2465. Cheltenham 2019 (4)

I don’t really have the right words to say about this piece by Deeds at the Cheltenham Paint Festival this year. It is simply quite brilliant. A study of cherries in a silver bowl. This is where fine art and street art meet…no blurred lines, this street art is fine art.

Deeds, Paint festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
Deeds, Paint festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019

I have no idea how this piece was created, but I do know that Deeds works a lot with stencils, and pushing the boundaries with them, however I just can’t see how this might be from stencils. Instead of pondering too long, I’ll simply enjoy the piece for what it is rather than how it came to be.

Deeds, Paint festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
Deeds, Paint festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019

It really is a classical still life piece and has more than a hint of Jeff Legg about it. I love it and celebrate it. Deeds has definitely raised the bar with this piece.

How dare you?

 

Humiliated

world leaders get dressing down

for complacency.

It takes determination

and courage to do these things.

 

by Scooj

 

Greta Thunberg is an extraordinary young woman. She has managed to bring a difficult message to the world stage and has been given tremendous exposure. I believe her when she says that she will not give up, and I believe that what we are witnessing is the beginning of a movement for change the likes of which we have not seen before.

Her speech is here: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/video/2019/sep/23/greta-thunberg-to-world-leaders-how-dare-you-you-have-stolen-my-dreams-and-my-childhood-video

Of course there are those who say that they agree, BUT (remember everything before the but is bullshit) that it can’t be done, that her demands are unrealistic. Those people are in my view wrong and this excuse has been used as a reason for inertia for decades. Had we been taking action 30 years ago, the urgency of action now would not have felt so acute.

The best Donald Trump could come up with on Twitter was this sarcastic comment

‘She seems like a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future. So nice to see!’

How immature, but then we know all we need to know about Donald Trump. On the other hand Greta Thunberg has behaved with utter dignity and has so much more credibility than any politician I can think of.

I subscribe entirely to Greta Thunberg’s mission and have been waiting for leadership on this issue for decades – little did I think it would come from a Swedish school girl, but then maybe that’s exactly where it needed to come from, from somebody outside the establishment.

The hard work begins now as changes to our learned way of life begin to gain traction. It doesn’t necessarily mean sacrifice, rather it means change, and much of that change will be for the better. Anyhow in its simplest form, the changes are necessary so that our children and their children can live in a world like the one we grew up in (or even better). Do we need any greater incentive than that?

All clear

 

A routine screening

for signs of bowel cancer

sigmoidoscopy.

 

by Scooj

 

* In the UK the NHS offers a bowel cancer screening appointment to all adults at age 55. I had mine today, and thankfully all seems to be ok. It is free screening programmes like this that do so much to protect the health of the nation that are at risk of being ‘privatised’ should we leave Europe without a deal. Trump already has his eyes on our health service, and I am sure he is not alone.

2464. Cheltenham 2019 (3)

The whole Cheltenham experience was new to me, but I had heard of the Honeybourne Line before I went to visit the town for the Paint Festival earlier this month. This disused railway line is now a beautiful footpath leading from the station into the town centre. The tunnels under a footbridge often play host to street/graffiti art, and the walls are buffed each year for the Festival. I will be posting more pieces from this spot in due course, but this first one is by Thisone.

Thisone, Paint festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
Thisone, Paint festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019

I have seen (and posted) some of his work from London, but this is the first time I have seen his work away from the capital. His archetypal work is in shades of black and white with an animal or bird as a central character, usually dressed with some jewellery. This curious piece meets all of these criteria, but the beast is an unusual one, looking like a cross between a bird of prey and a rat. I was lucky enough to meet the artist, and will talk more about our encounter when I post his other Festival piece in due course.

2463. Millennium Square

In Millennium Square, a cultural centre of Bristol, a new piece by Jody has been commissioned and the piece is riding high on the crest of the wave of enhanced public awareness of environmental issues.

Jody, Millennium Square, Bristol, September 2019
Jody, Millennium Square, Bristol, September 2019

I’m not too sure where the commission has come from, but the subject matters owes an awful lot to the iconic film Jaws (one of course). Instead of an unwitting swimmer, the sea is full of floating plastic and the ‘prey’ a plastic bottle of water. The sad truth behind this sensational and clever piece with a strong message is that it does tell a story of our heavily polluted seas. It is a homage (probably the wrong choice of word) to the Anthropocene epoch. Such a piece of public art could not have even existed a hundred and fifty years ago. What have we done? Nice piece by Jody.

Forgotten. Never forgotten

.

In a smoke drenched box

brought from my late father’s flat

a forgotten man.

.

by Scooj

2462. St George skate park (7)

Another rather decent piece by Nightwayss at the St George skate park. I got to this one early in the morning and looking at how unskuffed it is I would think it was probably painted the night before.

Nightwayss, St George, Bristol, September 2019
Nightwayss, St George, Bristol, September 2019

Something a little different from Nightwayss, with an interesting background and hollow writing. Of course no piece by this artist is complete without a monkey and this one is rather handsome, beautifully reversed out where his body comes into contact with the letters. Keep ’em coming.

2461. Dean Lane skate park (249)

I don’t think these two have stopped all summer, one collaboration after another keeping the walls at Dean Lane skate park lively. The No Frills duo are Slim Pickings on the left and Biers on the right.

Slim Pickings, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2019
Slim Pickings, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2019

Slim Pickings usually paints the letters TES in pretty much exactly the same format every time he hits a wall, but this one is ever so slightly on a slant, like a little touch of italics has been incorporated. Also, I don’t think that the line through the E and S is Slim Pickings’ work, it just feels a little incongruous. Tidy work as usual.

Biers, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2019
Biers, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2019

On the right, Biers, who I call Biers because he used to write Biers, has written OYeah, which is what he writes these days, so I suppose I should call him OYeah, but I’m not going to because I call him Biers. No character this time, but it matters not, his writing is so full of character and movement that it is like a character in itself. These two work so well together. I wonder if they share the cost of the paint…

Sayonara sun

 

You kindly lingered

longer than you should have done

time to say goodbye.

 

by Scooj

2460. M32 roundabout J3 (168)

What a wonderful piece. This is Face 1st at his traditional best. It was pieces like this that first attracted me to the work of this Bristol artist, and although he has diversified his subjects a little this year, this one is right back to his core work and rather comforting for it.

Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2019
Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2019

The piece is clean and fresh, it has a crispness about it. The colours in the hair, spelling out FACE, are nicely selected and contrast strongly with the yellow surround. So good to see a piece like this in one of his favourite haunts.