I love this fun piece from DFC1848 for a great many reasons. Primarily, we are witnessing the development of an artist from the early stages. DFC1848 is a street art hunter (a term I dislike) like me, who about two years ago turned his hand to spraying walls with his ‘stock’ character piece, following some work on stickers. He has been practicing and repeating his favoured character on a reasonably regular basis since then but the step change has occurred during lock down, where he was painting a new piece in his garden pretty much every day, with some rather spectacular results.
DFC1848, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2020
Now since the lock down restrictions have eased DFC1848 has painted this in Dean Lane, with a confidence of an accomplished artist. It is great to see. I really look forward to seeing some of the characters he practiced in his garden making it onto the streets of Bristol this summer.
As the lock down restrictions have eased, the street/graffiti artists in Bristol have started to get busy, and Dean Lane in particular has been a destination of choice. This colourful collaboration is from Crem, Nevergiveup and Kity.
Crem, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2020
First up is Crem and a confession that I don’t really know this artist at all and this is the first Crem post in Natural Adventures, although not the last I am sure. Crem’s letter shapes are unusual and nicely finished and the piece sets the tone for the whole collaboration with its attractive fills.
Nevergiveup, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2020
No need to introduce the creator of the rabbit in the centre of the piece as he is the most featured artist on Natural Adventures, and even then I have loads of unpublished pieces of his in my archive. I am of course talking about Nevergiveup. This bunny adopts the colour scheme and offers one of the best bunnies I have seen.
Kity, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2020
Finally we move on to Kity, who like Crem I know absolutely nothing about. It would seem that I need to do a little bit of homework here. What I can’t be sure of is whether these two are new on the scene or whether they have just been off my radar. Probably the latter… it happens a lot. Kity continues the colour scheme to give what is in its entirety a really pleasing collaboration.
The public conscience of Bristol is often provided by Object…, a little bit like Jimini Cricket in Pinocchio. If there is an issue about common decency and care of your fellow citizens, then Object… will be there as a champion. So there are no surprises that this artist produced this coronavirus piece during lock down.
Object… Jamaica Street, Bristol, May 2020
Object… has close associations with the PRSC outdoor gallery, which he seems to curate, so this wall in Jamaica Street was a safe bet. I love this piece. It says all the things I would want to say and reminds us of a time when compliance with the rules was the norm. The recent relaxations following on from the Dominic Cummings scandal have added up to a sense of selfishness and free-for-all that I just don’t get. Sometimes I truly despair.
This piece is beautifully illustrated with excellent illustrations of NHS workers and is painted with love. Nice one.
Already gone, this joyful collaboration painted only a week or so back is by Morny, Billy and Mr Penfold. When you put these three artists together, you are bound to get colour and they have delivered in bucket-fulls.
Morny, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2020
At either end of the collaborative wall are pieces by Morny.
Morny, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2020
The one on the left expressing dislike for the coronavirus and the one on the far right expressing dislike for our Prime Minister (who, I might add is turning out to be the worst we have had in many years and the current bar is very high indeed – oh dear). I agree with both of these sentiments.
Billy, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2020
The left central work is by the wonderful Billy which states “without love there’s no reason to live”. Although the style is childish, the execution is expert and the writing and little houses are clean and very nicely done.
Mr Penfold, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2020
Finally, the funny face is by Mr Penfold, who we normally associate with bright design work. With very few lines on a minty green background, Mr Penfold has created an expressive face and lots of movement, all adding up to the phrase that less is more and in this case it is true.
This piece from Decay was painted around the time of the introduction of lock down and was a great message for people to take the lock down restrictions seriously. Street artists have definitely played their party in broadcasting good messages during this pandemic. More recently some works are a little more critical of the government’s handling of the situation, but no surprises there.
Decay, Stokes Croft, Bristol, May 2020
Decay is such a consistent artist always putting out clean and tidy writing beautifully executed. There is one thing that perplexes me about this piece, and it is the eyes with wings bookending the writing. Are these the work of Decay or another artist? I think it is Decay, but it isn’t quite in his style. Answers on a postcard…
I was familiar with the M32 Spot some time before I started photographing street art, because I used to drop my then 12 year old son off for wet-weather skateboarding. The M32 Spot DIY skatepark was pretty much the only (free) skate park option when it rained, and for a skating obsessed boy this was the destination of choice. That boy turns 18 next weekend. Where did that time go?
Feek, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2020
This lovely piece by Feek, like so many pieces by the artist, really chimes with the skating community. The painting features a monster contributing to the DIY building of the skate park. My favourite bit… his signature in the teeth.
Natural adventures 