Tag: bird

6108. Upfest 2024 (24)

Angie Jerez, North Street, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024
Angie Jerez, North Street, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024

With the sheer number and quality of large murals at this year’s Upfest, it was easy to become complacent, and I nearly missed this wonderful piece, by Angie Jerez, above Kask, which when you stroll on the ‘wrong’ side of the road in North Street, is quite easy to do, which I why I always walk up one side and back the other side.

Angie Jerez, North Street, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024
Angie Jerez, North Street, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024

This mural, featuring two birds and plant seed heads, way above the clouds has been beautifully designed around the stacked windows above the wine bar. The limited number of colours draws attention to the fine detail of the design itself, and the stylised birds are glorious. I don’t know anything about Angie Jerez other than what appears in her Upfest Biography, and that she is originally from Bogotá in Colombia, but now lives in Atlanta. What a brilliant thing that she came to Bristol to paint at Upfest.

6086. Cumberland Basin

 

Mr Crawls and Mote, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024
Mr Crawls and Mote, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024

I’m not sure how old this collaboration by Mr Crawls and Mote is, but it can’t be all that old, because it contains some fairly recent features incorporated into each of their work. The reason I am a bit puzzled is that the fencing in front of the wall looks like it has been there a while. All I can think is that they moved it out of the way to paint and then put it back afterwards.

Mr Crawls, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024
Mr Crawls, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024

To the left is a a stylised cartoon bird by Mr Crawls, which is a development of his earlier birds that we used to see about the place. There is something slightly more figurative about the artwork, and it is a direction that the artist is going in that I am definitely enjoying.

Mote, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024
Mote, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024

Like other artists, street artists appear to go through ‘periods’ and I would call this Mote’s ‘eye’ period, where he is playing with different presentations of eyes. The mouth of this one seems to almost be leaning in to Picasso territory, or maybe something a little more surreal. Lots more fun from these to to come, but I was happy with finding this collaboration which was just a little bit off the beaten track.

6063. Cattle Market Road (18)

Mr Crawls and Mote, Cattle Market Road, Bristol April 2024
Mr Crawls and Mote, Cattle Market Road, Bristol April 2024


The productive partnership between Mr Crawls and Mote continues without interruption. What is comforting bout their work is that both artists are continually evolving, and their influences on one another converge and then diverge, so in this collaboration, we see that slight divergence of styles.

Mr Crawls and Mote, Cattle Market Road, Bristol April 2024
Mr Crawls and Mote, Cattle Market Road, Bristol April 2024

Mr Crawls has recently been experimenting with monochrome pieces and developed more of an angular approach to his stylised bird characters, quite a shift from his early pieces. Mote, meanwhile, is creating ever more sophisticated monsters, and working hard on particular features such as the eyelids. I continue to derive so much pleasure from these two character artists.

6002. Dean Lane skate park (713)

Mr Crawls, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2024
Mr Crawls, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2024

These pictures are my second attempt at capturing this fine bird piece by Mr Crawls, the first effort resulted in photographs that had the piece in brighter light but scattered with shadows. Sometimes overcast days are much better for certain spots, such as Greenbank and Sparke Evans Park, as well as anywhere with overhanging trees or herbage.

Mr Crawls, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2024
Mr Crawls, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2024

Mr Crawls has been having a great few months, especially since joining up with Mote, a partnership that appears to have stretched both artists with some terrific outcomes. In this bird piece, Mr Crawls has used his favoured chrome background as a backdrop for his raptor(?) character sporting a rather nice hat. Although Mr Crawls has been experimenting with all sorts of creative monsters, it is comforting when he returns to one of his classic birds.

5964. Brunel Way (268)

Mr Crawls, Brunel Way, Bristol, March 2024
Mr Crawls, Brunel Way, Bristol, March 2024

Everything about this piece by Mr Crawls is good. Utility box painting, in my view is providing a public service, and indeed in some countries is actively promoted, to turn these utilitarian metal monstrosities into something attractive and a talking point. This artwork is of course illegal and considered subversive, and yet what joy it brings.

Mr Crawls, Brunel Way, Bristol, March 2024
Mr Crawls, Brunel Way, Bristol, March 2024

Mr Crawls has been using chrome backgrounds a lot lately and it works especially well here, providing a neutral backdrop to a stunning red and grey bird character piece. I think that the way this has come together and the location contribute towards making it my favourite piece by the artist so far (I think).

Red kite

.

A rare privilege

private viewing of a kill

light feathers flying

.

by Scooj

• In the grounds of Peterborough cathedral I was lucky enough to witness a red kite making a kill, taking it to a perch and plucking it. I was alone and was unable to share the moment.

I happened to be in the company of a bird expert in the workshop I was running later on, and he identified the bird from the film I took and said that it was very unusual for red kites to kill prey as they are not designed for it and are carrion feeders, so this was a rare occurrence.

Concert

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A new soloist

leading his concert chorus

dunnock centre stage

.

by Scooj

Race

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Bird feeder refilled

who will discover it first

squirrel or song bird?

.

by Scooj

5892. Cumberland Basin

Mote and Mr Crawls, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, March 2024
Mote and Mr Crawls, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, March 2024

It looks like the dynamic duo, Mr Crawls and Mote, are going to keep us entertained for some time to come, as their collaborations keep popping up all around the city, and as they paint more often together, they appear to be bouncing ideas off one another to bring about some convergent evolution of styles.

Mote, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, March 2024
Mote, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, March 2024

In these two utility box pieces, the artists have retreated a little back to their original identities, and the discrete nature of the boxes lend themselves to this separation. Mote has painted one of his friendly monster faces on a chrome background (the pair’s background of choice it seems) in his favoured pastel shades. Boldness juxtaposed with modesty – a good look.

Mr Crawls, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, March 2024
Mr Crawls, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, March 2024

On the adjacent utility box, Mr Crawls has seized the opportunity to paint one of his birds, I think this one is an eagle wearing a bucket/pork pie hat. Both pieces have omitted pupils in the eyes, leaving the characters with a bit of a ghostly or ambiguous expression, a deliberate move to leave the viewer a little unsettled perhaps? Great stuff from this pair.

5875. Cattle Market Road (16)

Mr Crawls and Mote, Cattle Market Road, Bristol, February 2024
Mr Crawls and Mote, Cattle Market Road, Bristol, February 2024

The ‘dynamic duo’ continue to entertain us with their increasingly frequent monster/character collaborations. Since Mr Crawls and Mote teamed up, they have been creating some fabulous monster pieces spread around the city and they don’t appear to have a favourite spot, so finding them seems to be a bit of a random process.

Mr Crawls and Mote, Cattle Market Road, Bristol, February 2024
Mr Crawls and Mote, Cattle Market Road, Bristol, February 2024

This one, on the ever-shrinking hoardings behind Temple Meads station, features a bird from Mr Crawls and a monster from Mote, set perfectly on a chrome background, something they seem to enjoy adopting in their work. As they continue to work together, they are learning from one another, and here they have gone with a black border that matches in thickness, and draws the collaboration together. I have plenty more pieces in the can waiting for posting.