Bristol – Page 180 – Natural adventures

6074. Upfest 2024 (11)

Liam Bononi, Lime Road, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024

Liam Bononi is right up there with some of the best street artists in the country and beyond, and it is a great privilege that he has returned to Bristol and Upfest with this outstanding portrait piece in Lime Road. I got a little lucky with these pictures, because there is usually a car parked in the bay, partially obscuring this wall.

The portrait piece is different from work I have seen before by the artist, in that usually he distorts the image in some way through ‘cracks’ or obscured features and so on, but here he appears to have gone with a straightforward portrait. His photorealistic work is outstanding and manages to convey more than simply an accurate portrayal by capturing both emotion and movement in the subject.

There is one nod to obscurity in this piece in the form of the golden violin bow, which is lacking in any detail. I am not too sure what to read into this deliberate mechanism, and may have to do a little research. One of the highlights of Upfest this year.

6073. Wilder Street (43)

Zoe Power, Wilder Street, Bristol, May 2024

This piece by Zoe Power would be equally at home in my street art posts or as part of the Thursday doors series (watch this space, because it will eventually appear in the latter). Zoe Power is a successful artist i Bristol, whose commissions can be found on walls all over the city. Her style is clear and simple and overtones of the Fauvist school of art which was known for its bold use of colours and expressive brushwork. Henri Matisse, I am convinced, is an inspiration behind some of Zoe Power’s work.

This door is an absolute beauty which blends colours and shapes seamlessly. There are plenty of recognisable icons and motifs, such as an eye, a pencil, a mouth, a heart and a plant all presented in an abstract format. The colour palette works well and the door is surely one of the prettiest in the area. A fine commission from Zoe Power.

6072. Various Locations

Klashwhensober, St Paul's, Bristol, May 2024 — Klashwhensober, St Paul’s, Bristol, May 2024

When you see the title ‘various locations’ you can be fairly sure that the post is likely to feature Bristol’s most prolific graffiti writer, Klashwhensober, and you wouldn’t be wrong. This is a roundup of ‘SOBER’ pieces by the artist from May 2024 – by bunching them together I am able to continue to post other artists’ work, at the expense of not commentating on each of the pieces by Klashwhensober.

Klashwhensober, River Avon, Bristol, May 2024

Klashwhensober, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2024

Klashwhensober, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2024

Klashwhensober, Leonard Lane, Bristol, May 2024

Klashwhensober, Upper York Street, Bristol, May 2024

You can tell from this mini-gallery, that Klashwhensober has a recognisable style of writing, but what brings out his work as special is the uniqueness of each piece with regard to colours and fill patterns and the occasional accompaniment of a character. What is also clear is that the artist has good days, and less good days when the finishing can appear a little rushed.

I believe that this is the best way to post Klashwhensober’s work without compromising my desire to share the full spectrum of street/graffiti art in Bristol.

Fig – 30 Days Wild (4/30)

Fig tree, Ficus carica, River Frome, Bristol, June 2024 — Fig tree, *Ficus carica*, River Frome, Bristol, June 2024

Resilient fig

unlikely urban foothold

nature will prevail

by Scooj

30 Days Wild is an initiative organised by the Wildlife Trusts. It is an annual challenge event, for those who choose to participate, to do one ‘wild’ thing a day throughout the month of June. I will try to write a nature haiku every day if I can, as my contribution to this celebration of wildlife and biodiversity. I did this back in 2015 and thoroughly enjoyed the challenge.

6071. M32 Spot (185)

Zaenone and The Mole, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2024

For most people, coming across a street/graffiti artist while they are actually painting is probably something of a rarity. Because I am out most days in all the most popular spots, it is quite unusual not to meet someone while they are painting, and on this day I happened upon Zaenone and The Mole as they were working on this collaboration.

I had not met Zaenone before, although we have exchanged a few words on social media before. He was fairly quiet when I met him, and I mostly spoke with The Mole. This is a classic piece from Zaenone, typically bookended with characters and the letters ZAEN sandwiched in the middle. The combination has a psychedelic buzz going on, with the hippy characters and the multicoloured fills, topped off with peace symbols.

The Mole has written INCA and included his familiar mole character on the right of the piece, beautifully filled I might add. I asked him where the inspiration for the word Inca came from, and it is completely as you might expect, he has an interest in the Incas. The Mole character was created and developed during the first lockdown (if I remember correctly). As ever it is always great to welcome these LRS lads back to Bristol for a paint.

Deer tick – 30 Days Wild (3/30)

Deer Tick, Ixodes ricinus, Dog, Bristol, June 2024 — Deer Tick, *Ixodes ricinus*, Dog, Bristol, June 2024

Uninvited guest

hitched a dog-fur ride and meal

parasitic tick

by Scooj

The Deer tick is also known as the sheep tick and castor bean tick (Ixodes ricinus)
30 Days Wild is an initiative organised by the Wildlife Trusts. It is an annual challenge event, for those who choose to participate, to do one ‘wild’ thing a day throughout the month of June. I will try to write a nature haiku every day if I can, as my contribution to this celebration of wildlife and biodiversity. I did this back in 2015 and thoroughly enjoyed the challenge.

6068. St Werburghs tunnel (427)

Mr Draws, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2024

I would truly love to post all of Mr Draws’ pieces, but unfortunately, like so many others, I simply don’t have the bandwidth to do so, and many remain in my archive. I think that the only solution is to have ‘sweep up’ posts in which I trawl through unpublished pieces over the last few months and create a mini gallery in a single post. It is a tactic I have used for posting Klashwhensober’s pieces, because of his extraordinary productivity rate.

This is a nicely presented classic Mr Draws piece, written in his easy and familiar style. A chrome fill dominates, with yellow and lilac patterning. The red drop shadow is very neat and tidy as is the yellow border. The final additional touch is in the form of tly disrupting the form to add interest. Nice stuff from Mr Draws.

6067. Dean Lane skate park (720)

There is something rather unique and weirdly charming about Awkward’s character pieces. There really is nothing like it out there in Bristol or anywhere else I have been. Not only are the characters unique in style, but his use of strong primary colours grabs the attention and draws the eye.

In this piece two characters are exchanging thoughts, one with a speech bubble saying ‘Awkward’. underneath the conversing heads is the simple message ‘stop war’, which places the piece very much in the context of the present, with the terrible wars in Gaza and Ukraine ongoing. Although his interventions are infrequent, Awkward’s characters are always welcome.

6066. Purdown (71)

The anti-aircraft gun emplacement at Purdown, is a bit of a hit and miss spot (no pun intended). Sometimes when I go up there, there have been no new additions, other times I seem to find a raft of new work. It is always a bit of a practical struggle for me, because I take the dog along (of course), and he gets very excited in this enclosed area because of the goats – I have to be swift taking pictures and move on, before he gets too frenzied.

I’m not sure how old this piece by 3GV is, but I don’t recall seeing it before this visit I made last month. 3GV has bookended his letters with a tribute to Vaughn Bode, with Lizard to the left and Cheech Wizard on the right. The irregular letters, with a cool colour palette, are set on a blue diamond shaped background. I feel that 3GV’s work is quite raw, but it is great to see the artist out there practising and improving.

6065. Cumberland Basin

Lee Roy, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024

Lee Roy is another artist who has gone a little quiet lately, and when I do find pieces by him, I am not sure whether they are old ones or new ones, because they tend to be in spots I don’t visit all that frequently, like this on the warehouse building on the north side of the river opposite the garden centre.

VLAD appears to be the letters/word that Lee Roy is enjoying at the moment, and he is continuing with his flowing anti-style approach. I would say that his work, which might look untidy to casual viewers, is actually highly regarded by his peers and photographers alike. It is a very ‘street’ style of graffiti writing. I would love to see him out more this summer, although I do occasionally see him out walking his dog.

	scooj on What is she?
	hitandrun1964 on What is she?
	Bean on 7616. Dean Lane skate park…
	Sheree on Sait Bare
	Suzette Benjamin on Thursday Doors – 30 Apri…

	scooj on What is she?
	hitandrun1964 on What is she?
	Bean on 7616. Dean Lane skate park…
	Sheree on Sait Bare
	Suzette Benjamin on Thursday Doors – 30 Apri…

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