#DFTE and Dave Sharp, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2025
These two artists collaborated on almost this exact spot back in July 2022 – how time flies, I had it in my mind that it was last year. From what I can gather #DFTE and Dave Sharp are good friends, and this fine collaboration ‘anxious iron giants’ combines the distinctive writing of #DFTE with the artistic talents of Dave Sharp.
#DFTE and Dave Sharp, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2025
I would love to see more from #DFTE – the power of words is so beautifully presented with his unique style, going big on the drips, but he doesn’t seem to paint all that often. Dave Sharp, I don’t know much about, but he has captured the Iron Giant robot really well, perhaps tinged with a little anxiety… who knows. Their combination works really well, and as a bonus, here is their last one…
Dave Sharp and #DFTE, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2022
My wife was a little late for work a couple of weeks ago, so I gave her a lift in the car. Our route takes us onto St Michael’s hill, and I glanced (as I always do when passing by) down a little alleyway favoured by John D’oh and by total luck he was there spraying a new stencil. Of course, after dropping my wife off, I made a bee-line for the alley way and stopped for a quick chat with John D’oh. As always it was a genuine pleasure to catch up, and great to see the artist at work. While we were talking, a bird pooped on one of the freshly painted faces… the perils of being a street artist!
John D’oh, St Michael’s Hill, Bristol, May 2022
The piece is a fantastic awareness work that talks about mental health, in particular depression and anxiety, a topic that resonates for me and my family, and I expect for a great many people in today’s troubled landscape. The words on the stencil piece read:
“Pretending you’re okay is easier than having to explain to anyone why you’re not.
Mental health – don’t suffer in silence
Depression is when you don’t really care about anything, anxiety is when you care too much about everything, and having both is just like hell.”
John D’oh, St Michael’s Hill, Bristol, May 2022
I believe this to be one of John Doh’s finest pieces. The topic aside (a massively important one), he presents four stunning colourful stencils perfectly and seamlessly joined and topped and tailed with a banner and footer. The whole thing is expertly produced and beautifully proportioned.
John D’oh, St Michael’s Hill, Bristol, May 2022
The stylised comic-book characters are cleverly selected to be both eye-catching and, to a degree, nostalgic. It was interesting to see that John D’oh brought elements of this piece to his collage of pieces for Upfest this year – the joy of stencil art.
John D’oh, St Michael’s Hill, Bristol, May 2022
I drove past the spot this morning, on a repeat wife-lift scenario, and saw that he has added another piece to his expanding gallery, so I’ll have to pop up there for another photo session soon. Utterly fabulous work from John D’oh.
Natural adventures 