3960. Sparke Evans Park (10)

The long wall at Sparke Evans Park has always been a showcase for some great art, and in recent months, the turnover has increased significantly as has the quality of some of the pieces. It is a top graffiti art spot, but a complete menace to photograph, the dappled sunshine percolating through the adjacent leafy trees has rendered many of my photographs unusable. This is definitely a spot for winter and overcast days.

Laic217, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, September 2021
Laic217, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, September 2021

This is a superb tribute piece by Laic217 for KFAS. I don’t know anything about the backstory and instead have simply focussed on the piece itself. A spray can artist at work with tons of movement (clever use of three hands to create a busy scene), and a massively exaggerated mouth. A characterful and lively piece, and a worthy tribute.

M25 heroes

.

Inconvenience

short-lived and superficial

The planet for life

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by Scooj

3959. St Werburghs tunnel (258)

Stivs has presented me with another golden opportunity to feature his work on Natural Adventures by painting this cracker in St Werburghs. His calligraffiti writing is improving with every piece, and this is an outstanding example of what he is capable of.

Stivs, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2021bday 034 12-16 Sept 2021_edited
Stivs, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2021bday 034 12-16 Sept 2021_edited

Painted in black and red with a blue border, the letters have the appearance of having been painted with brush strokes – an effect perfected by Voyder in some of his Bristol works. There is so much to like about this, particularly the crispness and the thin yellow lines running through the piece. Lovely stuff.

3958. Upfest 2021 75×75 (65)

There is something rather special about this Upfest 2021 75×75 piece and once one understands the context, the whole piece falls into place in one of those ‘of course’ moments. If I told you that the artist, Martin Glover, is deaf and that the piece is called SIGN, you can probably work out that the hands spell out SIGN in the signing alphabet. Clasping the little finger (S), touching the middle finger (a,e,I,o,u), fists G and two fingers on the palm N – three fingers is M.

Martin Glover, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, September 2021, Upfest 21
Martin Glover, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, September 2021, Upfest 21

The piece is therefore not only rather clever and informative, but it is technically very nicely painted, and all around the edge there are hands signing in yellow. I expect the whole thing spells out a message, but I don’t know what it is.

Martin Glover, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, September 2021, Upfest 21
Martin Glover, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, September 2021, Upfest 21

There really is no limit to the creativity that street art offers both the artist and the viewer, and this piece simply proves that. It is a shame that it is tucked away in a corner of the Tobacco Factory car park where not many people will have the chance to see it, but it is worth the effort to seek it out if you are up for it.

3957. Dean Lane skate park (429)

This is another wonderful piece by Flava136 in what has been the latest in a sequence of very welcome visits to Bristol recently. The photograph not only features the outstanding work of the artist, but also a couple of bags of rubbish. Now I am all for people tidying up this grubby corner of the skate park, but not finishing the job by taking the rubbish away and simply abandoning the rubbish bags (spoiling my pictures) is a bit useless really. There are bins not more than 30m away from this spot.

Flava136, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2021
Flava136, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2021

The superb work of Flava136 is the most overt writing I have noticed in his work before, such is the cryptic nature of his style. Clearly you can see an F, an L and an A, after that I think that there is a V in the monster’s teeth and an A at the end, with a little H inside it (maybe). Great to look at and so damn neat and tidy (contrasting with the bin bags).

3956. Cumberland Basin

One of the great things about living in Bristol is that it has enormous credibility with street/graffiti artists from all over the country and indeed the world, and so visits from some of the greats are not uncommon. Even so, it was rather a surprise to come across this exceptional piece of floral writing from Curtis Hylton on the long wall at Cumberland Basin a couple of weeks back.

Curtis Hylton, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, September 2021
Curtis Hylton, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, September 2021

I haven’t seen writing like this before, and it is a real privilege to see it right here in Bristol. Spelling out SAME (Curtis writes under the name Samer), the floral patterns and colours blend seamlessly painted on a cosmic cloudy backdrop. Utterly breathtaking work from this super-talented artist.

Fan’s joy

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Unashamedly

crowing after derby win

Arsenal my love

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by Scooj

3955. Dean Lane skate park (428)

I had a great chat with Nightwayss while he was painting this piece, and for a change, the dog wasn’t spooked and sat quietly while we chewed the fat. What I didn’t realise at the time, and I blame my dumbness entirely, was that this piece was being painted as part of PWA paint jam alongside Zake, Face 1st and Soap. Zake was also painting, but Face 1st and Soap were sitting on a slope watching the others paint. Stupid me didn’t recognise them, and although I spoke to them, It has been such a long time since I last saw them and I thought they were strangers. They must have thought I was being very rude not saying hi like I normally would with acquaintances.

Nightwayss, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2021
Nightwayss, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2021

Nightwayss has found a rich vein of form at the moment, not only in the frequency with which he has been painting but also with stretching his creativity. In this piece, Nightwayss has written Night in a very stylish anamorphic graffiti style, with some lovely shading. To the left is one of his lovely monkeys, which these days is not a given in every piece he paints. Fine work from a lovely, decent bloke.

3954. Brunel Way (122)

Today I bring you a couple more miniature murals from the king of columns under Brunel Way. Maybe (@maybepaints on Instagram) first appeared on my radar back in April this year, although I think one or two of his earlier pieces had been around for a little while. As time has gone on, not only has Maybe been very productive, but he has also been creative and bold.

Maybe, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2021
Maybe, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2021

The first piece in this post is an ice cream kissing faces concept. The idea of two contrasting forces coming together in a yin and yang manner is a gift for Maybe, and he has done a brilliant job achieving a witty and enjoyable spectacle here.

Maybe, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2021
Maybe, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2021

On a column not too far away is this square face-off, with four pairs of faces in contrasting colours. Maybe has created a lovely effect which is enhanced with the dark vertical shading down the middle, which provides a little bit of depth to the piece.  All good and so much more to come.

1996

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Grand kitchen clear out

the builders start on Monday

‘best before’ shockers

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by Scooj