5636. M32 roundabout J3 (522)

Phour, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2023
Phour, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2023

Aah, the comforting and aesthetically pleasing letter form of Phour graces the pages of Natural Adventures once again. There are some arrangements of letters that just seem to work, and lend themselves to being written at scale on walls. Phour, Pl8o, Mest and Tes, are all good examples of this.

Phour, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2023
Phour, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2023

Although rather underrepresented on this blog, Phour is one of my favourite throwie writers, although his work spans the spectrum from quick and dirty pieces through to rather more considered and tight works like this one. Phour has painted strong black letters with a white drop shadow, a subtle horizontal line of bubbles and a red contrasting bubble backdrop. Overall a really nicely presented piece.

5635. Dean Lane skate park (658)

Dibz, Awkward and Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023
Dibz, Awkward and Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023

This is a rather interesting collaboration in Dean Lane, in which Fade and Dibz have done their thing, but have been joined by Awkward, whose big-eyed character faces are in stark contrast to Dibz and Fade’s sharp graffiti writing.

Dibz, Awkward and Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023
Dibz, Awkward and Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023

Dibz has written DIBZ and has a downwards and left facing drop shadow. Fade has written FADE and his writing has a drop shadow that goes up and to the right, which creates some imbalance in the piece (to my mind). Add to that the crazy character by Awkward and you have a collaboration made up of three great individual pieces, but the golden thread or flow is a little absent. Having made that observation, I still very much like the three core elements on this wall.

5634. M32 Spot (175)

Bnie and Wispa, M32 Spot, Bristol, October 2023
Bnie and Wispa, M32 Spot, Bristol, October 2023

Every time I post pieces that have been painted on this wall (one of my favourites in Bristol), I am reminded that I have published a gallery of pieces from the wall over time (part of the ‘One Wall – Many Faces‘ series). I have just updated the gallery to include this lovely collaboration from Bnie and Wispa.

Bnie, M32 Spot, Bristol, October 2023
Bnie, M32 Spot, Bristol, October 2023

Both pieces have incorporated a wild and wonderful almost psychedelic fill patterning and colours and on the left, Bnie’s letter shapes also lend themselves very well to that trippy feel. This piece from Bnie is absolutely stunning and so tight, all the lines and borders are perfect and the fills magnificent.

Wispa, M32 Spot, Bristol, October 2023
Wispa, M32 Spot, Bristol, October 2023

To the right, Wispa gifts us another of her brilliantly conceived and busy pieces. As well as reflecting the colours in Bnie’s piece, Wispa has also introduced some of her own colours and touches, which doesn’t surprise me. I think, from observing her work, that Wispa has a very individual approach to her work and style, and even when collaborating, will stand out with some individualism. This is wonderful work from these two busy artists.

Thursday doors – 16 November 2023, Perugia, Italy

Doors 243 – Perugia doors, Umbria, Italy (Part I)

One of the ways to enter the hilltop City of Perugia is via an underground escalator which begins at a car park at the bottom of the hill upon which Perugia is perched. I hadn’t really done much homework about the city and was utterly blown away by what we saw at the top of the series of escalators. You don’t emerge into the blinding light of the Umbrian sunshine, but instead enter a subterranean city, upon which Perugia is built.

I won’t give you the full history as to how this came about, but there is quite a useful quick guide on the Invitation to Tuscany and Beyond website. In short the original 16th century streets were augmented with high vaulted ceilings, on top of which a fortress was built – Rocca Paolina. The fortress was subsequently destroyed following the unification of Italy in 1860, but some of the streets below were left untouched, and this week’s doors, or rather doorways and ghost doors, are to be found in this extraordinary, dimly-lit underground place. Something a little different this week, which I hope you enjoy.

Subterranean archways, gates and ghost doors, Perugia, Umbria, Italy, July 2023
Subterranean archways, gates and ghost doors, Perugia, Umbria, Italy, July 2023
Archways, a ghost door, Perugia, Umbria, Italy, July 2023
Archways, a ghost door, Perugia, Umbria, Italy, July 2023
Vaulted ceiling, archways and doorways, Perugia, Umbria, Italy, July 2023
Vaulted ceiling, archways and doorways, Perugia, Umbria, Italy, July 2023
Two ghost doors, one inside the other, Perugia, Umbria, Italy, July 2023
Two ghost doors, one inside the other, Perugia, Umbria, Italy, July 2023
Archways and doorways, one inside the other, Perugia, Umbria, Italy, July 2023
Archways and doorways, Perugia, Umbria, Italy, July 2023
Towards the gate, Perugia, Umbria, Italy, July 2023
Towards the gate, Perugia, Umbria, Italy, July 2023
Marzia gate and door, Perugia, Umbria, Italy, July 2023
Marzia gate and door, Perugia, Umbria, Italy, July 2023

More to come from the ‘above ground’ city of Perugia next time. May I wish you a pleasant weekend.

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

Door logo, Thursday doors

5633. Brunel Way (245)

Mr Crawls and Mote, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2023
Mr Crawls and Mote, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2023

How could I not have seen this coming? Perhaps one of the most obvious collaborations in Bristol has happened, and it has taken place right under our noses. Mr Crawls and Mote have painted their distinctive birds side-by-side in this wonderful and ‘made-in-heaven’ collaboration.

Mr Crawls and Mote, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2023
Mr Crawls and Mote, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2023

Mr Crawls’ bird head is one of several versions of his bird, this one having horns and a hooked beak. His style is rather cartoony and the expression of the bird enhanced by the use of heavy eyelids. Mote’s style is a little bit more doodle-based and his bird is tending to the monstrous. The hatch markings in the eyes and downturned beak create a slightly grumpy appearance. It is amazing that although the basic elements are similar in the two birds, my/our response to each of them is quite different. I’m definitely looking to more collaborations from these two.

5632. Cumberland Basin

T-Rex, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2023
T-Rex, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2023

It is always a huge and genuine pleasure to see work by T-Rex, and to know that she manages to find time to paint occasionally, which is probably very good for her own contentment, and definitely makes me and other admirers of her work happy.

T-Rex, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2023
T-Rex, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2023

This piece which appeared about a month after her last one in this spot follows the same format of the letters TREX and the end of the ‘X’ incorporating a dinosaur character. The piece as a whole is very nicely finished, and the colours and fills full of vibrancy and energy. Fun, joy and humour come across very strongly in this piece, and are characteristic of much of T-Rex’s wonderful work.

5631. Elton Street (25)

Billy, Elton Street, Bristol, October 2023
Billy, Elton Street, Bristol, October 2023

I have a deep fondness for Billy’s work. There is something comforting about her childlike naive style. Charming stuff, but there is often a low-level undercurrent of contemporary commentary – not in this piece though. This is straight and simple, it is a dog with funny hair.

Billy, Elton Street, Bristol, October 2023
Billy, Elton Street, Bristol, October 2023

I think that Billy would make a fantastic illustrator of children’s books, as the uncomplicated images contain a narrative, which could relate very easily to a story book story. This piece was painted as part of a paint jam alongside painting friends, Merny and Mr Penfold, among others.

5630. Brunel Way (244)

Fade and Dibz, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2023
Fade and Dibz, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2023

I am in a conference all day today, so I wrote this one last night, not that it makes any difference to anything at all. As reported several times before on Natural Adventures, Dibz and Fade have been unstoppable this year, painting some incredible pieces week in, week out. This beauty was on the long wall under Brunel Way.

Fade, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2023
Fade, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2023

As with many of their recent collaborations, it can be difficult to know where the individual work ends and the combined work begins, but broadly speaking the writing on the left is by Fade, and under his tight writing he has the words ‘From up above’.

Fade and Dibz, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2023
Fade and Dibz, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2023

The central character looks like something out of a Marvel or DC comic, but I am not sure that I can spend hours trying to find out who, although a quick Google search has led me to the door of Dark Phoenix from X-Men. Beautifully painted… these guys really are good. The banner spells out Tru Headz Kru (THK), which I assume is the two collaborating artists.

Dibz, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2023
Dibz, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2023

To the right, Dibz gives us another of his flawless pieces of graffiti writing, looking stunning in shades of green with a purple drop shadow. I can see several possible words in the letters, but most likely is DIBZ, although I can also see DARK, which would cross-reference nicely with the character. Still more to post from these two!

Deck chairs

.

Cabinet shuffle

dusting-off an ex-PM

an empty barrel

.

by Scooj

  • I have recently tried to veer away from politics, but today has been too momentous to pass without some comment. At last, we see the back (for now) of the racist agent provocateur Suella Braverman as Home Secretary, to be replaced by the inept and underwhelming James Cleverly. His post of Foreign Secretary has been filled by former PM, architect of austerity and the EU Exit referendum (who was heard to sing ‘tum te tum’ as he returned to the door of No 10 after his resignation speech). David Cameron isn’t even an elected member of parliament and is the subject of an ongoing serious fraud investigation – furthermore Sunak has had to make him a Baron so that he can sit in the House of Lords to take up his office (there were 350 Conservative MPs Sunak could have selected from, but not a single one of them met the bar presumably). You couldn’t make it up. Other ministers and Secretaries of State have been shuffled, one of which will have direct implications for my own work. Surely, surely the Conservative party is utterly washed-up and should give the country what it wants, a general election.

5629. Peel Street Green (20)

Haka, Peel Street Green, Bristol, October 2023
Haka, Peel Street Green, Bristol, October 2023

I remember, looking back, that a few years back I used to think of Haka as something of an ‘edgy’ graffiti writer and artist as there were sometimes quite hard-hitting narratives alongside his work, but I think I was wrong at the time, and in recent years his work has been gentle and humorous and a joy to witness.

Haka, Peel Street Green, Bristol, October 2023
Haka, Peel Street Green, Bristol, October 2023

This new piece in Peel Street Green is a reflection of his work over the last 20 years and features a wonderful Snoopy character sitting on a rocket alongside some cheery bright and colourful letters. His work is upbeat and fun and these days works especially well for younger viewers, as many of his references are children’s cartoon or picture book characters. I hope this one stays as long as his Garfield piece in the same location.