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Child sex trafficker
character witness for Trump
says it all really.
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by Scooj
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Child sex trafficker
character witness for Trump
says it all really.
.
by Scooj

Inkie is back in town and has been painting a little. This is a rather nice little piece of classic Art Nouveau/funky graffiti writing, and what makes it a little unusual is that he appears to have painted it alone.

when you see a quick piece like this, you know just by looking at it that you are in safe hands and looking at the work of a master craftsman. The red fills of the letters are brought to life with the application of a thin white border. Classy.

The tunnel, under the railway, at Boiling Wells Lane is usually pretty useless for graffiti, more commonly used for throw ups and tagging than serious artworks, but some new pieces from Hemper and friends have rather upgraded this spot, and I wonder if it will encourage others to paint there a little more.

Hemper has arisen from his mini-slumber for the last month or so and started producing these slimline ‘Hems’ pieces of which this is an absolute cracker. The black and white letters, portraying local scenes of trains and caravans, and full of mischievous characters, contrast superbly with the quilt-like patchwork of colourful patterns surrounding the piece. This is masterful work from one of the very best writers in the country.

I have a great many pieces by Bags in my archives, but have only posted a fraction of them. I keep meaning to post more from this stalwart of the No Frills crew, but somehow never seem to do it. This is a recent piece, one of several, in which he has played with bilaterally splitting his letters into two colour sections, with the BA in one colour and the GS in another.

He has painted so many of these, that his letters must come very easily, and he tends to keep the general shape of his letters consistent from piece to piece. The dark blue and red colours work well, and I rather like the half-and-half appearance. I’ll try to post more of his pieces in the future.

Cort is an elusive artist, painting as part of the PAD crew which includes Laic217 (what has happened to him?) and Trafficity amongst others in the Polish street art community. His style is really distinctive, and at times his work is exceptional.

This is a rather tidy piece that looks like a bit of a sketch, painted or drawn with black and red biros (ball point pens) and a blue fountain pen. The letters are irregular in shape and size, but the whole word conforms to a specific height throughout. Set on a creamy background, the lettering looks rather good to me. I like this piece.
Doors 321 – Doors of Marrakesh, Morocco, January 2025 (Part II)
This selection of doors is presented in chronological order, following our first walk in the streets of Marrakesh, walking north from our hotel (featured last week) towards the centre of the Medina.
Our first impressions were very much shaped by the bustle of the city. Bright light, dusty streets, so many people walking the streets dodging the motorbikes and scooters that are the dominant form of transport through the narrow and windy streets. You will spot that the walls of Marrakesh, known as the Red City, are pinky-red in colour due to the local stone and clay, rich in iron oxide employed in the construction of the ancient city, and still used today. You will get used to this ubiquitous colour through the passage of these posts.
Marrakesh is a Thursday Doors dream, although it is not just doors, but arches and more generally the architecture that are so attractive. I hope you enjoy these first steps into the city as much as we did:











It feels wonderful to revisit these doors and our trip to Marrakesh back in January, it was a great way to recharge our batteries and put us in a good place to tackle 2025. There will be plenty more doors next time and for some considerable time, I fear it might get a little samey or boring, but hope not. Have a great weekend all.
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.


The two most prominent conflicts (although there are countless others) of our time that have mobilised public attitudes in the UK are the Israeli occupation of Gaza and The West Bank, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, both of which are barely out of the news at the moment. The Nobel Peace Prize nominee-in-waiting, Donald Trump has appeased the aggressors and most powerful forces in both conflicts and achieved absolutely no progress towards peace since he took office. Shame on him. Siding with bullies and looking for a favourable deal (for him and his cronies) is all he appears to care about.

Meanwhile, protests continue and are powerfully expressed through graffiti art, which has a capability to commentate on the injustices of the world in a way that has a lasting impact. Mr Draws has done himself proud with this huge ‘Free Palestine’ piece in chrome, sitting on the red white and green colours of the Palestinian flag. I guess the black drop shadow makes up the black from the flag. (Note to self – prepare some protest galleries).

I have continued to dig out Tera pieces that I failed to post at the time they were painted, so this one from June is a little out of sequence, but demonstrates really well his development, which has been so rapid.

I’m not quite sure what the overall message here is, but when I see skeletons and gold coins, I think about avarice and comeuppance. A message that I am always mindful of, and one that reinforces my dislike of selfish billionaires, is that ‘you can’t take it with you’. This piece says that to me. It is a well-painted piece that, in part, reflects his accelerated progress, and highlights some of the areas he can sharpen up on, which, in fairness, he has been doing since painting this a couple of months back.

It has been quite difficult trying to keep up with Tera’s incredible output this summer, and I have had to do a little trawl through my summer archive to find some of his pieces that I haven’t yet posted, including this one painted alongside Kid Crayon, back in May this year.

This is one of Tera’s earliest pieces (he touched the ground running), and demonstrates a certain amount of experimentation. It is an interesting piece of writing spelling out his name, but definitely feels like something that hasn’t yet formed an identity. The technique is good throughout, with some nicely graded fills and some good interlocking letters. Given some of his more recent large character pieces, this one looks like a stepping stone towards improvement.

In Bristol, we are really lucky and get to see a lot of collaborations and paint jams about the place, bringing together local artists who are often joined by visitors, invited or passing through. We get to see all sorts of different styles and levels, and then occasionally a top drawer special production like this one from Fade, Jody, Dibz, Cheo and Acid Face with a Brace.

Photographing this production in its entirety was something of a challenge due to its sheer length and some difficult light conditions, with so much open sky above the wall. To start us off on this wall we have a semi-submerged piece by Fade, with the water level cleverly portrayed using different shades of colour above and below the water line, a theme continued by each artist through the production. Some dramatic skies round off Fade’s section nicely.

Next up is a portrait piece by Jody featuring a warrior with a deep fur collar and long sword, so I am imagining a Viking theme going on, although I can’t help feeling that the hairdo doesn’t quite match the machismo of the character.

In the centre and holding the whole production together is a piece of typically brilliant writing from Dibz, again, with the water line running through it and incorporating a wonky long sword. The dramatic skies also continue through this story.

Cheo brings a whole different style to the piece, while faithfully following the Viking idea. His cartoon warrior, wading through the water, is festooned with long blonde hair tied up with red bands. His snarling face is made rather comical with the tilt of his helmet. Of course, a trademark bee, also with a helmet, is in attendance.

Rounding off the production is some more writing from Acid Face with a Brace, whose collaboration with Dibz and Fade in Dean Lane from earlier in the summer is still very much intact. The theme is beautifully embraced by Acid Face with a Brace, and he has included a wave breaking over his letters, mirroring the Fade piece at the other end. Awesomeness all round.