3518. Brunel Way bridge (93)

It is coincidental, not planned, that I have followed up a Daz Cat piece with a Kool Hand piece, these two being great friends and frequent collaborators. The curved ends of the long concrete bridge support on the south side of the river are great for portrait pieces, and Kool Hand has used the space well for one of his orangutan pieces.

Kool Hand, Brunel Way, Bristol, February 2021
Kool Hand, Brunel Way, Bristol, February 2021

I have seen one of his like this before, where the orangutan is balancing on its hand, in a way that only these large apes can do. I don’t know what the fascination with orangutans is for Kool Hand, but I guess it is no different from Daz Cat mostly painting cats for example. 

Kool Hand, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2018
Kool Hand, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2018

3517. M32 Spot (108)

Daz Cat is another artist who has been insanely busy recently, painting pretty much any wall that he can. I was lucky enough to meet him for the first time last weekend while he was painting alongside Sage. As with virtually every artist I have met, he was happy to stop for a chat, and I must confess to being slightly distracted by how much younger he is than I was expecting. It is funny how you can create an image in your mind of how somebody might look, and when you get to meet them it is a surprise how unlike that imagined person they are.

Daz Cat, M32 Spot, Bristol, February 2021
Daz Cat, M32 Spot, Bristol, February 2021

This is a quick column piece at the bottom end of the M32 Spot all in purple with black lines for the detail. I don’t know how many cats he has painted, but doing this must be like falling off a log sometimes. I am thoroughly enjoying this surge in Daz Cat’s work, and have several unpublished pieces lined up for Natural Adventures.

Kingfisher

.

Iridescent blue

alongside the motorway

River Frome wildlife

.

by Scooj

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3516. Dean Lane skate park (396)

Not much lasts for long in the street art world, especially in Dean Lane, and the Acer One piece featured in the previous blog post was overpainted with this brash piece from Lee Roy, who has unleashed his energy and desire to cover Bristol in paint in recent weeks.

Lee Roy, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2021
Lee Roy, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2021

Although Lee Roy is an established writer in Bristol, I have only recently started to post his work, probably because it is impossible to ignore at the moment. His style is interesting, with irregular and unusually shaped letters, but his fills are very nice indeed, if a little understated in this piece. I love the touch ‘Need Photos’ in the top right corner – well here they are.

This wall has since been overpainted by Mudra yesterday, but he decided to keep the little ‘Need Photos’ message in there.

3515. Dean Lane skate park (395)

Acer One has been out and about smashing it recently, usually in collaborative pieces or painting alongside friends, in this case he painted the letters ACER adjacent to a Benjimagnetic piece.

Acer One, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2021
Acer One, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2021

What I really like about ACER One’s pieces is that from close up they are very difficult to decipher, but as you retreat, your eyes begin to piece together the patterns into letters. You can play a game with yourself with this picture… if you look at the magenta and gold bits, they take on abstract shapes, and it becomes almost impossible to see the letters – weird. I like that he obviously uses a mask of some kind to get these perfectly straight lines. A fine, warm piece from Acer One.

Running man

.

Not since my school days

have I elected to run

that is until now

.

by Scooj

3514. Purdown HAA Battery (20)

A trip to Purdown is always rewarding, even scrambling through winter mud is worth it, because there are often some real gems to be found like this Christmas piece by John D’oh featuring Boris Johnson and Michael Gove thinly disguised as the Grinch and a pandemic scientist.

John D'oh, Purdown, Bristol, February 2021
John D’oh, Purdown, Bristol, February 2021

Never one to pass up a chance to parody the half-wits running our country, this piece from John D’oh turned out to be somewhat prophetic. The appalling decision to relax lockdown restrictions over Christmas has contributed to the sorry state we see ourselves in, and all for the sake of vain popularity. I love what John D’oh does in exposing these charlatans.

3513. Dean Lane skate park (394)

More great work from Benjimagnetic who is on fire these days, this time with a nice piece of heavily disguised writing at Dean Lane. This one was painted alongside Acer One who also seems to have had a new lease of life in recent weeks.

Benjimagnetic, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2021
Benjimagnetic, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2021

Benjimagnetic has used his favourite colour palette of reds, purples and blues, but rather than spelling BEN as is usual he has spelt something else here. My usual uselessness at reading his writing means that I can’t tell you what this says… it starts with a T but I lose it after that. Whatever it says, it is still a fine piece.

Trefusis point

.

On the low tide rocks

marine biologist made

fifty years ago

.

by Scooj

3512. St Werburghs tunnel (226)

There are some artists whose work is capable of lifting a mood, and for those fleeting moments while I am looking at their work I am transported away from my troubles. Billy is one of those artists. Bright, simple and colourful her work usually carries a message which gives depth and meaning to the artwork.

Billy, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2021
Billy, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2021

This piece ‘what a mess’ was painted alongside Merny’s truck piece, the pair often paint together, and helped to lift this spot into a blaze of brightness. I don’t know if the ‘mess’ relates directly to the subject of the piece or whether it is deeper than that and describing the state of our country. On either level it works.

Morny and Billy, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2021
Morny and Billy, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2021

Sadly this piece along with Merny’s didn’t last too long, and the aggressive tagging that partially covered them over was annoying to say the least. I just don’t get some people.