.
It has been too long
grim groomers will grapple locks
a weight off our backs
.
by Scooj
Hirsute
7239. Cumberland Basin
It has been rather good to see Minto maintaining a regular drumbeat of pieces going this year, continuing on from a strong 2024. This piece has quite a heavy feel to it, probably exacerbated by the dark blue buff background, which I fear slightly dominates the overall presentation.
In my mind, Minto’s work feels like it has been deconstructed and then reconstructed, like an apple crumble on Masterchef. There is a lot of busy work and colour throughout the writing, which spells a well disguised MINTO. There are lots of shapes and design elements which appear to have been carefully thought out, and which come together nicely to create the whole. I thought this would be a good time to share an updated gallery of his work.
7238. Brunel Way (339)
This little wall (the remains of a waterworks outbuilding) can be seen from the Brunel Way flyover, and so it is quite easy to spot when it has been repainted. I confess that when I first saw the piece from a distance, I thought it was by Mote, having many of the characteristics of his artwork. On closer inspection, though, I had doubts and considered it might be a Mote/Mr Crawls combo. It turns out that it is a Mr Crawls solo piece.
The character is unlike anything I have seen from Mr Crawls before, and the hatching in the pupils of the eyes (a Mote thing) definitely caught me out. The ghostly character looks slightly downbeat, but has something about it that makes it quite compelling. It will be interesting to see if this is an idea that Mr Crawls will develop further.
7237. St Werburghs tunnel (530)
This is a great collaboration from time-honoured members of the No Frills crew, Bags and Biers (WD40). Bags has been out an about a fair bit this year, but Biers is rediscovering his mojo (I hope), having had a period of poor motivation with respect to painting walls.
To the left, the familiar BAGS letters are filled in the two-colour way that he appears to like doing, and he includes some colour coordinated spots for decoration. The tear drops surrounding the piece add movement, looking like cartoon perspiration, if that makes any sense at all. The white highlights add just that little bit of depth to lift the letters.
At last Biers has painted a combination piece, something that is a bit of a trademark of his, and he includes the iconic comic character Inspector Gadget, although in this piece he calls him ‘Inspect Her Gadgets’ whilst examining a sex toy. The letters spell out WD40 and are really nicely presented. If you are wondering why I call him Biers, it is because that is what he was writing when I first encountered him. Below is the first of his pieces I ever posted.
7236. Peel Street Green (51)
I think, that at times, life has been quite unkind to Klashwhensober, and I know he has had his demons to battle with, so it is great to see him back on the streets again. It also looks like he has a little more clarity and concentration in his work.
This combination piece has some nice 3D letters spelling SOBER, which are accompanied by a rather sinister little character in green to the right. There is a contrast between his well crafted letters and fills and his rather less precise characters that epitomise his overall style. His work has been worth waiting for, and I hope that he has a settled and stable period going forward.
Thursday doors – 23 October 2025 – Marrakesh doors – Bahia Palace
Doors 329 – Doors of Marrakesh, Bahia Palace, Morocco, January 2025 (Part IX)
I wrote this last night as I have been exiled to the study – my wife is hosting book club ‘film night’ – can you believe it?… just another excuse to chat, eat and drink, I reckon. They read The Salt Path as their last book, (I am actually reading it at the moment) and so of course they are watching the film to complete the circle. I, instead, will get ahead of myself, preparing tomorrow’s blog posts…
This week there is a slight change from the Marrakesh posts so far, the doors in this selection are all from the Bahia Palace. At this point, I am getting lazy, and have commissioned ChatGPT to write me a paragraph about Bahia Palace – the following is my question and ChatGPT’s response:
Me: Give me a one paragraph synopsis of the Bahia Palace in Morocco to put into my blog post about doors
ChatGPT: The Bahia Palace in Marrakesh, Morocco, is a stunning example of 19th-century Moroccan architecture, renowned for its intricate craftsmanship and opulent design. Built to showcase the wealth and influence of Grand Vizier Si Moussa, the palace features elaborately carved wooden doors, vibrant zellige tilework, and hand-painted cedar ceilings. The doors of the Bahia Palace are particularly striking—each one a unique blend of geometric precision and Andalusian flair, reflecting the diverse cultural influences of Morocco. These ornate entrances not only connect rooms and courtyards but also serve as artistic statements, embodying the palace’s spirit of grandeur and meticulous detail.
I’m reasonably happy with that, and it has saved me time synthesising content from several websites and replicating it here, and I did my ‘heavy lifting’ taking the photographs in the first place. I hope you enjoy the pictures from the palace:
The Marrakesh door saga continues next time, and I am sorry to say will continue for a few more weeks yet, but there are some excursions worth waiting for.
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.
7235. M32 roundabout J3 (722)
Hemper is one of the great experimenters and innovators of wildstyle graffiti writing in Bristol and no two pieces are the same, and the styles and letter fonts he uses vary considerably from piece to piece. This way he gets to express his creative ideas to the maximum, not constrained by familiar patterns or shapes. It takes extreme talent and confidence to do what he does.
This HEMS piece is really very unusual and has a kind of mirage effect created by the wobbly yellow interventions, working with the purple and blue letters, that manage to both clarify and at the same time disguise the word. This is very clever stuff. Writing like this is definitely not something you will see every day. Love it.
7234. Lucky Lane (16)
This is a wonderful geometric piece by Cuicasolo, AKA Elaine Carr, who I first came across in January 2016 and her BRISTOL piece in Dean Lane. Although she doesn’t paint all that often, she has a strong presence in Bristol through her creative interests and energy.
I love her 3D pieces that have so much depth to them, and this one looks like a kind of puzzle that could join up and interlock. There are some great strong colours used in this piece, although I think that the black surfaces on the doors should be red, to maintain consistency – perhaps she ran out of red paint? It would be great to see more from Cuicasolo, for sure.
River Fowey
.
At Lostwithiel
stannary barges of old
brought prosperity
.
ravaged by the Civil War
its status much diminished
.
by Scooj
- Lostwithiel, on the banks of the River Fowey is a wonderful Cornish town with an extraordinary history. You can find out more about Lostwithiel history here.
- Stannary – relating to tin
7233. St Werburghs tunnel (529)
With this piece by Asre in the tunnel, he reverts to what he had been painting before he took a protracted break. These cheeky faces were his signature pieces, and frequented a host of North Bristol spots.
Since his return, Asre has been concentrating on his writing and spread his wings to more spots in the city, so it was great to find this ‘traditional’ piece in the tunnel. He has kept the piece simple, with only three colours, and used nice solid lines throughout. Great stuff from Asre.
Natural adventures 