.
Rain-soaked dull sandstone
constant looming overcast
home of my father
.
by Scooj
7283. Stokes Croft
More wheatpaste action from Wilko and Boxi, in advance of their upcoming exhibition. I have a feeling that it was Wilko who has been busy pasting these up around Bristol on behalf of both of them.
Regular readers will know that I am rather partial to wheatpastes, as they bring a completely different aspect to the spectrum of street art that we see around us. Some people don’t like them, because they become scruffy when they decay or because they get pasted up in inappropriate places, or because they are against street art more broadly. Funny how such people appear to be totally at ease with the plethora of advertising we are subjected to on the streets, as if it is somehow more legitimate and less offensive…
These are nice representatives of their artistic styles with draw on many influences.
7282. Cumberland Basin
Birthday paint jams are an opportunity for graffiti writers to break away from their customary letters (usually their street name) and play with the letters of the artist being celebrated. In this case, the Birthday boy was Dibz as he celebrated his 50th birthday, and the artist whiting his letters if Rusk.
Rusk is a fabulous graffiti writer and takes a lot of care with his work, leaving everything neat and tidy. The colours of the piece tie in with Halloween; purple, orange and green, and the spider webs decorating the edges clear up doubt, if there was any, that October 31 is very much front of mind. This is the first of several pieces from this paint jam.
7281. M32 roundabout J3 (725)
Not so long ago this wall was painted along its entire length at a paint jam celebrating Ulow’s birthday. Remnants of that paint jam still remain, but this section was re-painted by its original occupants Hypo and Minto, with a double-helping of the latter.
To the left, Minto has painted one of his wonderful ‘reconstruction’ style pieces featuring his MINTO letters and a nicely worked character in the centre. The predominant blue colour selection blends well with the blue buffed background. He has created a sense of movement with the stars and lines bursting out from the sides of the letters.
Next to his writing, Minto has ‘pimped’ his original Ulow celebration piece, which had been dogged by a bomber. He has managed to salvage some parts of the original and added to it in a rather delightful way, incorporating some of the artwork from the bomber. Both before and after shots are above.
To the right is yet another outstanding Hypo piece, majestically filled with a spectrum of colours and diligently decorated with little spheres. The flatness of the letters has been transformed by the skilful use of white highlight lines that create the illusion of depth and a ‘rounding’ of each letter. Superb stuff.
7280. St Werburghs tunnel (537)
This puffy-faced character piece is by Zake, painted in celebration of Kool Hand’s birthday, although officially his birthday was a month earlier. It seems almost impossible to exaggerate the features in a Zake piece, but he has managed to do it here, with the result that it is all a little but disturbing, the cheeks in particular.
As I have explained many times when writing about Zake’s work, he creates so much depth in his work by playing very skilfully with light and shade, using up lighting and down lighting to cast shadows and to emphasise features. Clever work from a quiet and unassuming artist.
Thursday doors – 13 November 2025 – Marrakesh doors – Souks
Doors 332 – Doors of the souks, Marrakesh, Morocco, January 2025 (Part XII)
It was inevitable that one of our days in Marrakesh would be allocated to shopping in the souks. These are open-air marketplaces in squares and in the central labyrinth of lanes in the north central part of the Medina. They are exactly as you imagine or might have seen in film or video… dusty, cramped, vibrant, smelly, chaotic and exciting. There is danger lurking in the form of mules pulling goods wagons and mopeds absolutely everywhere, weaving their way skilfully (and also recklessly) through the crowds of tourists and merchants – more on this in a couple of weeks.
The souks tend to be divided up into different areas, each specialising in different wares; textiles, jewellery, tinsmiths, spices, food and so on. The nature of the souks are such that losing your way is part of the experience. Even with mapping apps, navigation is challenging, and we went round in circles countless times, encountering places that we recognised from an earlier pass.
There is no danger of mugging or robbery, other than the ridiculous, and mandatory haggling for any and every item – something we Brits are pretty useless at. We tried to be as canny as we could, but we were dealing with professionals. We came home with some rather nice cushion covers, a couple of ceramic cups and a lamp (genie not included).
The doors in this selection are mostly in the streets of the souks. From the photographs, it doesn’t look all that busy, but I can assure you it was… I just waited for people to get out of the way to frame the doors a bit better. I hope you enjoy them:
Unfortunately, I don’t think these pictures convey the bustle and chaos of the place, where one is constantly changing direction to avoid passing hazards, not least avoiding cats and kittens randomly scattered about the place. The souks aren’t simply a tourist trap, they are a way of life and deeply steeped in culture and history. To avoid them would be a big mistake if visiting Marrakesh.
Next time we take an out-of-town excursion…
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 weekly Thursday Doors post.
7279. Leonard Lane (52)
Boo! This is another slightly unhinged character piece by Alex Arnell in Leonard Lane. This time he has gone for a door at the north end of the narrow lane, which door lovers among you might see again some time in the distant future as part of a street art Thursday Doors selection.
The ghoulish creation is actually a political commentary piece which says ‘no red swastikas here’ meaning (I think) that St George crosses that have been appropriated to represent nationalism and racism are not welcome here, and he is in my view right. There is more than simply the character to admire in this piece, he is set alongside a road with a car, headlights shining, advancing towards a mini roundabout. It is these white mini roundabouts that have been painted with red crosses through them in a wave of ‘patriotism’ that has been sweeping the country. Unfortunate and rather sad that our tolerant nation resorts to this kind of posturing. Great piece from Alex Arnell. It is interesting that at the other end of the tunnel, a beacon of tolerance adorns the column of a building opposite.
7278. St Werburghs tunnel (536)
Mr Klue can confuse me from time to time; his abstract pieces all have such a strong ‘brand’ feel to them, and he loves to paint the same spots in St Werburghs tunnel, that I can sometimes forget whether I have photographed or written about particular pieces. I could have sworn that I had photographed this piece some time ago, but it appears not.
I spoke to somebody in the tunnel a little while back, and they were most complimentary about Mr Klue’s work, and especially about the tone and lightness of touch of his paint. I agreed, and then pointed out that you could make out the letters KLUE if you looked carefully. He thanked me and went on his way. There is indeed a lightness of touch in this piece and a couple of decent scrolls to boot. Always good work from Mr Klue.
London bound train
.
On well-beaten tracks
unable to enjoy views
a dreary aisle seat
.
by Scooj
7277. Dean Lane skate park (882)
There are some street artists who simply don’t appear to want to be followed, or at least that is how it seems, and it might be for a number of legitimate reasons. The first time I managed to pin down a name for this artist, he called himself j9449j on Instagram, followed by @Dr3amc0re94 and @all_4_n0thing, and now I can’t find him at all. My protocol for attributing artwork to artists who constantly change their names is to go with the first name I used for them, other examples include Slim Pickings (TES) and Biers (WD40).
The design of this piece and the colour palette are exquisite, with the chrome and bronze working perfectly with the black, white and turquoise. The abstract design carries, as always, a reflection of natural elements, such as leaves and grass, a feature of j9449j’s work. An attractive piece that is easy on the eye.
Natural adventures 