2721. M32 roundabout J3 (193)

The tunnels around the M32 roundabout are a fabulous place to find graffiti art, especially some of the more rough or edgy stuff, but are a real pain to photograph. The tunnels are narrow, and the light conditions can be absolutely terrible, especially on a bright day, because of the variability of very light to very dark in only a few paces.

Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2020
Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2020

It is all worth it though when you come across a piece like this one by Face 1st. The feature picture is the only one that has the piece in its totality and you can see the letters PWA mad up of a pencil, some paint and an ‘A’ on the spray can. PWA is the crew, Pirate Wall Art, that Face 1st, Soap and Sikoh belong to. There may be other members that I am less familiar with.

Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2020
Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2020

The whole piece is a joyous celebration of street art and painted in an area where there is pretty much always a piece from this artist on display – a bit like the 24/7 screening of Star Trek somewhere around the globe. Nice work.

Thursday doors – 30 January 2020

Doors 94 – #followmyrabbits doors

I’m afraid that this week I have cheated a little, because I am using previously posted photographs, although they have been associated with my street art posts rather than my Thursday Doors ones so many of you will not have seen them before.

Since about 2017 or so, rabbits started to appear on walls all around Bristol. At first they were confined to well known graffiti hotspots but after a while they spread out until no part of the city was spared from the rabbit invasion. The charming rabbits are the work of #followmyrabbits AKA Nevergiveup and other names he paints under. The artist, I believe has moved away from Bristol, but you wouldn’t know it because new ones are turning up weekly.

Most of the bunnys are not on doors, but these ones are, so I thought I’d share them with you. There are mixed views on these cheerful decorations ranging from the ‘vandalism’ end of the scale right through to the tourist attraction, bringing in rabbit hunters to the city. Of course I love them and see them as a humerous and harmless way of brightening up the place. What do you think?

Nevergiveup, River Avon, Bristol, January 2020
Nevergiveup, River Avon, Bristol, January 2020
Nevergiveup, Hotwell Road, Bristol, July 2019
Nevergiveup, Hotwell Road, Bristol, July 2019
Nevergiveup, North Street Green, Bristol, July 2019
Nevergiveup, North Street Green, Bristol, July 2019
Nevergiveup, Bedminster, Bristol, April 2019
Nevergiveup, Bedminster, Bristol, April 2019
Nevergiveup, Nelson Street, Bristol, April 2019
Nevergiveup, Nelson Street, Bristol, April 2019
Nevergiveup, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, December 2018
Nevergiveup, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, December 2018
Nevergiveup, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, December 2018
Nevergiveup, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, December 2018
Nevergiveup, Moon Street, Bristol, June 2018
Nevergiveup, Moon Street, Bristol, June 2018
NEVERGIVEUP, East Street, Bristol, April 2018
NEVERGIVEUP, East Street, Bristol, April 2018
NEVERGIVEUP, Moon Street, Bristol, April 2018
NEVERGIVEUP, Moon Street, Bristol, April 2018

 

Apologies for my absence over the last couple of weeks but I have been way too busy and neglected my door stories.

If you like doors, you ought to take a look at the Norm 2.0 blog – the originator of Thursday Doors where there are links to yet more doors in the comments section at the end.

 

by Scooj

Reasons to be cheerful

 

Blue sky winter day

sleepy crocuses emerge

troubles put on hold

 

by Scooj

2720. St Werburghs tunnel (138)

In one of his favourite spots, Mr Klue has painted this bright and breezy piece as part of a 64 Dot Com collaboration with DNT and Mr Sleven. In this more than in other pieces you can see the letters KLUE if you look carefully, with the U and E being especially clear.

Mr Klue, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2020
Mr Klue, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2020

The abstract style so unique to this artist is soft and ephemeral and like a cloud looks like it might evaporate altogether at the slightest gust of wind. In this piece there is a return of some steps, a feature I always like in his work. Capping off the whole thing is a halo in yellow, which adds a touch of humour. A lovely piece.

2719. North Street

During last summer, when Mr Draws painted this beast, it was impossible to get any photographs of it at all because it was behind a whole bunch of large leafy shrubs. Summer has yielded to winter and the leaves on the tree have fallen and the Council gardeners have cleared the shrubs. The outcome is that this magnificent whale is now visible to the world.

Mr Draws, North Street, Bristol, January 2020
Mr Draws, North Street, Bristol, January 2020

This whale is not the first Mr Draws has painted, indeed he sprayed one around the same time at the Cheltenham Paint Festival. It is however a bit of a departure from his graffiti writing or his mountains. I like the piece very much, it has a certain solemnity and mystery about it. Glad to have captured it at last.

Just a minute

.

My introduction

through Sale of the Century

working to the last

.

by Scooj

On the death of Nicholas Parsons.

2718. Dean Lane skate park (275)

The turnover at Dean Lane is beginning to pick up and this wonderful piece of graffiti writing by Remer from earlier in the month has now gone. I haven’t seen anything by Remer in Bristol before and am guessing that he is a visitor to the city and in some way part of or related to the No Frills crew.

Remer, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2020
Remer, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2020

This writing is highly stylised and beautifully presented, combining both curved and straight lines to great effect. The fill is interesting, with a variety of shapes and blocks in complementary colours in two main shades. This is an accomplished piece nicely done, bith crisp and clean. Remer is always welcome to come back to Bristol.

2717. Dean Lane skate park (274)

Finding a piece that is not only from a new (to me) artist but is also rather different is always one of the great pleasures of being a graffiti hunter. On the famous curved wall at Dean Lane, this delightful portrait appeared a couple of weeks back. It is by artist Lucy Danielle who is a midlands-born Bristol-based illustrator and graffiti murallist. Although she has painted quite a few walls, I don’t think I have knowingly ever seen one before.

Lucy Danielle, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2020
Lucy Danielle, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2020

I understand that this is a portrait of her sister which is a really nice thing to do. Set on a black background, the face really stands out, and the additional decorations help the to fill the  space without distracting from the subject too much. Imagine how different the whole thing would look without the purple circle and yellow squiggles. I need to find some of her other work.

For want of a nail

 

Turn it upside down

the smallest contributions

can combine to win.

 

by Scooj

 

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the message was lost.
For want of a message the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

 

As a child I was fascinated by this proverb, which I suppose is like an extremely simple version of chaos theory, but looked at another way small positive actions when combined can create something great.

We must all do what we can

we can all do what we must.

2716. Purdown HAA Battery (2)

Back to the battery, and this time a piece by Daz Cat painted back in August last year. This is a rather touching and gentle piece with the cat holding a little bird on its hand. I rather hope that this is a kind gesture rather than a hungry cat one.

Daz Cat, Purdown HAA Battery, Bristol, January 2020
Daz Cat, Purdown HAA Battery, Bristol, January 2020

The shadow on the piece fortunately doesn’t iterfere too much. Daz Cat’s work has really grown on me over the last couple of years, and I love the way he constructs the cat’s faces, this one in semi-profile, so the eyes are quite different. I love the signature mark above the nose that appears on all Daz Cats’ cats. More from this spot to come.