Sled One, Lighthouse Community Garden, London, April 2023
Probably the last thing I was expecting to see on my work trip to London a couple of weeks back was this remarkably busy piece by Bristol’s Sled One. Finding it gave me a feeling of warm familiarity and a sense of Bristol pride. Unfortunately, there was some construction work going on around this panel, so the photographs are not as good as I’d like.
Sled One, Lighthouse Community Garden, London, April 2023
The letters spell out SLED and there is a numeral ‘1’ at the end. The scene is a basketball game, although I am not quite sure what the significance of that might be. To the right is a curious skeletal character, and the whole thing is typically Sled Oney surreal. What a discovery. what a day!
Woskerski, Lighthouse Community Garden, London, April 2023
Although Woskerski is a London-based artist, he is not a complete stranger to the pages of Natural Adventures, and indeed he visited for last year’s Upfest 2022, with an outstanding piece that I have yet to publish. I would place Woskerski in the very highest echelons of street artists in the UK.
Woskerski, Lighthouse Community Garden, London, April 2023
This is another piece from my surprise discovery of the Lighthouse Community Garden in Stratford, with plenty more to follow. Although the portrait piece looks pretty fresh, it was actually painted in July last year, and you can see in this clip how he went about it. Outstanding stuff from a brilliant artist, and another reason why my trip to London was so special.
Ceus appears to have bought some new paints, and possibly a bulk order, because his last three pieces have all incorporated a similar colour scheme of light, bright shades. It feels to me that Ceus is experimenting a little bit at the moment and playing with a slight change of direction. It is never surprising when artists decide to do this, it is all part of growing and developing their style.
Ceus, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2023
The letters spell out CEUS, where the golden thread is the sky blue colour running through all the letters accompanied by alternating pink and gold. This is nice work from Ceus, and I get a feeling that we are going to be seeing a lot more of him this summer.
I have a very busy day ahead today, so I only have time to do a really quick couple of posts. When I last met Mote a couple of weeks back, he was rediscovering his mojo, after a quiet period. These monsters in my favourite Moon Street are evidence of his newly rediscovered enthusiasm.
Mote, Moon Street, Bristol, April 2023
Mote has not only been painting with a high frequency, but he has also been visiting a few new spots too. I believe this is his first piece in Moon Street, and he has filled the space here with a nice cheeky quick one.
Kool Hand, Conrico and Daz Cat M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2023
I’m not sure that I will ever work out this wall properly. Sometimes pieces will stay on it for months and turnover will be practically zero, other times it can change twice within a week, and I believe that this recent charming triptych by Kool Hand, Conrico and Daz Cat has already been painted over.
Kool Hand, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2023
The left-hand panel is a wonderful leopard character from Kool Hand, wearing a floppy bucket hat. The fingers appear to be magically zapping the letters KH, and the blue/purple feline is set on a fantasy woodland backdrop, painted by Conrico I would guess.
Conrico, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2023
In the middle is a rather shady looking character shrouded in a cloak and holding a spray can, probably preparing to do a spot of illegal spraying by the look of it. This is a really nicely worked piece by Cobnrico, with some great attention to detail in the creases and folds in the cloak and hat. A classy character.
Daz Cat, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2023
On the right-hand panel, Daz Cat has departed from his customary cat characters to give us this woodland sprite holding a couple of frogs, one of which is holding a toadstool. I’m not too sure what the smoking head is all about, but this section, in fact the whole thing, definitely has a bit of a dreamy fantasy feel about it. An unusual and entertaining collaboration from three fine graffiti artists.
Well, it has to be said that Hypo is absolutely smashing it at the moment. Not only is he painting more frequently than I can remember, but he is also raising his own personal bar with each new piece he creates, which I guess reinforces the idea that the more often you paint, the better you will get.
Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2023
This fiery piece, once again has an attractive symmetry to it, which the letters HYPO somehow allow him to achieve. The letters are beautifully crafted with loads of accessory features, such as arrows and bars. The colour transitions are beautifully done, and the whole thing is really rather beautiful. This is another great piece from Hypo this year.
Airborne Mark, Lighthouse Community Gardens, London, April 2023
I will be posting pieces from this remarkable spot, which I found quite by accident when visiting London for a work workshop, over the coming weeks. Some of the artists were familiar to me, and some not. This stunning piece falls into the latter category.
Airborne Mark, Lighthouse Community Gardens, London, April 2023
The origami swan held together by paper clips is by Airborne Mark, and is a really beautifully painted piece. The artist had created a fabulous sense of depth with fabulous use of shadows, light and shading. Adding in the paper clips elevates the piece from being great to fantastic… imagine it without them. I have never come across Airborne Mark before, but I really think we ought to get him over to Bristol at some point, maybe for Upfest?
Aspire, Lighthouse Community Gardens, London, April 2023
Every once in a while, the stars align and things work out and all is well in the world. These are moments that we must cherish and draw on to help us through more challenging times when it feels like there is no hope.
I had been invited to facilitate a workshop in London at the end of April, at a small community centre in the heart of Stratford, adjacent to the Olympic Park where there has been a phenomenal amount of redevelopment over the last decade or so. As I approached the location from the station, I spotted an entire block of hoardings, entirely covered in graffiti writing and street art – this was a good day, before the workshop had even begun. Even better, the hoardings surrounded the Lighthouse Community Gardens, the location of the workshop. Guess what I was doing before and after then meeting and in our lunch break.
Aspire, Lighthouse Community Gardens, London, April 2023
I was surprised at how many of the pieces on the hoardings were by artists I am familiar with, including this beauty by former Bristol artist Aspire. Bristol’s loss was definitely London’s gain as you can see from this outstanding sparrow perched on an ice lolly. Aspire’s work is so distinctive – almost always featuring birds, incorporating some pixelated elements. More recently, Aspire has featured human relationships with birds in the form of litter or food etc – the lolly plays this role here.
I was in a very good place, and the workshop went really well too. A red-letter day.
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