874. Upfest 2016 (141)

When blogging about street art, one increasingly becomes reliant on others for information about artists or new pieces and so on. I am grateful to ‘The Art Blogger 54’ for posting this piece recently. Until then, this photograph had been sitting in my pending file, waiting for the artist’s identity. I hadn’t seen the finished piece at Upfest, and so had no signature to go on. I cannot recommend highly enough The Art Blogger 54’s blog, especially if you are into wildlife art and sculpture.

Freshmess, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Freshmess, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

It is by FreshMess, a collaboration between two artists, one of whose style is clean and fresh and the other whose style is erratic and messy. These two have combined beautifully to produce one of the most striking pieces of Upfest 2016.

Freshmess, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Freshmess, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

Unfortunately, I don’t think they will be at Upfest 2017, but maybe they’ll visit again another time.

Little big

 

Little Jenny wren

sings her heart out; doing so

she makes mine sing too.

 

by Scooj

862. Greville Road (6)

A rather poor featured image picture of a rather unusual collaboration by Beastie and Decay. This is not the first time these two have collaborated – or rather shared a wall – and I posted this Raleigh Road piece a few weeks back. The picture is poor, because I took it on a bright day with the sun behind the wall…never a good idea.

Beastie, Greville Road, Bristol, June 2017
Beastie, Greville Road, Bristol, June 2017

This shared wall – I use this expression rather than collaboration, because the two works were painted at the same time, but there is little read-across between the two, each having its own distinct style.

Beastie, Greville Road, Bristol, June 2017
Beastie, Greville Road, Bristol, June 2017

On the left is an unusual piece by Beastie featuring what I would describe as a fictional bird (I might be wrong here) near a small woodland and pond. I don’t know if it is symbolic or representative, but it is a rather pretty bird. I love it when artists incorporate the street furniture, in this case a litter bin, into their works.

Decay, Greville Road, Bristol, June 2017
Decay, Greville Road, Bristol, June 2017

On the right, is a nice piece by Decay. His work, arguably, is the most distinctive in Bristol. There is absolutely no way that it could be confused with anyone else. The abstract symmetry and concentric bands of reds, greys, whites and blacks have Decay written all over them. Really good drips here too.

Decay, Greville Road, Bristol, June 2017
Decay, Greville Road, Bristol, June 2017

Overall this is a lovely shared wall, but it will be here only for a fleeting moment as  we approach Upfest at the end of the month, and this wall is a popular one for the festival.

Meeting

.

On my arrival

I am greeted by a young 

pair of goldfinches. 

.

by Scooj

Birdsong

 

Sweetest pair of wrens

disproportionate voices

lightening my heart.

 

by Scooj

727. Greville Road (5)

It took me a little while to photograph this fine pheasant by Andy Council, but at last I bagged it. This is the third of his birds that he has recently completed in the North Street area, the others being a turkey and a cockerel, both covered previously on this blog.

Andy Council, Greville Road, Bristol, April 2017
Andy Council, Greville Road, Bristol, April 2017

This pheasant will most likely disappear in July when Upfest comes to town, as this is a very desirable wall. The pheasant is a really great pierce of work by Andy Council with the usual architectural superstructure and fantastic colours. This is a lovely piece. The other recent birds are shown below:

Andy Council, Greville Road, Bristol, April 2017
Andy Council, Greville Road, Bristol, April 2017
Andy Council, North Street Green, Bristol, February 2017
Andy Council, North Street Green, Bristol, February 2017
Andy Council, North Street, Bristol, January 2017
Andy Council, North Street, Bristol, January 2017

Spring joy

.

A glorious end

to a glorious day when

the mistle thrush comes.

.

by Scooj

Hearing is seeing

 

Gulls over Bristol;

eyes shut, I am transported

to a summer shore.

 

by Scooj

705. Upfest 2016 (109)

The international presence comes across very strongly at Upfest. This lovely piece by Scandinavian artist Salla Ikonen really shows how different styles, colours, subjects and influences come in to play to give a distinctiveness to work that has its origins outside the UK. Even within the UK, different parts of the country appear to have localised flavours.

Salla Ikonen, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Salla Ikonen, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

I love the softness of this piece, and the calm colours, both the pink of the subject and the purples and greens in the background. There is something very appealing about this work, and it is so different to most of the street art we see in Bristol.

Nature calling

 

In the early hours

I rise from my bed; sublime

bird song surrounds me.

 

by Scooj