Mote is another artist who appears to have taken his foot off the pedal a little bit of late, after a very busy summer indeed. Having said that, he has simply returned to a more steady flow, rather than standstill. I am not sure that this piece survived for very long, as both sides of this wall have encountered very high turnovers recently.
Mote, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2023
Another in the bird monster series of pieces, Mote has managed to create a humorous creation composed of five or six discrete components. The highlight of the piece for me is the decorative fill in the pink section on the bird’s back, Mote is beginning to make these patterns something of a trademark in his work. A very nice piece.
One of the truly enjoyable facets of 2023, has been the appearance of Mr Crawls and his wacky bird portraits. Even better has been the way he has started to switch it up a little bit, with variations on a theme. For a little while at the start, there was a risk that he might get categorised as a one-trick pony, but recent evidence completely indicates otherwise.
Mr Crawls, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2023
This piece at the farm end of the tunnel presents his gull character with horns and spikes emerging from the top of its head. Perhaps most notably, the empty eye sockets define this piece and contribute to the overall intrigue it offers. A little bit chilling and odd, the piece definitely catches the eye, and isn’t quite as endearing as some of his other pieces. This is a good thing, as Mr Crawls develops and grows.
I am posting this piece by Andy Council out of sequence, having posted a piece he painted after this one, a week ago. You didn’t necessarily need to know that, but I feel better for being transparent and accurate.
Andy Council, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2023
I am not going to try and guess what kind of bird this is because I will probably get it wrong – I’ll leave you to decide for yourself. Andy Council’s ‘thing’ for gratings (or radiators) has come to the fore in this piece, with the upper part of the birds wings being made up of them. There is a strong mechanical/metallic look to the bird almost as if it is clockwork – you might expect to see a wind up key embedded somewhere. This is a clever way to occupy this low wall and expertly done in my view.
Mr Crawls, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, September 2023
Demonstrating that he is not a one-trick pony, Mr Crawls has painted this ‘stripped back’ version of one of his bird characters. Painted on a pink background, the chrome and black piece is quite unlike his other work, and shows the artist playing around with his characters.
Mr Crawls, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, September 2023
I am very much enjoying Mr Crawls birds cropping up all over the city, and likening the way that he is switching things up from time to time. It is interesting to see that he has started signing his work, and I wonder if that is something to do with his level of confidence, or maybe even starting to market his brans a little. Unusual and enjoyable.
It turns out that Mr Crawls is much more than a one trick pony, as I suspected, and has been painting different variants of his bird portrait mega-tags. The first one to appear in Natural Adventures was a Gull called Gul, then a parrot. This fun bird is ‘The Goose’.
Mr Crawls, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2023
The Goose can be identified by the shape of his beak, his rather droopy eyes, and a distinctive winter hat with ear flaps. The cartoon character has been painted beautifully with clean lines and strong solid fills. I have the set of three birds so far, and plenty of unpublished gulls… I wonder what other designs Mr Crawls might have up his sleeve.
Sophie Tuttle, Cheltenham Paint Festival 23. Cheltenham, July 2023
There were an awful lot of beautiful birds painted at the Cheltenham Paint Festival this year, whether by coincidence or design I simply don’t know, but it feels like the nature theme is running strongly through street art these days, perhaps as a subliminal or conscious response to the global biodiversity crisis we face.
Sophie Tuttle, Cheltenham Paint Festival 23. Cheltenham, July 2023
This enormous piece by Sophie Tuttle on the side of a building on Devonshire Street features two owls, one in good health, the other a skeleton, joined together by a red thread that each is holding in its beak. There is symbolism here I’m sure, and perhaps it is the delicate line we walk between life and death.
Sophie Tuttle, Cheltenham Paint Festival 23. Cheltenham, July 2023
Both of the owls are perfectly painted, and each has a halo behind with a floral design in subtle blues. Perfectly proportioned and anatomically correct these owns are as much a study of form as they are paintings of birds.
Sophie Tuttle, Cheltenham Paint Festival 23. Cheltenham, July 2023
I don’t believe I have come across Sophie Tuttle before, but that is hardly surprising since she is Boston- based. Her commitment to free and accessible art is a great thing indeed, and what a privilege to see her amazing artwork at the Cheltenham Paint Festival. Perhaps we could entice her to visit Bristol some time.
Cumberland Basin is a bit of a generic area name that I use to describe quite a large space north of the bridge over the River Avon. This particular piece from Mote is on the Eastern edge of the Cumberland Basin area, adjacent to one of the very large warehouses that fringe this part of the river.
Mote, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2023
The large piece is another bird-monster character, this time double-ended and with a fluffy thing in the middle. I am not too sure the middle section works too well, as it interrupts the flow through the creature. Mote might have added it in to fill the space, but more conventional patterns and colours might have done the job. It is clear that the middle section is by Mote, but it looks like it could have been a creative addition by a different artist altogether. Still an immensely enjoyable piece though.
This is the second piece I have published by Mr Crawls, and as I said in the last post, he tends to paint the same ‘mega tag’ each time he paints. The cartoon-style bird, looking slightly worse for wear, is difficult to identify and in my own mind I have it down as a gull of some kind, but it might simply be a generic bird. This one is actually a parrot.
Mr Crawls, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2023
In this version, the Parrot is once again wearing a bucket/tourist hat, but a slightly different style. It is with the hat design that Mr Crawls has most scope for varying the piece and making it distinct from other versions. There re several more gulls in my archive, but I think I will need to collect them together into a single post, in the same way that I have done for Asre, Bogat and Klashwhensober.
It is difficult to make it through a week without coming across something wild and wonderful from Mote. Not only is he becoming one of Bristol’s most prolific artists, but he is also improving and pushing his boundaries with incredible pace, and I am thoroughly enjoying the journey he is taking us on.
Mote, River Avon, Bristol, July 2023
This magnificent bird beast is on the larger side for a Mote creation, but fills the space really well. The face and beak are picked out in red and pink colours, separating them from the rest of the head, in shades of blue and green. The monster has three eyes, each decorated with Mote’s unique take on pupil representation. The decorations are interesting and eradicate any danger of too much solid fill space. This is an attractive piece that adds to the artist’s growing and improving portfolio. Time to see him at a festival or two?
