.
An ancient landscape
oceanic influence
ferns and mosses thrive
.
by Scooj
Temperate rainforest
5013. M32 roundabout J3 (450)
It has been a joy to watch some recent collaborations from Hypo and Hemper, and this is the most recent on the M32 roundabout. What is immediately apparent is that their styles are quite different, and that this is less a collaboration and more a painting together, and that is part of the gig, knowing that friends paint together having fun.
The Hypo piece is a rhapsody in green, accompanied by four graffiti arrows, adding a bit of dynamism to the letters. Due to the recent burst of activity by Hypo, I feel I now have enough of his pieces to post a gallery of his work, so watch this space.
Hemper has absolutely smashed it again with this outstanding HEMS piece, which is technically (and visually) brilliant. The burst of colours cross-faded through the lettering is masterful, and filling in the gaps between the letters with little green spheres in genius. Hemper has a knack of creating perfectly unique graffiti writing pieces every time he splashes paint on a wall. Love it.
5012. M32 Cycle path (196)
I came in search of a Face 1st piece, but instead found this wonderful Slakarts colour fest, so you win some, and you lose some, I guess. I have noticed that in some areas of Bristol, the turnover has been on the high side, which means that if you snooze, you lose, and I have been doing a fair amount of snoozing recently.
Although Slakarts has had a fairly quiet twelve months, the pieces he has painted are real belters. I’m not sure that I can convey just how good this piece is technically. The design is great, but the definition between elements with the thick, crisp black lines is outstanding, and the colour fades and shading, to give depth are excellent too. This is Slakarts at his best.
5011. St Werburghs Tunnel (351)
How nice it was to see Mr Klue again, when he was painting a new piece adjacent to this one last week in the tunnel. At first, I didn’t recognise him, as it has been a few years since we last met. During the course of our conversation, I managed to establish that he always writes KLUE in his pieces, and never deviates, which is great to know, because there have been times when I thought he has written something else altogether.
This, I think, is one of my favourite Mr Klue pieces, Mainly on account of the colour selection. I love the reds, yellows and oranges, which combined with the wispy, smokey style of Mr Klue’s work give the impression of fire. Now that I know it definitely says KLUE, I can see it so much more clearly – funny how the mind can fill the gaps when you have a little bit of information/confirmation. A wonderful piece from a lovely man.
5010. Chatterton Square (7)
Although I photographed this piece reasonably recently (back in December), it actually dates from October 2022. It is yet another fine combination from painting pals Acer One and Andy Council, and what a productive year they both had in 2022.
To the left is a rather nice birthday shout out by Acer to fellow graffiti writer Ziml, painted in the stylised font that is by now so familiar on the streets of Bristol. To the right is a Cheech Wizard, by Andy Council, constructed out of buildings and other component parts. It has just occurred to me while writing this column that the way Andy Council composes his work resembles the work of the incredible 16th Century Italian artist Giuseppe Arcimboldo, who painted portraits composed of fruit and vegetables. I never thought I’d be writing that in Natural Adventures, but there you go.
Intertidal
.
Where ocean meets land
a unique and hostile space
a niche habitat
.
by Scooj
5009. Greenbank (70)
This bright piece from Gosia Wadada both delights and frustrates me. Firstly, it is great to see that this artist made the most of her time in Bristol, painting both here and in Cumberland Basin, however, her choice of panel to paint on, was not great, because she painted over a one third of a very fresh and magnificent portrait piece by Rozalita.
I was once told by an artist that it is a bit disrespectful to partially obscure somebody else’s work, you should either leave it or go over the whole thing, and sometimes you can tag the artist in your new replacement as an acknowledgement. But as I am frequently told, there are no rules and it is a jungle out there. In fairness, I’m not sure that Gosia Wadada would have known that the Rozlita piece was only a few days old.
Gosia Wadada has visited Bristol before (thank you, Paul H, for your Instagram post) and I will dig the piece out and post it some time soon. In this ‘swapsies’ piece, Gosia Wadada has painted two of her trademark mouths, but switched the colour combinations, to create opposites, although you might spot the small inconsistency in her approach. The mouths work well on the carefully constructed red backdrop, and overall this is a refreshing and fun piece. I would love to see more of her work in Bristol.
5008. St Werburghs tunnel (350)
I met Kid Krishna for the very first time when he just completed buffing this wall and had begun this large and complex piece. As luck would have it, I met him again in exactly the same spot a couple of days later, it is funny how things like that happen.
This is a magnificent beast, monumentally intricate and bewildering. His letters are so well disguised, that they simply become part of the overall experience – a little bit like Mr Klue’s work. This piece is a real workout for the eyes, in that search to make sense of it. The technique Kid Krishna uses to paint these writing pieces is to lay down the main structure of the letters with a roller, and then to add the borders and details, and it works very effectively. Kid Krishna told me that he is thinking of shifting to a new idea, so I’ll be scouring the streets to see what he does.
Another world
.
.
Beneath clear water
a beautiful world unseen
where dainty sprites live
.
by Scooj
Slippery slope
.
Party Vice Chairman
favours the death penalty
whipping up hatred
.
by Scooj
- further evidence, as if it were needed, that our Conservative Government is drifting even further to the right. The appointment of the loud-mouthed “30p” Lee Anderson as party Vice Chairman demonstrates that there is nothing left in the party. All the Europhiles have left or been ousted, the moderates have been silenced, and the primary qualification for getting into the Cabinet is a rabid Brexit stance.
- I remain in a constant state of revulsion and despair. What am I supposed to tell my children? They are being brought up in a political landscape where it is normal to lie, to deceive, to disrespect, to blame the poorest and the vulnerable and to be strong instead of compassionate. I still hate what they have done to my country, my home.
- Anyone who says “well, what’s the alternative” or “I’m not sure Keir Starmer…” is either a Tory or has never got over Jeremy Corbyn’s unpopularity (for whatever reason) and hence unelectability.
- I think I might need to write some nice nature haiku!
Natural adventures 