This smallest of birds
restless, flits from tree to tree;
see the yellow flash.
by Scooj
- Sweet joy…I saw one of these in the garden this morning.
1398. Upfest 2017 (155)
Andrew Burns Colwill is a great Bristol artist and one who has championed environmental awareness vigorously in recent years, particularly with his 20:50 vision pieces. At Upfest 2017 he really excelled himself with this magnificent polar bear sitting on what at first appears to be a piece of ice, but which is actually a pick up truck floating in a sea of plastic.
His ongoing commentary on the destruction of our planet, and visions of what it might look like in 2050 results in a series of haunting images, of which this is one. A prophet of what might be, if we don’t pull our fingers out and get things sorted. Andrew Burns Colwill, like many others in the environmental movement, has been talking about plastic for some time…at last it feels like the government is listening.
This is one of the best pieces of the 2017 festival, and the good news I understand is that it is here to stay. The Coopers Arms pub, where this piece can be found, will be keeping it. ABC’s fine art pedigree shine through in this work and he is truly the king of murals in Bristol. I salute you.
1397. Upfest 2017 (154)
Without question, watching Arladiss painting this piece was my most joyful experience at Upfest 2017. This was the second piece she worked on in South Street Park during the festival, and I was lucky enough to see her adding the final touches.
The charming portrait of a child appeared to be finished, but Arladiss had other plans. The youthful joy she brings to her paintings of children is complemented with a bit of child-like fun to bring about the final touches.
Arladis held a paintbrush loaded with paint and proceeded to splatter the piece with great gusto. Just watching her do this was an experience. She was so obviously enjoying applying this final touch and was beaming while she did it.
Her sense of fun rubbed off on the few spectators who gathered to see what she was up to and, for a moment we all reverted to a childish state. Her sense of fun is so infectious. I love the piece, and her other Upfest piece, and am thrilled to know that she will be returning for Upfest 2018.
Thursday doors
Door 26.
First: I can’t believe that I have been doing doors for 26 weeks, half a year, it feels like no time at all.
Second: I expect that the phrase ‘when is a door not a door?’ has been used many, many times in Thursday Doors, but it feels appropriate here.
Third: I have not been as attentive this week as I might usually be due to a great many domestic distractions.
This door, in the heart of the old city in Barcelona, has for whatever reason been filled in. I have included it in the Thursday Doors series though because this is a common practice, and I find a great many of these ‘not a door any more’ kind of doors.
I love the textures of the bricks and cement surround and the inclusion of an iron ring, replacing where a knocker might once have been. If you look carefully, even a ‘not door’ can’t escape the clutches of graffiti and at some point in the past bunny ears have been added with the iron ring doubling up as a bunny nose.
The ‘not door’ is sandwiched between a more typical graffitied door on the left and a sliding gate on the right, offering more doors for your money (and plenty of contrast).
by Scooj
More doors at: Thursday Doors – Norm 2.0
1396. Upfest 2017 (153)
The boards at North Street Green are mostly set out in pairs and in portrait orientation. This means that when writing about them, one has to take them in pairs. Sometimes the pairing is wholly complementary, almost like a collaboration. In other cases the pairings are in marked contrast, and this is one of those. On the left is a feline (tiger?) face by Bristol’s J. West and on the right is a simple portrait of a girl and overwritten with colourful squiggles by Everything’s Oh-Kay.
J.West is no stranger to this blog, and I most recently featured his street savvy panda complete with ghetto blaster from The Bearpit. This blue cat, composed of geometric shapes and contrasting colours is probably the best of his work I have seen to date. I really like it.
I have not seen any of Everything’s Oh-Kay’s work before, and my first impression is that it feels very graphic designery. In fact, a great many street artists are designers and illustrators by day, taking to the walls to liberate their asrtistic talents away from a commission or customer brief. I am a little on the fence with this particular piece, and would like to see more.
Visiting time
.
Looking for a chair
and refining bedside chat
feels a bit awkward.
.
by Scooj
1395. Upfest 2017 (152)
Following directly on from my post of Hannah Adamaszek and Saroj, here is another all female collaboration from last year’s Upfest between Kler and So Free So. Once more I feel lucky to see the work of two more artists relatively unknown to me.
This collaboration works so well with two very different styles using similar colours to create two distinct female portraits. The portrait on the left is by Kler, from Barcelona, where she sprays on the legal walls. A former designer, she now travels widely for street art festivals. Her piece here at Upfest is a triumph.
So Free So is a Swiss graphic designer who also does a lot of street work. She tries to convey emotions in her pieces, and the shadowy eyes and mouth in this work are part of this inner exposure. She has collaborated with Kler on several occasions, and on researching her for this post, it turns out I have seen their work before at Upfest. So Free So’s website is really well worth a look.
The ward
.
The old man in bed
dreaming wild morphine daydreams
sleep after the fall.
.
by Scooj
1394. Upfest 2017 (151)
There were many fine collaborations at Upfest last year, but few of them were finer than that between Hannah Adamasek and Saroj. I have written many times about Hannah’s work, but don’t believe I have come across Saroj before.
In the Upfest programme there is a really nice profile for Saroj Patel, and rather than paraphrase it, I have decided to offer it in full:
Saroj is a designer and artist whose practice encompasses illustration, painting, graphic design, typography and art direction. Nature is a compelling part of her work which incorporates decorative arrangements of organic forms, flora, and wildlife, creating a distinctive hand drawn style which displays a fluidity of movement through the use of patterns, lines and colour.
Saroj draws inspiration from exploring the natural and built environments around her, from wandering city streets to hiking in forests and mountains, capturing moments of stillness and chaos, embracing and absorbing the beauty in every moment.
I like this aquatic piece that places a swimmer in a setting of plants and fish, resulting in a rather atmospheric and fresh piece.
I was lucky enough to visit this piece, which was in the beer garden of the Steam Crane, several times over the festival and it is interesting to see how it developed. I am hoping that both will return this year.
1393. The Bearpit (127)
Although I am confident this is a Tom Miller piece, with his trademark explosion of swirling colours, it is not signed, and so there is that tiny little nagging doubt about it. However, since nobody else in Bristol paints like this, I will attribute it to him anyway.
I’m not sure if it is still there or not, it has been a week or two since I did any street art hunting in Bristol, but most of his recent stuff has been tagged and oversprayed unnecessarily quickly, which is pretty annoying really.
In this piece, a motif he uses a lot, a heart, is surrounded by a chaos of colour. A nice piece.
Natural adventures 