Natural adventures

3222. Hepburn Road (17)

Welcome to the second piece by Nathan Bowen from a recent trip to Bristol tucked away in Hepburn Road, locally known as ‘crack alley’ although it seems to have become slightly less intimidating than it used to be.

Nathan Bowen, Hepburn Road, Bristol, September 2020

This piece continues the theme of construction workers in yellow hats in line with the piece I posted a few days back. I am guessing that in choosing this theme Nathan Bowen is commentating on the rise and rise of gentrification in the area, something he will be all too familiar with in the street art areas of London. I am a big fan of his scribble cartoon style, which must be really difficult to do with spray paint. He must be using some super-skinny caps. One more to come from this talented artist.

3221. Cheltenham 2020 (10)

No street art festival in the south of England is complete without something, and often several somethings from My Dog Sighs. The artist seems to be particularly fond of the Cheltenham Paint Festival and this year’s main piece was no disappointment.

My Dog Sighs, Paint Festival 2020, Cheltenham, September 2020

This is a superb take on urban pigeons in a style that My Dog Sighs has made his own. These clusters of pigeons, identifiable by their necks and iridescent purple and green breasts have faces as varied as their real life counterparts and have a sort of bewildered indifference about them.

I very much like the way the beaks are attached to the faces with string and the human faces, almost as if these are people in pigeon costumes, but that would be ridiculous, wouldn’t it?

This was one of my favourite pieces at the Festival this year, and a little different from some of the ‘big-ticket’ pieces he has done in previous years. I feel a My Dog Sighs gallery coming on soon.

Zase

A gallery of outstanding murals from Bristol artist and designer Zase

All photographs by Scooj

Zase, Dean Street, Bristol, August 2021, Upfest 21

Zase, John Street, Bristol, September 2020

Zase and Silent Hobo, Alfred Street, Bristol, September 2020

Zase and Dekor, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

Zase, Newfoundland Road, Bristol, September 2018

Zase and Dekor, Mina Road, Bristol, June 2018

Zase and Dekor, Cottrell Road, Bristol, September 2017

Zase and Dekor, M32 Spot, Bristol, June 2017

Zase and Dekor, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2017

Zase and Dekor, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

Zase and Dekor, Gloucester Road, Bristol, August 2015

Zase and Dekor, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2016

Zase and Dekor, Claremont Road, Bristol, August 2015

Zase and Dekor, Ashley Road, Bristol, November 2015

Zase and Dekor, York Street, Bristol, September 2015

Zase and Dekor, Cottrell Street, Bristol, August 2015

Zase and Dekor, detail, Cottrell Street, Bristol, August 2015

Being still

Nothing organised

a few small jobs here and there

taking time to rest

by Scooj

3220. Cheltenham 2020 (9)

This year’s Cheltenham Paint Festival felt a little strange because of the far-reaching impacts of the coronavirus epidemic. In a way the Festival lends itself to social distancing because of the dispersed nature of the pieces across the town, but keeping one’s distance while talking to the artists, or the emptiness of some of the venues added a surreal layer to the whole experience.

Sam Art, Paint Festival 2020, Cheltenham, September 2020

I found this piece in the Two Pigs, and had to don a facemask to walk through the gaming pub to get to the back yard where a few pieces had been painted. I was there completely alone, which felt odd. I was however rewarded with this outstanding small piece by Sam Art, which is clearly a commentary on the state of our planet at this time. Some of you might remember his extraordinary photorealistic piece from last year’s festival. A fabulous artist.

Sam Art, Paint festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019

3219. Cheltenham 2020 (8)

The Agent is well known in Bristol not only for his Minion stencils, but also for being the father of another significant street artist in Bristol, Angus. At the Cheltenham Paint Festival this September he knocked himself out with this sequence of stencils on the inner panels of an iron railway bridge, along the course of the old Honeybourne Line.

The Agent, Paint Festival 2020 Cheltenham, September 2020

In his single layered stencils The Agent appears to get most of his inspiration from TV or movie cartoons. There don’t appear to be any hidden messages or politics in his pieces, just a whole lot of fun.

Even creating these ‘simple’ stencils is not quite as easy as it might seem, and taking that step from ‘I could do that’ to actually doing it is the key to achieving many things in life. I am not preaching, far from it, I am perhaps reminding myself to pull my finger out and do stuff.

No The Agent wall would be complete without a minions piece, and here he delights us with a fine ‘bananas’ piece. And finally a rainbow flag…

Schadenfreude

Potus schmotus schmuck

nothing less than you deserve.

Indiscriminate.
.

by Scooj

3218. Cheltenham 2020 (7)

John D’oh always has a strong presence in Cheltenham and his “gallery” of stencils this year was quite outstanding. With his razor sharp commentaries on the state of the nation and beautifully cut stencils, there is no mistaking his work.

John D'oh, Paint Festival 2020, Cheltenham, September 2020 — John D’oh, Paint Festival 2020, Cheltenham, September 2020

This stencil I think dates back a little while and references the Sincura Group who held a Banksy collection exhibition of street art pieces and then contraversially sold them off in a sealed bid auction. Not really the point of street art and willful profiteering. Very nice stencil… any bids?

3217. Cheltenham 2020 (6)

Cheltenham is home to a small number of artists, but thanks in large part to Dice67 and his Cheltenham Paint Festival, it is firmly on the street art map of the UK. One of those local artists (although he might be from Gloucester, I can never quite remember) is Flava136 whose piece for this year’s festival was simply beautiful.

Flava136, Paint Festival 2020, Cheltenham, September 2020

It is just such a pity that we don’t see more of his work in Bristol. His monster character is becoming more and more stylised and the design elements becoming more prominent. This piece is so clean and tidy and is a great showcase of his fine work. Flava136 is an artist I’ve yet to meet, but I’m sure it will happen soon enough.

Too much the wet stuff

Localised flooding

cars slosh through street side puddles

wet pedestrians

by Scooj

	paulh121 on 7430. Frome Side (68)
	paulh121 on Mont Blanc
	beth on Mont Blanc
	scooj on Cocoon
	hitandrun1964 on 7422. Stapleton Road

	paulh121 on 7430. Frome Side (68)
	paulh121 on Mont Blanc
	beth on Mont Blanc
	scooj on Cocoon
	hitandrun1964 on 7422. Stapleton Road

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