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A humble ‘thank you’
Norm Frampton for opening
so many great doors
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by Scooj
* on the news that tomorrow will be Norm Frampton’s last Thursday Doors post for a while as he puts his efforts into other things. I shall miss his doors and weekly appearances and am eternally grateful for his opening my eyes to the magnificence of doors.
Sepr owns these two little walls at the end of Dighton Street. For several years now he has had a couple of musicians keeping us all smiling in these spaces and what pleasure they have brought. Each time they get tagged or a bit tatty he repainted them looking slightly different each time. This is the third incarnation that I am aware of, but there may have been more.
The first character is a gentleman with a trumpet, painted in the customary grey scale with a vibrant red tabard and ribbon round his hat. An extra special and contemporary element is the addition of a face mask in the PPE blue we have all become so familiar with.
The other piece features a lady musician playing a violin also masked. I love these pieces to bits and particularly like this recent makeover. Sepr has a great gift and we are privileged to benefit from it.
Below are some of the older versions for comparison:
One of the most recognisable ‘mega-tags’ in Bristol is that of Angry Face. What you see is what you get, and he rarely disappoints. One of the advantages of a ‘brand’ like this is that you can spend time doing a nice one, or spend ten minutes with a single-colour throw up, but they all conform to the stock format and identity.
I mentioned last time that after a long spell away, Angry Face seems to be hitting the walls pretty regularly these days, including with this recent one in St Werburghs tunnel. I’m not sure if the tags either side of the face belong to the artist or not, but the central face is more than enough for me. Good to see.
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I need a new coat
something for the Christmas list
household discussions
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by Scooj
Some readers of this blog may not know that it is called Natural Adventures because it was started as a digitisation of an adventure I had to the Falkland Islands in 1988 when I was a young man. I was a fisheries scientist working for the Falkland Islands Government and at this point in the Journal had spent several weeks at sea on a Japanese squid jigger called the Koei Maru 30.
For context, it might be worth reading chapter 1, ‘An ill wind‘.
The adventure continues… (prompted by Cannibalrabbit to post about the Falklands again)
Thursday 7 July 1988. Koei Maru 30
Once again we aren’t fishing – Today I think it was more of a holiday than bad weather, although the waves are quite big.
It has been a newspaper reading and letter reading day. It is weird, but I am loitering in late May and early June at the moment – London marathon and things like that.
I suppose Wimbledon is happening round about now. I feel detached from summer, it snowed for a while here today, so I find it difficult to connect.
Africa still calls. I yearn.
17 days and I will be home – Yahoo.
In reading my letters I discover that my mother writes excellent letters, they are a real inspiration. Alex too wrote a very good letter indeed.
Is Jasper really getting hitched? I sincerely hope not. Getting married has to be a questionable act.
“Girl you really got me going” – The Kink
Friday 8 July 1988. Koei Maru 30
Spoke with John Barton this morning – it seems he wants me back by the 15th or so, that is fine by me, but when I broke the news to the Fishing Master he was not at all pleased – sometimes he is such a miserable sod.
The weather is still pretty poor, although there has been no snow or rain today.
There is so little that I can write about these days, I think boring is the phrase or word I would use to describe my life at the moment.
I pity Phil having to take over from me – I reckon He’ll get a pretty hard time of it.
Saturday 9 July 1988. Koei Maru 30.
Well if we do get into Port Stanley on the 15th then this is probably my last Saturday ever on the Koei Maru 30 – a joyous occasion, since each day of the week I spend here will now be my last of that day. I am scoffing my rations accordingly but will leave a few bits and bobs for Phil.
Why am I so bloody organised? I have devised loads of forms for Phil to fill out while he’s on board and have given him tons of info about how to get by. The truth being told, I don’t trust that he’ll do as good a job as me because he probably doesn’t give a monkey’s.
I have rediscovered my 0.70 Rotring pen which I used to often use for my lecture notes and diary etc back at Newcastle. Oh God, I miss my undergraduate days, they were a lot of fun and very exciting. The thing I’ve noticed most about being here is that I am not a kid any more and I can never be again – this is my biggest regret in life. If I had a wish, I would wish I could begin again – suffer the pains of school, puberty, embarrassment and the joys of discovery, adventure, exercise, childish fun.
It may sound pathetic, but I also consider a lot how good it would be to be a father – my time will come, but I am very excited about having children and being everything they could want from a father. Enough pondering. (Little did I know)
Wow, just wow. This is a very bold and attractive piece from Mest that cries out for attention, and interestingly received loads. Many of the Bristol Street art Instagrammers posted this outstanding piece, not surprisingly, but have a tendency to overlook this prolific artist. It just shows what an eye-catching piece can do.
I have to say that I love this piece and have been enjoying his work of late – I guess I only became aware of him a few months ago, but even in that short time I have seen some real progress. The lesson here is that if you want to be noticed use black yellow and red – nature’s warning colours.
Technically first-class and exactly what you’d expect to see from Elvs, this is a lovely recent one in Dean Lane skate park. Although Elvs lives in Wales, he makes the trip over to Bristol on a remarkably regular basis and that can only be good for Bristolians.
I was going to write that this is classic Elvs, but I guess that pretty much every piece he paints is classic Elvs. That doesn’t mean to say he is a one-trick pony, far from it, but he does have a style and method that he tends to stick to. Horizontal fills in warm colours are broken up by fine detail lines in black at the top and white at the bottom. The 3D shadows are also horizontally split with black at the top and blue underneath. Same basic framework with innovative detail. Nice work from Elvs.
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So many stories
trapped deep in my mind, unshared
together we die
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by Scooj
Prompted by a recent preoccupation of mine which is to write down some of the stories and memories I have in a short essay form. Time I fear is my enemy.
Sometimes it is really easy to just like a piece instantly, and with this fine piece of writing from Soap, that is exactly how I felt when I first saw it. Painted as part of the Face 1st birthday/Halloween paint jam extravaganza, this colourful graffiti writing stands out.
Obviously spelling out SOAP, the grim themes; a scythe slicing into a skull and a sword at the ready, have a light cartoony touch that brings a smile to the face. The colour selections are first-class and those pinks, purples and blues work so very well together – just ask SPZero76. A fine, fun piece of writing from PWA’s Soap.
I cannot think of a Pekoe portrait that I haven’t liked. Her style is so recognisable and has a beautiful innocence about it, if you know what I mean. There is no pretension, it is what it is and isn’t pretending to be anything else, and I like that.
This piece appeared last week alongside a Bnie piece in the tunnel and together they painted under the RBF banner. The three-quarter portrait reverts to a theme often used by Pekoe, namely a third eye on the forehead. The turquoise, pink and yellow colours work very nicely together and the decorative features are wonderful. I particularly like the green shading on the woman’s shoulders and face that give a lift to the whole portrait. Lovely work.
Natural adventures 