4428. St Werburghs tunnel (291)

Last Saturday was one of those very special red-letter days for me. I took the dog for a walk, that ended up being a bit of a marathon, during which I visited four spots and met nine or ten artists, several of them for the first time. Among the artists, it was an enormous pleasure to meet Asre, or Runaway Joey as he is known, for the first time, and very touching to find out that he knew who I was and had been keen to meet me and had even read some of my posts… my work here is done.

Asre, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2022
Asre, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2022

This is one of a multitude of variations on a theme by Asre, with the stylised cartoon face that we are becoming accustomed to seeing all over the place. This poor fellow looks like he has come a poor second in a boxing bout, with a severe black eye. Once again, the strong clean lines and solid fills are nicely worked, and the boxing glove provides additional interest – I like the way Asre has highlighted the glove with pink and white, giving it a cool 3D effect. There is so much more to come from this prolific artist and all round great bloke.

3067. M32 roundabout J3 (234)

It seems such a pity when a lovely collaboration like this one from I Am Ian and Kid Crayon only lasts a day or so, but this wall has been in high-demand recently and turnover very fast indeed. I have already missed recent Laic217, Kid Crayon and Mr Draws Pieces right here in the last few days. I spoke with Kid Crayon the day after I took this photograph (he was painting a new piece – to come) and he told me that he and I Am Ian had trained together as graphic designers and remained friends and although they have taken slightly different paths they get together occasionally to paint a wall.

I am Ian and Kid Crayon, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2020
I am Ian and Kid Crayon, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2020

This collaboration is a lot of fun and a time-lapse video from Kid Crayon’s Instagram feed shows how the whole piece came together and is well worth a view. Kid Crayon has woken up and is painting like a mad thing which can only be great news. I am less familiar with I Am Ian’s work, but that is because he rarely hits the streets with his art. Their last collaboration was a fabulous piece in St Werburghs tunnel. There is so much to love about this.

Kid Crayon and I Am Ian, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2020
Kid Crayon and I Am Ian, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2020