A gallery of wonderful and expressive faces by Bristol’s Mr Underbite.
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All photographs by Scooj
Mr Underbite
Thursday doors – 9 November 2023, Todi, Italy
Doors 242 – Todi doors, Umbria, Italy (Part IV)
This week I bring you the last few doors, and one or two other interesting features, from our visit to Todi in Umbria last summer. Although we only spent a few hours in the town, we managed to cover a lot of ground and see some wonderful things. The temperature was searingly hot, although only a prelude to the heatwave that was to come the following week, and in true ‘mad dogs and Englishmen’ style we arrived just before midday.
Todi is one of several stunning Umbrian hilltop towns, offering everything you’d expect to find in terms of historic environment and culture. The door pictures are only a representative microcosm of the magnificence of the place – I hope you enjoy them.
That’s it for another week – Next time I move on to Perugia and some more Umbrian magic.
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
Phantom opera
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Nightmare too vivid
heart racing, thorax thumping
light on, reset, calm
.
by Scooj
- Writing this in the depth of the night to distract myself from the horror of my dreams. Too unsettled to return to sleep.
Happy place
.
I am transported
to the dunes where insects buzz
just for a moment
.
by Scooj
5619. Friernhay Street, Exeter
I have seen many birds painted on walls over the years, and some species are more popular than others. On a survey of one, the top three birds I have seen are: 3rd – Goldfinch; 2nd – Robin; and 1st by a country mile, Kingfisher. There is something magical about kingfishers and they certainly capture the imagination of street artists.
I had to do a lot of detective work to hunt down the name of the artist who painted this beautiful bird tucked down a side street especially as f&f wasn’t a lot to go on – turns out it is Flora and Fauna, and this is one of two of their pieces I found on my short exploration of the city. The piece is striking and rather beautiful, and painted in a fairly soft style, without too much fine detailing. F&f is certainly an artist I’d like to se more of… a potential candidate for Upfest?
5618. Exeter
Although Exeter doesn’t have quite the same volume of street/graffiti art on offer as Bristol, nor as many spots/locations, it does have one or two resident artists whose work can be found, if you keep your eyes open. One of these artists is None Here.
If you fins a street or area with street art bin Graffiti, it is highly likely to have a piece by None Here somewhere. His work is pretty much always nature-based, often featuring birds. His style is very recognisable, looking like illustrations, and I am not convinced they are painted using spray cans, but more likely paint brushes with sprayed backgrounds. This door is typical of the work I saw on my recent trip. I would say that None Here is the beating heart of the Exeter street art scene.
5617. The Paintworks (6)
This piece by RichT completely passed me by. I have no idea whether is is old or new. It is a lesson in looking backwards because I walk past this wall from time to time, but cannot see the face of it when walking from the direction I come from. I think it was the dog that stopped after I had gone past and I caught the piece in my peripheral vision, and of course made a bee line over to it.
The piece is typically busy and interesting and beautifully presented. The piece is also brilliantly on-topic, with a can of paint character (not a spray can on this occasion) painting a floral design with a paintbrush. The colours are incredibly subtle and the piece has a black and white tinted effect. Some clever work picking out the mortar lines in the brickwork emphasises the sense of place. A great piece, a commission I imagine, and a nice tribute to Elliot.
5616. Sparke Evans Park (84)
I don’t know how old this lovely triptych by RBF bedfellows Desi, Peggy and Evey is, but I think it slightly predates the much larger RBF Halloween collaboration just to the left. A rather pleasant appetiser to its immediate neighbour. Desi has adopted her joined up writing for this piece which is neatly and tidily presented.
Desi leads off on the left with another Veil piece using the light blue and yellow colour palette adopted for the collaboration. I have to say that I don’t think the colour combination is an especially good one, looking a little anaemic against the autumn leaf litter in front of it. Desi has some nice horizontal fills and subtle dot details and the 3D drop shadow helps it to pop out from the wall.
Peggy has made an oblique reference to the colour scheme with the incorporation of a yellow colour in some of her details. The floral display, complete with an eye at the centre of the flower is exactly what you’d expect from Peggy, containing some nice detail in the levels and petals. I don’t know what the letters AIZH stand for, but you can make them out at the base of the piece. Peggy’s work lends itself very well to being the decorative filling between two pieces of graffiti writing.
To the right, the effervescent Evey has knocked it out of the park once again. Her letters are nicely thought out and she has reflected the horizontal fill regime in Desi’s work on the other side, and has come up with some decorations in the letters that make them feel substantial without being too busy. More great work from these three who appear to enjoy painting together.
Earthshot Prize
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A King in waiting
lends his voice to the planet
doing the right thing
.
by Scooj
The Earthshot Prize looks at solutions to the challenges our planet faces. Five prizes of £1 million are awarded for five years, this being the second year and the award ceremony will be in Singapore.
The shame about this is that the prize has to exist at all. If Governments around the world were serious about getting out of the mess we’re in they would be funding this kind of research and innovation as part of the ‘day job’. I try to lok on the upside though.
Wait a while
.
Autumn leaves clinging
yellowing and necrotic
final stubborn stand
.
by Scooj
Natural adventures 