Great gladiator
conical dust arena
jaws at the ready.
by Scooj
1357. Dean Lane skate park (112)
I always like finding Elvs pieces, there is something about how intricate and so very clean about them. Fantastic detailing and sharpness that so many pieces I see every day just don’t have. One of the features that helps his work stand out, is that his vanishing point for the shaded edges of the letters is somewhere in the middle of the piece, whereas much of the writing you see has a vanishing point to one side or the other. Small thing I know, but these things help give artists their uniqueness.
As ever his lettering is outstanding and the colours really stand out on the blue background. I get the impression that his work probabkly takes quite some time to do, no sign of a quick throw up mentality here. I have not yet med Elvs, but would sure like to se him at work.
1356. Horfield skate park (2)
I don’t go to this spot often, but just happened to be picking up my daughter and a friend from Horfield Sports Centre and had five minutes to kill. I took a short walk around the perimeter of the skate park, in the melting snow, and was pretty happy to find this writing from Rusk.
Most of the stuff here is pretty elementary and it is a bit of a practice wall, so it is always nice to see something a bit more polished from an established graffiti writer. The class of this piece stands out, and even on a wall that not many will see, Rusk has taken his time to produce something of quality. A nice March surprise.
Thursday doors
Door 23
I do love a door within a door, and this beautiful red one in Hotwell Road really ticks some boxes for me. It is not particularly old nor is it all that interesting in that it has few features to speak of, but it has bundles of character. Most people probably wouldn’t give it a second glance, but to those who like to look might like it.
It was a double-take door for me. I actually walked past it, stopped in my tracks and went back to it to take these pictures. A nice simple door.
by Scooj
More doors at: Thursday Doors – Norm 2.
1355. North Street Green (10)
I recently took a few work colleagues on a guided street art tour to Bedminster as part of an organisational event designed to share skills, learn more about the work we do and to get to know each other better and the city we live in as part of a wellbeing initiative. The tour was very oversubscribed, and I may have to run some more. It was something of a success and all the participants told me that they had really enjoyed it.
What luck it was then that we came across one of Bristol’s most well known street artists at work, just finishing off a new work as part of his nomination as Upfest artist of the month for March in the build up to Upfest 2018, Andy Council.
His style and presentation should come as no surprise to regular readers of this blog. He has created a wonderful dinosaur, a stegosaurus type I think, which is composed of architectural features, including the Clifton Suspension Bridge on the head of the beast. I stopped for a quick chat with Andy, but it was the coldest day of the year so far and I felt I needed to keep the tour moving. It was nice to be able to show people an artist at work, and even better that it was Andy Council.
1354. Upfest 2017 (140)
The boards erected in South Street Park played host to some of the very best work at Upfest 2017, and this piece by Krimsone and Scott Nagy was right up there with the very best. This amazing collaboration shows street art storytelling at its very best.
The magical story unfolding here is of a young child in bed, and a bedroom that is transforming into a dream-like fantasy world, and his bed is in fact a little boat. The whole image has the look of an illustration from a children’s book.
Both artists are from Australia, and if it weren’t for Upfest, how on earth would I ever get to see their amazing work? Such is the draw of the festival that artists from all over the world make the journey to Bedminster. I sometimes wonder if Bristolians know how lucky they are.
This is such a skillfully painted piece, such a shame that it was only temporary.
Goose Barnacle
Attached to flotsam
a curious crustacean
and filter feeder.
by Scooj
- Occasionally one can be lucky enough to see these fascinating creatures washed up on driftwood. They really are most unusual.
- I like the name, because if you switch the words you get barnacle goose, which is great wordplay. I test myself regularly to see if there are any other such animal names that can be transposed in this way. I haven’t found one yet. (Sadly there is no such thing as a monkey spider…for example.)
- It was named because it was thought (before such things were understood) that barnacle geese were created from them as their nests and chicks were never seen in Northern Europe. The goose barnacle has a long ‘neck’ and the main part of the body resembles a head and beak.
Conventional wisdom
In the seventies
the country was much greener;
rose-tinted glasses.
by Scooj
- A convenient narrative adopted by pro-Brexit campaigners urging a return to the ‘good old days’ before we were told what to do by Europe. The facts rather contradict this romantic notion, and certainly my recollection of growing up in London in the 1970s is not a pleasant one – choking car fumes, filth and litter everywhere and heavily polluted rivers, our countryside didn’t fare much better. What did European regulations ever do for us…? (Habitats Directive, Water Framework Directive, the Birds Directive, Bathing Waters Directive, Air Quality Framework Directive and others).
1353. Upfest 2017 (139)
Just across the road from South Street Park in a school yard the fabulous combination of Paul Monsters and Loch Ness were busy at work. I’m not sure that many people got to see the final piece, which had been slow to finish due to the weather combined with the fact that after Upfest, access to the school yard has been restricted.
Two fine bristol artists who use bright colours in their work, but with very different styles. Paul Monsters works with geometric patterns creating 3D shapes and shadows that draw the eye in to examine in detail what is happening.
Loch Ness, who also uses lots of colour in his work tends to spray monsters or animals with pieces that tell a story.
The whole piece is a major asset for the pupils of the school, who probably don’t appreciate how lucky they are to have such a beautiful piece adorning this playground building. I got lucky, and managed to take these pictures when the gates were opened for the contractors to remove a cherry picker (which had been used by Nol in the same yard).
1352. Upfest 2017 (138)
Angus was a very busy fellow at Upfest last year. Not only did he create this magnificent mosaic, but he also found time to collaborate with Chinagirl Tile and also lay down several other mosaics dotted about the place. Added to all of that business, he still had time to schmooze and chat with visitors over the two days.
This piece will be familiar to anyone who has played Street Fighter – I do not count myself amongst this happy crew – specifically it is move called ‘hadouken’…now go and consider yourself educated. Writing about street art really does take you on many new discoveries, tapping into the popular culture that influences the artists.
More from Angus to follow at some point.
Natural adventures 