3393. River Avon (12)

This awesome piece of writing, which I photographed back in November, along the River Avon cycle track, is by Spanish artist Claro_que_sssnoh or Claro for the purposes of this post. The Spanish crews are absolutely smashing it all over the city this year and have brought about some joy in a very difficult time for us all.

Claro_que_sssnoh, River Avon, Bristol, November 2020
Claro_que_sssnoh, River Avon, Bristol, November 2020

This piece was sandwiched between two depictions of Satan to form the central element of the collaborative wall. I’m not too good at deciphering this writing, but I think the letters spell out NOHSE, or something similar. Claro is assured with his writing and can paint in several different and contrasting styles. This is an assured and beautifully sprayed piece.

Jigsaw puzzle

.

Christmas holiday

the perfect do nothing day

and a new jigsaw

.

by Scooj

3392. M32 cycle path (98)

It was while she was finishing off this piece that I first formally met the wonderful Pekoe, thanks to an introduction from Paul H. It was so good at last to meet her, and especially nice because she knew exactly who I was and was appreciative of the posts I had written here on Natural Adventures and on Instagram.

Pekoe, M32 cycle path, Bristol, November 2020
Pekoe, M32 cycle path, Bristol, November 2020

Pekoe, as well as finishing off her own piece was helping a friend with practising his own art work adjacent to her portrait. The act of a kind and helpful person. Her green three-quarter profile is exquisitely offset by the shock of orange hair collected into a bun, making great use of the space available on the panel she was painting.

Pekoe, M32 cycle path, Bristol, November 2020
Pekoe, M32 cycle path, Bristol, November 2020

Big hair is a major part of Pekoe’s portraits and in this one she has really excelled herself in my view. The decorations intertwined in the bright orange, red and yellow hair show off her signature style. I love this piece and will always associate it with making her acquaintance for the first time of many I hope.

3391. St Werburghs tunnel (215)

A nicely disguised signature on this two-tone piece reveals it to be the work of Mind Control, whose work is becoming more frequent in Bristol, in particular in the St Werburghs area.

Mind Control, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2020
Mind Control, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2020

There is an element of optical illusion work going on in this piece where the central character appears to be cradling a rabbit, although looking at it another way it might simply be the folds in his jacket. A clever piece from an artist with great ideas and lots of attitude.

Winter chill

.

The mild weather yields

conceding territory

cold winter begins

.

by Scooj

3390. M32 Cycle path (97)

This is the first piece I have posted from an artist new to me who writes under the name EMAN. I note from his Instagram that he has been painting Bristol walls for a while, but I just don’t seem to have come across his work before. In the gloom of an evening a couple of weeks back I was lucky enough to meet him while painting this piece during an impromptu paint jam along the M32 cycle path.

Eman, M32 cycle path, Bristol, November 2020
Eman, M32 cycle path, Bristol, November 2020

Eman was rather pleased with his character in yellow, which he was developing and which I think might become a bit of a signature element to his work, a bit like Chuck is in Decay’s work. This piece spells out EMAN in a thin yellow strip with a shadow that gives the sense of a piece of ribbon, which is rather clever.

Eman, M32 cycle path, Bristol, November 2020
Eman, M32 cycle path, Bristol, November 2020

This is a nice piece and I already have a few more on file for posting sometime soon.

3389. Brunel Way bridge (82)

It’s that man again, Todoaciem, with one of his outstanding calligraphy pieces spelling out CIEM1. He really has been turning out some of the most consistently brilliant pieces of late and is fast establishing himself on the Bristol scene.

Todoaciem, Brunel Way, Bristol, December 2020
Todoaciem, Brunel Way, Bristol, December 2020

There is something of a mini Spanish armada in Bristol at the moment, and along with the strong Polish contingent, the city is becoming a wonderful culturally diverse melting pot for street art. We are blessed to be able to see so much art on our walls each day in so many styles from so many resident artists.

The piece itself not only stands out for its uniformity of typeface, but also for those incredible gold fills and the striped blue and white 3D shadow. One to admire.

Turkey pie

.

As predictable

as Christmas dinner itself

pie waits in the wings

.

by Scooj

3388. Sevier Street (2)

I made a special effort to photograph this piece as quickly after I saw it because I never got a clean picture of its predecessor by Tom Miller that had been there for a long while on account of the difficulty of parking nearby. Lazy me. As a result, this one from 3Dom was not going to get away from me.

3Dom, Sevier Street, Bristol, December 2020
3Dom, Sevier Street, Bristol, December 2020

Surprises are always good, and this piece from 3Dom was certainly that. No warnings, no Instagram, it was just suddenly there one morning. The piece itself is typically crazy and surreal and has a joyful charm about it. 3Dom has signed it with his Instagram handle which makes me wonder if it was perhaps a commission, or at the very least he would have sought permission to do it. I think it is an expression of weather and space, with elements such as clouds, a rainbow, the sun combined with stars (see Orion’s belt?) a galaxy and a rocket. Nicely painted and bright and colourful. Thank you 3Dom.

3387. Dean Lane skate park (372)

There is just enough time to squeeze in another post from Turoe featuring one of his end-of-year “shite year” pieces before this trying 2020 finally comes to an end. The pain has been relentless, but I have a sense that things will start to ease for all of us over the coming months. Scars will be left, and we will never forget 2020, but we will move on, and it will pass… we need to make time and space to turn our attention to more pressing (yes more pressing) issues such as climate change and biodiversity loss.

Turoe, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2020
Turoe, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2020

This one from Turoe in Dean Lane is another very nicely crafted burner, and there is absolutely no doubting Turoe’s talent. I have noticed that one of the No Frills (crew) trademarks is these bubble backgrounds, which several other members also use. I feel that these “shite (shyte)” pieces will act as a reminder for archivists, when we review 2020 in years to come.