.
Affirming their love
a pair of storks clap their bills
nonchalant pigeon
.
by Scooj
Up above
6652. Hornsey Road, North London
This piece by Perspicere is opposite the Banksy tree on Hornsey Road, London, and was photographed while walking to a Football match with my son a couple of weeks back. Not only was I not expecting the Banksy piece, but this thread installation by Perspicere was a superb bonus.
It was a dark and foggy evening when we were passing by, and I dare say that this piece is probably best viewed in daylight. The threads, suspended from the edges of the board, combine to make out a mature oak tree in a field, casting a long shadow. It is a wonderful composition and another beauty from the artist who uses this specialist technique. Another unexpected joy.
6651. Braggs Lane
It is my birthday today. It is a busy day of packing, sightseeing and travelling. We are due to return to Bristol at around midnight, when our little break will sadly be over. Some great experiences and memories will remain with us and sustain us through the rest of the winter, I hope. I found this piece by Billy a little too late I fear, it would have been nice to have seen it without the tags.
Billy’s no nonsense simplicity and story-telling illustrative pieces are a real strength, and this piece shines through the tags with class. My guess, and it is a guess, is that this is a mural about peace in Palestine. The bird might be a dove, the semi-circular shapes might be watermelons, a motif of Palestine. Of course, it could be something else entirely. Whatever it is, there is a story in the illustration. Nice work from Billy.
6650. Dean Lane skate park (798)
I think it would be fair to say that Kush is massively underrepresented in Natural Adventures, and although I have pictures of his work dating back years, I have only ever published two of them here, this being the second. I will try to make improvements in this area this year, because Kush’s pieces deserve to be seen more.
This piece was painted on the swimming pool wall which is only accessible by climbing up onto the lower roof of the pool, and can only be photographed from distance, unless climbing is your thing (it is no longer mine). I love this combination piece. The writing is beautifully filled with red and white in a tablecloth design running through the letters. The mischievous character is a girl with boggle eyes and a beret, spraying out the letters. It is a well-conceived and executed piece and deserving of praise. I will try harder to post pieces by Kush in 2025.
6649. Cumberland Basin
For most of last year Biers kept his WD40 pieces going with some rhythm and regularity, but the combination character/writing pieces dropped off significantly. Is is almost as if he lost inspiration for his characters, which is a pity, because I believe they complement his letters nicely.
This tidy piece of writing is nicely presented and uses the red, white, black and grey combination of colours that work so well in graffiti writing, and which Decay used to good effect for many years. The No Frills crew have been well represented in 2024, and long may that continue into this new year.
Thursday doors – 9 January 2025 -Street art doors
Doors 291 – Street art and graffiti doors of Bristol, Nottingham, Manchester and Sheffield, November to December 2023
I am on holiday in Marrakesh, lucky me, and so am re-purposing some doors from my street art archives for Thursday doors, because I don’t have access to my home PC. Of course I am collecting dozens of Moroccan doors to share with you later in the year.
Today’s doors were originally posted in November and December 2023, but may have been photographed some time before. I hope you enjoy them. Normal service should resume next time.
A partial shutter (cheating a bit)
Artwork on a ghost door.
Artwork on a ghost door.
That yer lot for this week, wishing you all a fabulous week from North Africa. Back to freezing cold Britain for next time (boo).
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
6648. Hornsey Road, North London
It feels odd posting this Banksy piece from the comfort of a Marrakesh hotel room only a couple of weeks after photographing it. I took the pictures in the dark on a cold night walking to a football match with my son after seven hours of driving. It was my son who spotted the famous piece painted last year, and in the spirit of taking pictures, no matter what the conditions, I managed to get these unusual snaps.
I had wondered where this piece was, but love the fact that we accidentally walked past it rather than sought it out. The misty night scene adds a different perspective on the piece, which was a clever work by Banksy, who replaced the foliage of a tree on the wall behind it, after it had been heavily cut back.
In the bottom left of the piece is a stencil figure with a spray gun in his hands who presumably had been spraying the foliage on the walls. The figure is now behind Perspex. Last year was a good year for the Bristol born artist, and maybe on future trips to the old smoke I’ll find some of his animals from 2024. Arsenal won a tricky match against Ipswich 1-0, so overall a good day out.
6647. Peel Street Green (36)
Werm has had a very good year in 2024, and tried out several new variants of his letters, sticking with some and abandoning others. This was a particular theme that saw him through most of the year, crafting the letters WERM into a bilaterally symmetrical pattern.
This one looks like it might have suffered a little at the hands of the weather, or the background wasn’t fully applied, which is a pity, because it distracts a little from the writing itself, demonstrating why backgrounds can be so important. It’ll be interesting to see if Werm moves on from this style in 2025.
6646. Dean Lane skate park (787)
What an honour for Pekoe to have a lovely birthday tribute piece from Smak back in December last year. This is a classic piece of traditional Smak graffiti writing, and reminds me of some of the first pieces I noticed by the artist, many years ago.
The letters are mostly created by the outlines, and the fills resemble the background, giving them a bit of a transparent look. This piece also picks up on Smak’s current theme of including palm trees and hinting at the tropics. Great work from Smak.
6645. Coach and Horses
Today I am off to a valley in the Atlas Mountains, and wrote this last night after a very long day doing a lot of walking. So today’s posts will be quick ones like yesterday and might not be very coherent. This is the third piece in a superb collaboration between Sled One, Smak and Misc, whose stunning heron clutching an eel in its bill is wonderful.
I don’t know Misc, but believe he painted a couple of pieces on this particular trip to Bristol. The stylised natural history piece is amazing and really captures the struggle between the fish and the bird. I would like to see much more work like this, as it is right up my street.
Natural adventures 