A gallery of extraordinary portrait pieces by the magnificent Shade One.
Instagram: @shad.eone
All photographs by Scooj



























A gallery of extraordinary portrait pieces by the magnificent Shade One.
Instagram: @shad.eone
All photographs by Scooj



























.
VIP visit
hosting Christmas for mother
way too much housework
.
by Scooj

It would be a bit of an understatement to say that I really like this piece. I don’t know what it is about it, perhaps it is the unique fills for each of the constituent parts of the letters NESK, or perhaps the freshness of an artist I am not familiar with. Probably a combination of the two.

The artist is Bazamataz (thank you, Paul H), and the colourful piece stands out brilliantly on the grey backwash and above the autumn-brown leaves. It all comes together so well and stands out a mile. The 3D drop shadow might be a little lost, and could have been a bit more prominent, but it is a small matter really. Wonderful work.

When I say that this piece is in North Street, I wouldn’t want to send people off to Bedminster unintentionally. This is the North Street that is part of the A38 that branches off the Bear Pit roundabout. The piece by Kid Krishna is on the hoarding outside what used to be the Blue Mountain.

The combination piece contains the usual cryptic writing from Kid Krishna, spelling CRIE, and the character aspect is in the form of a partial skull. I think that there is some special part of Kid Krishna’s brain that is able to visualise and create these pieces, which are really quite different from much of the other stuff on the streets of Bristol. Often his characters are partial or hinted at, rather than being overt full-on, which makes it all the more intriguing.

Hypo has been quite busy in St Werburghs tunnel of late and here he has teamed up with ZBomb, to create this rather nice collaborative wall. The only common factor between the two pieces is the blue background, but it qualifies as a collaboration because of that and the fact that they painted together.

The Hypo letters are less elaborate than some of his recent pieces and the horizontal fills – I can see at least six colours – create a nice traditional feel to the piece. The whole thing sits nicely on the background, and is beautifully bordered with a yellow line and a few icicle drips.

I don’t know much at all about ZBomb, but I am sure I have seen other work by the artist about the place. This is a real case of say what you see… the letter Z painted over an archetypal cartoon bomb. The piece is eye catching and instantly fun, sometimes the simplest of ideas can be the most enjoyable. A nice collaboration.
Doors 290 – A look back at some of my favourite doors from the last year
I am running late with my post today. There is not a lot to say about these doors, other than all of them were posted this year, even though a number were actually photographed last year (such is my backlog).
I hope you enjoy the selection, but most of all may I wish you a very happy Christmas and holiday period:

















So that’s it for 2024. Thank you so much for dropping by and making Thursday Doors totally worth participating in. I will be returning next year with more doors from my travels and trips, which I look forward to sharing with you. Until then, au revoir.
If you have made it this far, you probably like doors, and you really ought to take a look at the No Facilities blog by Dan Anton who has taken over the hosting of Thursday Doors from Norm 2.0 blog. Links to more doorscursions can be found in the comments section of Dan Anton’s Thursday Doors post.
by Scooj


These pictures are proof that it is always worth taking pictures (however bad the conditions might be) of street/graffiti art if you can, because the next time you swing by the piece might have gone. There was a van parked in front of this writing by Nips when I passed by, but I thought I’d try to photograph the piece, even from rather weird angles, just in case it didn’t last. It didn’t, so the strategy worked, and I get to share the graffiti writing, even if the pictures aren’t the best.

Nips is one of my favourite artists in Bristol at the moment. Her simple and no-nonsense approach to her letters and her creative fills, in this case nicely worked blue and grey blended colours and spots, tick my boxes and make me happy. She is one of a handful of artists that always bring a smile to my face when I find their work.

This magnificent triptych forms one part of a larger paint jam under the M32 prompted by World Wall Stylers wi the theme of the animation Ninja Scroll – not a film I am familiar with. The three artists who have collaborated are Oust, Stivs and Noise.

To the left is some highly accomplished writing from Oust. Quite how it relates to Ninja Scroll, I don’t know, but having not seen the film, connections might be difficult for me to spot. There is a misty quality to the piece, and the 3D drop shadow is masterful.

The obvious focal point of the collaboration is the wonderful character piece in the middle by Stivs, whose talent appears to have no bounds. I am assuming that the character is taken from the animation, and is wielding a fine double ended sword. Stivs is so good at painting these kinds of characters.

To the right, the ubiquitous Noise has added his own inimitable style to the proceedings with some chunky bronze letters spelling out NOISE. His letters hive some nice fills and a contrasting pink drop shadow. The common factor with each of the three pieces is the greens-blue plasma cloud surrounding. Very nice work from the trio.

UPDATE: Thanks to Mike Matthews for informing me that the artist is in fact Fowsachi.
As regular readers will know by now, I don’t really like posting pieces by unknown artists, but it does happen from time to time, in particular in relation to large one-off murals, like this one. I expect that this piece is signed, but it is difficult to get close, because it is painted in the middle of a housing block, and it would feel a little awkward to go snooping around.

I don’t recognise the style of this artist, which makes me think that it is either painted by a visitor, or by an artist who rarely paints in Bristol… of course I could be quite wrong on both counts. The bright and colourful piece is certainly uplifting in quite a bleak block, and features bold elements including a figure, and what looks like a parrot. All part of the Bristol street art scene, and a welcome addition to the area.

One of the important functions of Natural Adventures is to represent the broad spectrum of graffiti and street art that I encounter on my walks in Bristol, and sometimes other cities too. I could concentrate on high-end murals or throw ups and tags, but that all becomes a bit niche and exclusive, and my intention is to share the full spectrum of free art on the walls of my adopted city.

The distinctive pieces by Scrapyardspec are part of this amazing offering, and this quirky three-eyed monster character is demanding to be looked at and enjoyed. It is more than simply a bit of fun, it is part of a series of pieces that, combined, form a presence and familiarity around the place. I like what Scrapyardspec does and how he does it.