3656. North Street

This wonderful and rather large mural is by Ejits, a Bristol artist and is the fifth instalment of the ‘six sisters’ shop facades opposite North Street Green. Orchestrated by Upfest and Bedminster BID, each of these beauties is painted by a local female artist, showcasing the wealth and breadth of street art in Bristol.

Ejits, North Street, Bristol, April 2021
Ejits, North Street, Bristol, April 2021

The piece is painted not with spray cans, but more traditionally with paints and brushes and features Ejits which Emily (the artist’s real name) describes as ‘a curious and playful bunch of illustrated characters created to brighten up and bring joy to your world’. Well mark this down as an outright success straight away. I will confess at this stage that I didn’t know about the artist before she painted this, but now that she is on my radar, I’ll look out for her studio work and any walls she might be decorating.

Zoe Power, Gemma Compton, Sophie Long and Ejits, North Street, Bristol, April 2021
Zoe Power, Gemma Compton, Sophie Long and Ejits, North Street, Bristol, April 2021

It is probably best to finish off with Emily’s own words about the piece which she calls ‘Rumpus’, taken from her beautiful website:

‘After a long year of lockdowns, I felt it was important to bring something colourful and joyful to this piece of public art. I took inspiration from Where the Wild Things are and Keith Haring to create something with a lot of movement and energy. That’s why the title of this piece is Rumpus!

The Six Sisters are hyped to be the largest mural project in the UK designed and painted by female street artists.

It sits in a prominent and popular part of the city on North Street Bedminster and also features murals by Bex Glover, Zoe Power, Gemma Compton and Sophie Long. Lucas Antics will be the sixth and final artist to add her mural to the line-up.‘

3655. Brunel Way (99)

Stivs continues to turn out some of the best calligraphy writing in Bristol and this is an absolute beauty under Brunel Way. The photographs simply don’t do this piece justice… in the context of the slightly gloomy spot, the bright blue and purple letters illuminated the space and demanded to be looked at. A real humdinger.

Stivs, Brunel Way, Bristol, April 2021
Stivs, Brunel Way, Bristol, April 2021

I am not even going to attempt to tell you what the letters spell out, although I was thinking of having a go, I can tell you however that it is not his customary STIVS. I think the really clever touch lies with the thin bright blue outline on the black background that gives the whole thing a little lift. A nice piece.

Cascade

.

Blossom glacier

in full and beautiful bloom

will melt and vanish

.

by Scooj

3654. Bedminster

This extraordinary piece from Acer One has been on my hit list for quite a while, but I never quite knew where it was, and being an independent, stubborn and rather proud individual I didn’t really want to ask anyone about its whereabouts.

Acer One, Bedminster, Bristol, April 2021
Acer One, Bedminster, Bristol, April 2021

Unfortunately the sun was a little bit unkind being directly behind the piece on the day I took a walk into deepest Bedminster. The large piece is not like the geometric work that Acer One has been churning out lately, but one of his cityscapes. The whole thing is a little bit like a Dan Kitchener piece in its urban scene with lights, but there the comparison ends.

Acer One, Bedminster, Bristol, April 2021
Acer One, Bedminster, Bristol, April 2021

I suspect the piece depicts a street scene somewhere in Bristol, but I can’t quite be sure where. The blurred lights give the impression of cars in the night photographed with a long exposure. This is an amazing piece and so well worth a visit if you can find it.

3653. M32 roundabout J3 (315)

I don’t understand what is going on in Bristol at the moment, but some truly magnificent pieces are being painted over far too quickly. Maybe we have too many artists (is that a thing?) or maybe we don’t have enough ‘safe’ walls (probably), whatever the reason, there is a lot of great art that has a very short lifetime. This collaboration from Hemper and Benjimagnetic is one of these ephemeral pieces.

Hemper, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2021
Hemper, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2021

The artists have worked really well together here and their pieces appear to be a bit of a fusion, each mimicking the other one’s style. They have matched the colour scheme across the two pieces, and on the left is this exquisite HEMS (difficult to see) so skilfully crafted.

Benjimagnetic, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2021
Benjimagnetic, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2021

To the right is the Benjimagnetic half spelling BEN and equally expertly sprayed. It would seem that in working together on this, both artists have raised their game, particularly Benjimagnetic, whose work at the moment is entering a new level. This is simply a beautiful collaboration.

Hemper and Benjimagnetic, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2021
Hemper and Benjimagnetic, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2021

 

 

Four elections in one day

.

Easy decisions

vote for anyone except

the Conservatives

.

by Scooj

3652. Brunel Way (98)

This piece has quenched my thirst a little. Over the last year I haven’t seen too many Rusk pieces, and although he was never a ‘once a week’ artist, I would expect to see more from him in a normal year. Of course this is not a normal anything.

Rusk, Brunel Way, Bristol, April 2021
Rusk, Brunel Way, Bristol, April 2021

This is quite a large burner, on a wall I hate to photograph because of the light reflections and poor light quality. Rusk has written a beautifully finished intertwining set of letters with magnificent fills along with a bonus character of Mighty Mouse, although he has swapped his customary red cape for a blue one. Really nice stuff from Rusk.

3651. M32 Cycle path (121)

In life, you just know when something special or significant has happened, there is that supernatural sense that kicks in, the one that heightens your senses and gets the adrenaline pumping. For me, I would class finding this masterpiece (a word I rarely use on Natural Adventures) by Laic217 was one of those special moments.

Laic217, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2021
Laic217, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2021

Adding to this special sensation was that I didn’t know the piece was here and I hadn’t seen any posts on social media – it felt like a proper discovery rather than seeking a piece out.

Laic217 has smashed it. The familiar skeleton figure is set on a sumptuous red background with a fine yellow border framing the piece nicely. A bucket hat with a yin yang emblem and a blue dragon made of smoke dancing round the skeleton’s head. The cherry on the top of this extraordinary piece is the short-sleeved shirt. Laic217 is known for his incredible portrayal of different materials and fabrics and here he has taken it to another level. The black shirt with its creases and two dragon designs is utterly awesome, and I love the vest poking through the vee of the shirt.

A magical piece, and guess what… I love it.

Thursday doors – 6 May 2021

Doors 147 – At last some doors from a recent wander in Bristol

Many of the doors that I photograph are from exploratory walks in my endeavours to seek out street/graffiti art that I have not seen before. These expeditions require me to go to places that I have never been to, and I found these gems in a light-industrial estate in Bedminster. It was a gorgeous day and the world felt good.

Two shabby doors for the price of one, Bedminster, Bristol, April 2021
Two shabby doors for the price of one, Bedminster, Bristol, April 2021

Old iron door, Bedminster, Bristol, April 2021
Old iron door, Bedminster, Bristol, April 2021

Door within a door, Bedminster, Bristol, April 2021
Door within a door, Bedminster, Bristol, April 2021

Nicely paired doors, Bedminster, Bristol, April 2021
Nicely paired doors, Bedminster, Bristol, April 2021

Several repairs on these doors, Bedminster, Bristol, April 2021
Several repairs on these doors, Bedminster, Bristol, April 2021

Beware of the dogs, No Parking, door within a door, Bedminster, Bristol, April 2021
Beware of the dogs, No Parking, door within a door, Bedminster, Bristol, April 2021

All in all a good walk, and I found some street art that I have been searching for for months leaving me a very happy person. That’s yer lot for this week, have a fabulous weekend wherever you are.

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

3650. St Werburghs tunnel (236)

I seem to remember from my school days that Lee Roy (Leroy) was a corruption of Le Roi, or The King in French. I did a little fact check on Wikipedia and I was kind of right, although the name is Norman in origin. The Normans brought the surname to England, which in medieval times was used as a nickname for a person that behaved in a regal fashion or who had earned the title in a contest of skill. So there you have it. Lee Roy is the king.

Lee Roy, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2021
Lee Roy, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2021

Our Lee Roy has been very busy of late and is hitting walls across Bristol irrespective of the north/south of the river thing. This black and white piece at the entrance to St Werburghs tunnel is a cheerful affair with his trademark circles in the fill and a rather nice cheeky character in the ‘O’. More to come soon from The King.