1055. The Bearpit (95)

Sirens has this great way of combining the natural world with hard-edged urban landscapes. The result is the creation of beautiful pieces, often full of colour and strangely optimistic. Often, these kinds of urban landscapes can be dull depressing affairs, but Sirens brings out the best from these imagined environments.

Sirens, The Bearpit, Bristol, September 2017
Sirens, The Bearpit, Bristol, September 2017

In this piece the eye is drawn past a crimson sky to a crane (Sirens loves cranes – or so he says on his Instagram). On the cab of the crane is a reference to Team Robbo, which would appear to be a tribute to a friend. His Instagram feed says “you might be gone but your work will live on with us it touched, we miss you king Robbo”.

Sirens just keeps those sunsets coming.

Layers

 

Peel back the layers.

We are the sum of our parts

there is beauty here.

 

by Scooj

1054. M32 roundabout J3 (49)

The once highly productive Laic217 seems to have taken his foot off the gas a little recently, which has allowed me a bit of a breather. Maybe he has a new job or maybe he has been away, either way it is good to see him hitting the streets again. This is a reasonably recent piece on the M32 roundabout in which he reverts to his format of writing his name and incorporating a character.

Laic217, M32 junction 3, Bristol, September 2017
Laic217, M32 junction 3, Bristol, September 2017

This is a nicely sprayed piece, and shows just how far this artist has come since some of his work I posted about eighteen months or so ago. The colour selection works well with the rather ghoulish subject matter.

Laic217, M32 junction 3, Bristol, September 2017
Laic217, M32 junction 3, Bristol, September 2017

On my way to work this morning I saw another brand new piece, so keep your eyes peeled for this in the coming days.

1053. The Bearpit (94)

I am really enjoying the direction that Lemak is taking his work in at the moment, and even better, he is pasting up his fragmented stencils in The Bearpit. I am not sure exactly how he produces these works, but I think they start with stencil work followed by a printing process before finally being pasted up.

Lemak, The Bearpit, Bristol, September 2017
Lemak, The Bearpit, Bristol, September 2017

This particular magnificent piece can be found on one of the staircases leading down into The Bearpit from the northern side. It is a sophisticated portrait of a girl wearing a native North American headdress, part in sepia and part in colour. The segments are arranged on the wall, and our brain fills in the gaps so that we see the full piece when we look at it.

Lemak, The Bearpit, Bristol, September 2017
Lemak, The Bearpit, Bristol, September 2017

I cannot really express how much I like this piece and the original art Lemak is turning out at the moment. Well worth a trip to The Bearpit.

1052. Upfest 2017 (70)

The light rays cascading across this piece catch me out every time I look at it…they feel real. This is a lovely small piece by Emily Donald, an artist based in Newquay, Cornwall – the coolest county in England. She works with inks and creates wonderful layered pictures, usually incorporating birds and flowers. You can see more of her artwork on this website.

Emily Donald, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Emily Donald, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

In this piece two hummingbirds are busy collecting nectar from beautiful flowers. The whole work has a feeling of tranquility and peace, but it is the light rays that set the whole thing off for me. A wonderful work. I hope we get to see her again next year.

1051. Upfest 2017 (69)

It is unfortunate that sometimes the photographs I take of great works simply don’t do them justice, this is one such example. This is a brilliant portrait by the London-based artist Ant Carver, who has used amazing colour shadings to create a rich and textured appearance on the skin of the subject. It is a really clever technique that adds real depth to the piece

Ant Carver, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Ant Carver, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

By the time I got to photograph this great work, the sun was in completely the wrong place and it looks cold and a bit drab, which it most cerrtainly wasn’t. Ant Carver is an artist whose work chimes for me and I would have liked to have spent a moment or two to chat with him, but he looked a bit busy with finishing off, so I left him to it. Maybe next time.

1050. Upfest 2017 (68)

One of the more sober and less ‘brash’ pieces at Ashton Gate was this beautiful work by Joan Aguiló. There is a fine story going on in this piece, which was laid out in two distinct halves, the right hand side of which is shown in the image below.

Joan Aguilo, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Joan Aguilo, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

It looks like the story being told is one of travel, farewells, insecurity. It feels sad to me. The only thing that reads across the two halves are the flowers being cast by the lady on the left. Is it a story of childhood? Is it a story of immigration? – it is all a bit of a mystery really. It has a really serene feel to it and is quite different to many of the pieces that surounded it.

Joan Aguilo, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Joan Aguilo, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

Joan Aguiló lives in Mallorca and uses public space to create his work predominantly in the city of Palma. This is a really interesting piece that might have been overlooked by some. Thoughtful.

1049. Upfest 2017 (67)

RTC is a stencil artist who is based in Cheltenham, so not a million miles away from Bristol…in street art terms, he is pretty much a local. This is a fine multi-layered stencil featuring Guardians of the Galaxy characters Groot and Rocket Raccoon. It is a clever technical piece from this self-taught artist…there is hope for uas all.

RTC, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
RTC, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

This piece has a photorealistic appearance which is amll the more remarkable for being a stencil. I have not seen any of RTC’s wortk before, but will be looking out for him in the future.

Dog house

 

I don’t want a dog;

overruled by family,

now I’m in a grump

along with our cat Ninja

and George the chameleon.

 

by Scooj

1048. Upfest 2017 (66)

I never got to see this remarkable portrait in its final form, which was the case with several pieces sited at Ashton Gate this year. Having said that, I don’t think it changed a great deal from the featured image above, judging from pictures I have seen of it. It is by the excellent Naskool who produced another amazing piece at Upfest 2016.

Naskool, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Naskool, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

It may be my general ignorance, but I am not sure who the portrait is of…it might not be of anyone in particular. Any ideas?

Naskool, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Naskool, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

Naskool has an extraordinary touch for photorealistic work and it is interesting to see how he completes the subject first and then backfills the surround afterwards. All part of the fun of watching these pieces unfold over a few days. This was really one of the great pieces of the festival this year.