.
Off to the south coast
through the English summer rain
tarmacadam spray
.
by Scooj
3847. Easton Business Centre (2)
This gorgeous new mural from Alex Lucas wasn’t the easiest to find, but with a little perseverance I got there in the end, and my search was well rewarded. Tucked away to the side of the building, by the bike racks, this piece, which is a little difficult to photograph, presents a little scene in which a couple of dogs are out on a delivery bicycle laden with cups of coffee.
The concept is imaginative, and as always the execution by Alex Lucas is perfect. There is so much character in the dogs and the scene is a whole lot of fun with its ‘Ulti-mutt coffee’ label. The piece joins another by Alex Lucas on another wall of the Easton Business Centre.
what I love about Alex Lucas’ work is that when you take a close up look Lou can see all the detail in the piece, and here, hidden in amongst all the coffee cups is a third little dog enjoying the ride. A lovely new mural to add to the growing portfolio.
3846. Upfest 2021 75×75 (30)
Upfest is the gift that just keeps on giving, and I cannot remember a time when so many high-quality pieces have been painted over such a sustained period. Given all the problems that the pandemic has thrown at us, I think the Upfest team have done an astonishingly brilliant job this year.
This superb piece by Snub 23 looks as if it has been lifted straight out of a comic book, it is quite remarkable. The artist has used the dimensions of the wall perfectly and has created a really interesting perspective with the curvature of the tunnel behind the main character.
The bright colours used for the hero of the piece contrast nicely with the grey scene and there is a sense of purpose about his stride. The whole thing reminds me of Dan Dare from the Eagle Annuals I used to read as a kid (they weren’t mine, they had belonged to my uncles when they were young). Amazing piece.
Thursday doors – 5 August 2021
Doors 156 – Lyme Regis part 1
At last some original and new doors, rather than something recycled from my archives.
My wife, daughter, dog and I had a mini break a little while ago, experimenting with a hired camper van to see if it is something we would like to do on a more regular basis. The jury is still out on that one. We stayed in a delightful and well-appointed campsite in Uplyme in Devon. A forty-minute walk following the course of the River Lim through woodlands and fields eventually led us to Lyme Regis across the border in Dorset.
Lyme Regis is famous for its fossils, being at the heart of the Jurassic Coast, and for its beach and sea front. The days we were there was at the start of a mini-heatwave in the UK, and the south-facing seaside town felt more like the Mediterranean than England. I suppose the give-away that we were still home were the vast hordes of hideous grockles (holiday-makers). How is it that the Brits are so awful on holiday? I suppose I have to include myself in that cohort, but we really are an embarrassing, unclassy lot.
Enough tittle-tattle, here are some doors from our little trip:
Another week tumbles by, and we become another week older and wiser. I hope to have some more doors from Lyme Regis for you next week. Until then TTFN.
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
In sync
.
In their millions
ant queens emerge from their nests
and take to the air
.
by Scooj
3845. Gloucester Road
I ran past this piece from Kosc this morning, and in a curious way I felt rather proud that I live in a city where public art is embraced, albeit sometimes reluctantly embraced. When the artwork is as good as this, then surely a painted hoarding is better than a bare/tagged piece of construction infrastructure.
The most obvious thing about the piece is the striking contrast between the scarlet background and the grey-scale character and writing. The background is more than a simple backwash, it has been overprinted with a roller with the letters KOSC on it, giving a texture to the background.
The character and writing are absolutely exceptional. The lady in the photograph? Well it seems that she was selected by Kosc from a gallery of pictures on Instagram by @pit_lad, who was more than happy to have it used for this outstanding piece. Kosc is going from strength to strength.
3844. Purdown HAA Battery (30)
What we have here is a fabulous panoramic, segmented take-over by PWA artists Face 1st, Soap and Nightwayss up at Purdown Battery. I’m not sure that I have seen a themed section of walls up here before and the overall impact is stunning.
The first panel is by Face 1st and contains a boy and a girl holding gems. This is remarkable in one major aspect, I don’t think I have ever seen Face 1st paint a smiling boy before – it is a rare thing indeed.
The middle panel, set back, is rather more traditional fare from Soap, who is really going large on his gems at the moment. I really do need to fins out what they are all about, because their inclusion in his pieces is becoming almost obsessive.
The triptych is rounded off nicely with a ferocious piece from Nightwayss, in which a nightmarish monkey (what else?) is using a spray can. Some of his pieces are turning a little passive/aggressive at the moment and becoming a little more edgy – I am not complaining mind, graffiti art is edgy by definition.
All in all a wonderful theatrical collaboration from the PWA boys.
3843. Upfest 2021 75×75 (29)
‘It’s okay not to be okay’ is a very contemporary message from Sprite for this year’s Upfest initiative. I think that it can only be a good thing when mental health messages are amplified through street art as it demonstrates that real progress is being made in this ‘Cinderella’ branch of medical healthcare.
The pink rabbit is a really rather lovely stencil by the Brighton-based artist whose intention is to make people smile and I think she has certainly succeeded with this piece. Her work is very scalable and perfect for bombing a town or city with great messages. It would be good to see more of her work in Bristol.
Eureka!
.
It took me a while
pictures from phone to PC
great discovery
.
by Scooj
3842. Dean Lane skate park (421)
Brace yourself for a flurry of Sake pieces. Sake is an old-school artist who has been painting since the 1980s in Bristol, but I haven’t ever posted any of his work. I don’t know why – maybe it is because I have never met him before, that is until last week, when I caught up with him twice in St Werburghs tunnel. I told him that I would look through my archives and see if I had any older stuff of his that I could share. He was very pleased to hear this, and is keen to stop for a drink soon to talk about street art – I just need to find some time.
This piece is on the curved wall at Dean Lane and is a repair to a similar piece he painted on this exact wall a few weeks ago and which got badly tagged. I think I have pictures of that original. Alongside his letters ‘SAKE’ is a Vaughn Bodē lizard, which is a favourite character for graffiti artists along with Cheech Wizard. I think this is a theme that I’ll need to investigate further before writing too much about it now, but will return to in future. A very nice wall painted by a decent, if slightly intense, artist.
