1677. New Stadium Road (7)

There seems to be no stopping Soker at the moment, it seems that everywhere I go in Bristol there is a new piece by him. What this means is that there will be several posts following this one in the near future featuring his work.

Soker, New Stadium Road, Bristol, August 2018
Soker, New Stadium Road, Bristol, August 2018

I rather like this one in the foot tunnel under the M32 spot, and for once my photographs aren’t too polluted with the awkward light conditions that seem to be omnipresent on this wall. I like the colours – blue and yellow/gold are always a strong combination, but what I really like about this piece is the kind of effortlessness it conveys, Soker just seems to be, like several of his ASK fellows, an artist at the top of his game.

1676. Dean Lane skate park (154)

The other day, just before heading off to Italy, I had a quick trawl around my favourite spots in Bristol just to get as up-to-date with new pieces as I could before missing out on a week of photographing street art. Dean Lane was fairly busy, as it was being prepped for the annual Hardcore funday that weekend. Feek was working on one of the large ramps (to follow) and I met DJPerks (a fellow admirer of street/graffiti art) for the first time. I think that we ‘hunters’ (I’m not sure if I like the tag) are almost as elusive as some of the artists. While talking to him, this green piece caught my eye.

Nightways, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2018
Nightways, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2018

It is by Nightways, a visitor to Bristol, but I am not too sure where he calls home. He sprayed this piece as a three colour challenge, and I think it has turned out rather well. His Facebook page is a little cryptic, and he seems to have a thing for bears, although looking at his Instagram it all seems to be monkeys. Whatever his thing is, I rather like this piece, and hope he comes to visit again soon.

Exam results

 

The boy did OK

he could have done much better

I’m proud nonetheless.

The real work begins right now

hope he can apply himself.

 

by Scooj

 

1675. Dean Lane skate park (153)

I only took this picture a couple of weeks ago and it has been buffed over at least twice since then. It is by the irrepressible Laic217 who never tires of creating these wonderful skulls and skeletons in various guises.

Laic217, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2018
Laic217, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2018

This skull is donning a gas mask, or is it a sophisticated protection mask from the fumes of spray paint? I guess perhaps the latter and the yellow patterns are the paint fumes. It works either way really. The detail in the eye sockets of the skull is awesome and the bucket hat with the smiley so full of character. Laic217 has smashed it with this one.

1674. Westbury Hill

I have known about this mural for several years, but just never stopped to take a picture of it until very recently, and it looks as good close up as it does from a distance. It is by the hugely talented and lovely Bristol Artist Andrew Burns Colwill.

Andrew Burns Colwill, Westbury Hill, Bristol, August 2018
Andrew Burns Colwill, Westbury Hill, Bristol, August 2018

Painted in  2011, this mural depicts a giant looking out of a window and uses the trompe l’oeil technique to provide a false perspective that there is a window in the wall and that render has fallen, exposing brickwork underneath. It is in fact a flat wall.

Andrew Burns Colwill, Westbury Hill, Bristol, August 2018
Andrew Burns Colwill, Westbury Hill, Bristol, August 2018

I love the little details in the piece…the rose in the window sill and the ivy dropping down from the top of the window, and of course the cracks and the brickwork make this a truly magnificent piece, that I expect the good people of Westbury-on-Trym take for granted.

Andrew Burns Colwill, Westbury Hill, Bristol, August 2018
Andrew Burns Colwill, Westbury Hill, Bristol, August 2018

There is something rather forlorn about the giant’s expression and there is an untold story unfolding – the words ‘and the giant looks on, still waiting…..’ – tell us all is not well and I fear a broken heart is just around the corner. A most wonderful piece.

Thursday doors

Doors 42

This week I have a rare treat for you…doors from Cortona. I spent last week on a family holiday to Umbria in Italy and this first set of doors is from a day trip we took to this Tuscan town set on a hill top in the province of Arezzo. Close your eyes and imagine the heat, sounds and the smells of this medieval town. Perfect.

Passageway off Via Nazionale, Cortona, Umbria, Italy
Passageway off Via Nazionale, Cortona, Tuscany, Italy
Door at the end of a passageway off Via Nazionale, Cortona, Umbria, Italy
Door at the end of a passageway off Via Nazionale, Cortona, Tuscany, Italy
Door in Cortona, Umbria, Italy
Door in Cortona, Tuscany, Italy
Door in Cortona, Umbria, Italy
Door in Cortona, Tuscany, Italy
Porta Colonia, Cortona, Umbria, Italy
Porta Colonia, Cortona, Tuscany, Italy
Interesting door, Via Dardano, Cortona, Umbria, Italy
Interesting door, Via Dardano, Cortona, Tuscany, Italy

by Scooj

More doors at: Thursday Doors – Norm 2.0

Visual malfunction

 

Scotomas obscure,

words disappear before me;

retinal migraine.

 

by Scooj

1673. M32 roundabout J3 (91)

Unusually I find myself rather conflicted about this extraordinary recent piece by 3Dom on the M32 wall. I am such a big admirer of his work, but for reasons I cannot identify, this one doesn’t really tick my boxes. It is technically beautifully done, and the blue patterning around the outside is masterful, but there is something about the face that doesn’t work for me. It is peculiar, but I feel a little disloyal, though I don’t suppose that you can like everything all the time.

3Dom, M32, Bristol, August 2018
3Dom, M32, Bristol, August 2018

It is great to see more of his work about the place though, and this piece did manage to survive longer than the Sepr piece two to the left which had been buffed by the time I got there.

1672. Cortona, Tuscany, Italy

It is an extraordinary thing to travel to a foreign land and enjoy all that feels exotic and different, to bathe in a culture and history so different from your own. More extraordinary still is to stumble upon the familiar in such a context, but that is exactly what I did on a recent visit to Cortona in Tuscany.

qWeRT, Cortona, Italy, August 2018
qWeRT, Cortona, Italy, August 2018

Of course, while walking through the streets of the town I needed no encouragement to take a peek down the side streets to see what surprises might lurk. I have to say that wheatpastes by qWeRT were not exactly what I had in mind, but that is precisely what I found.

qWeRT, Cortona, Italy, August 2018
qWeRT, Cortona, Italy, August 2018

Altogether I think I discovered five pasteups by this ‘Natural Adventures’ regular, each in a different stage of decay. I would guess that these had been up for a few years, and I find it all rather touching that the civic authorities haver chosen not to take them down.

qWeRT, Cortona, Italy, August 2018
qWeRT, Cortona, Italy, August 2018

What also interests me is that there are copies of the same wheatpastes, but they appear each to have been hand painted separately rather than printed. I admire qWeRT’s choice of destination for these wheatpastes and am thrilled to have inadvertantly found them.

qWeRT, Cortona, Italy, August 2018
qWeRT, Cortona, Italy, August 2018

It also looks like qWeRT has dropped the Y from the signature since pasting these up.

Ruben

 

An evening walk

with the dog I didn’t want;

got under my skin?

 

by Scooj