For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the message was lost.
For want of a message the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.
As a child I was fascinated by this proverb, which I suppose is like an extremely simple version of chaos theory, but looked at another way small positive actions when combined can create something great.
Back to the battery, and this time a piece by Daz Cat painted back in August last year. This is a rather touching and gentle piece with the cat holding a little bird on its hand. I rather hope that this is a kind gesture rather than a hungry cat one.
Daz Cat, Purdown HAA Battery, Bristol, January 2020
The shadow on the piece fortunately doesn’t iterfere too much. Daz Cat’s work has really grown on me over the last couple of years, and I love the way he constructs the cat’s faces, this one in semi-profile, so the eyes are quite different. I love the signature mark above the nose that appears on all Daz Cats’ cats. More from this spot to come.
It took me a while to get a clean shot of this wonderful piece by Subtle because on my first two visits there were cars parked immediately in front of it. I ask you… cars parking in the tunnel! what is the world coming to?
Subtle, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2020
Anyhow on my third visit I managed to get some nice shots, although as always, the artificial light played havoc with my camera settings and I had to do a little bit of post-production work to try and convey the true magnificence of of the piece.
Subtle, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2020
I understand Subtle has had a lay-off from painting walls following an accident, but he is well now which is great news, and he appears to be painting like there was no tomorrow. Two things I particularly like about this one is the skull and the drips, both beautifully crafted and enhancing the piece enormously. More to come.
I don’t think I feature enough of Ryder’s work on Natural Adventures – there is no obvious reason for it, I guess the same could be said for any number of Bristol artists. I would think that for every piece that I post here there are probably two or three that never make it.
Ryder, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2020
This particular offering is a simple chrome graffiti piece with trademark faces worked into the lettering. The chrome colour in the tunnel picks up all sorts of light bouncing around and it is difficult to believe the artist hasn’t used more than one colour. Altogether a nice one from one of Bristol’s best.
I chose a glorious day for my first visit to Purdown HAA Battery where I managed to combine a sensational dog walk with Mrs Scooj and a quick tour of the street/graffiti art on the battery walls. Purdown HAA Battery itself was a Heavy Anti-Aircraft position that overlooks Bristol and that protected the city from bombing raids during WW2. You can find out a some more here. The dog is doing a bit of ‘bombing’ himself.
Slakarts, Purdown HAA Battery, Bristol, January 2020
I knew that there was some art to be found here, but have simply never taken the time to go and take a look. What a silly boy I am. There is quite a lot to look at up there, some old stuff and some more recent like this magnificent face by Slakarts (it’s him again!). This is a lovely clean piece with a great selection of colours and plenty of wrinkles in the face to animate it. Worth the excursion.
I am beginning to form the opinion that EAT crew are becoming something of a collaborative force in Bristol. EAT are of course SPZero76 and Kid Crayon and the pairing, whose styles are light years apart, seem to be able to create great work together like these two characters playing conkers (remember that?).
SPZero76, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2020
SPZero76 is an extraordinary character artist and has an amazing ability to create an insane amount of detail in his pieces, and his style is quite sharp and pointy, if that makes any sense at all.
Kid Crayon, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2020
On the other hand, Kid Crayon has a much softer style with plenty of curves and roundness about it. Stitch the two together and you have a complementary mix that somehow works very well indeed, better than you might expect.
SPZero76 and Kid Crayon, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2020
Kid Crayon, in particular has been very busy this year already, and that is music to my eyes, because he pretty much tops my list of Bristol artists and I have been enjoying watching him grow as an artist over the last six years or so.
SPZero76 and Kid Crayon, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2020
In addition to the fabulous collaboration, these two have signed the piece by commandeering a waste bin and leaving two little self-portraits. Creative, imaginative and fun. Looking forward to seeing more eat collabs in 2020.
Kid Crayon and SPZero, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2017
Well this is an absolutely cracking piece of writing from visiting Australian artist Lens. Spelling out LENS, I consider this to be pretty much perfect. The whole thing is so easy on the eye and it is hard to believe it has been created with spray paints.
Lens, M32 roundaboout, Bristol, January 2020
The design of the letters is outstanding and the circle around the ‘e’ is very clever indeed in that it draws the eye to that part of the piece. There are lines that break up the letters which also delineate different colour regimes. The fills are awesome and the spots both inside and outside the letters add interest and fun. This is what great graffiti writing looks like – you can come back anytime Lens and will always be welcome in Bristol.
Natural adventures 