest Twitter icon, only recently replaced by Cheo’s design. Jody’s work has an incredible realism and then tosses the realism into a surreal setting.
At last year’s Upfest he produced an incredible work of fingers dripping with oil, and here we have this delicate image of two hands making a heart shape, and encompassing a moth. Full of symbolism? Maybe.
This work is very memorable and located at the heart of North Street, where its predecessor was this Christmas piece by Cheo. I guess the wall will be repainted at this year’s festival, but as I discovered recently with the Inkie piece (Best thing since sliced bread), not all the street art in the area will be over-painted.
313. Dean Lane skate park (12)
I was away in London earlier this week, starting a new job that requires me to work two days a week in ‘the old smoke’. It is my home city, so I feel quite comfortable being back there, but would never swap it for my life in Bristol now. This, however, is a slight digression.
On Monday night in my soulless hotel room, I was fretting about this amazing new Zase and Dekor piece that they slapped up in Bristol on Saturday (and had posted on Instagram).
The turnover is so high at Dean Lane, I was desperate to get back to Bristol and photograph it before it got tagged or over-painted.
On Wednesday, my first day back in my Bristol Office, I sprinted over to the skate park in my lunch break (I’ve got the return journey down to about 40 minutes) and was rewarded with this remarkable piece. I have always had huge admiration for the Zase-Dekor collaborations that mostly reside in the North of Bristol.
Usually they craft huge works, but this one is much smaller and clearly a bit of fun. Many of the hallmarks are there…the cartoon-style character and wildstyle ZASE, and the wonderful crisp lines and clean finish. A small masterpiece.
The Bank of Dad
It’s open all hours
no charges for withdrawals
and no banking fees.
by Scooj
312. North Street Upfest shop
Upfest have chosen Gemma Compton as their promotional ‘face’ of upfest 2016, and what a very fine choice indeed. Her work is used on their twitter account profile and on the main website homepage. On an altogether larger scale, she painted the outside of the Upfest shop on North Street. The work was completed on about 11 June, and really brightens up the shopfront.
All of the work she has done for Upfest 2016 uses these wonderful ‘Spode’ colours and contain her signature motifs of birds, butterflies and flowers. It says in her Upfest artist profile that her inspirations have come from an upbringing in the Cotswold’s and her love of nature.
I love all the work she has done for the Upfest ‘brand’ this year, and am really looking forward to seeing her working at this year’s festival.
311. Brunswick Square hoardings (3)
The piece I posted by 45RPM recently of the anteater seemed to be very popular, so I am posting another of his works, this time from the magnificent Brunswick Square hoardings. This piece features the RPM lettering and a rather angry looking bulldog squeezing his way into the picture.
I have to say that I think 45RPM’s work is quite an acquired taste, or maybe that is just me, but every new piece of his that I see, the more I seem to enjoy them, and now, going back through my files, I am finding more of them and liking them better on this ‘second viewing’ than on the first. There is more to come on and from this fine street artist.
Bag lady
All I have is here
my worldly goods and my home;
lonely and alone.
by Scooj
310, Raleigh Road, Tobacco Factory (2)
Behind the Tobacco Factory there is a car park, and on the wall of each of the stalls there is a piece of art by a different street artist. I am not sure if this is just an Upfest thing, but I have a feeling that they do change from time to time, and not just during the festival.
These pieces are a challenge to photograph, because, being a car park, there are usually cars parked in front of them and that was the case with this beautiful, calming piece by Hannah Adamaszek. Hannah appeared on my radar back in June, and I have to say I really like her work. It balances out all the other work that I see and is refreshingly different. It is all part of the spectrum of art that Bristol has to offer.
I am really fond of this piece, which is weird, because I wouldn’t naturally like this kind of thing, but seeing it up close there is just something about it that attracts me. More please Hannah.
Hotel room
Small kettle and cups
perfunctory offerings
neat, tidy, soulless.
by Scooj
309. Albert Park Place (3)
This is a rather cheerful and witty work that has been sitting in my ‘pending folder’ for rather a long time now. It has been there because I have no idea who painted it. It looks to me like the work of someone who doesn’t paint often, and while nicely executed, it has a certain naivety to it.
I don’t think I have seen any other work by this artist, but I could easily be wrong…it happens quite a lot in my posts. The cat has the fine privilege of overlooking my favourite Sepr piece of the year so far.
Sit back and enjoy the pun and celebrate the fact that anyone can be a street artist.
Natural adventures 