Bubbling over with
enthusiasm, new hope
and creative joy.
by Scooj
Tag: Bristol
2240. Upfest 2018 (142)
One of my biggest regrets of Upfest 2018 is that there were a few outstanding pieces that I never saw in their finished state, including this perfect collaboration between Braga Last1 and Kowse.
I’m afraid you’ll have to make do with work in progress shots as that is all I have (first world problems huh?), but I think you get the idea of just how great this piece is even from these pictures. Braga Last1 has been a regular at Upfest and always turns out brilliant work, quite often containing a self-portrait. Kowse’s other piece at Upfest 2018 I think was probably my favourite of the whole festival, so having these two together is a dreamy collaboration.
There are several oblique references to The Simpsons in this piece, the Homer skull, Krusty haircut and clown’s nose and a Simpsons fish… there may be more. All in all a wonderful collaboration from two extremely talented artists.
Elder
Beneficiary
of thick conifer clearance
large flat white umbels.
by Scooj
2238. Dean Lane skate park (214)
Strictly speaking this is not actually Dean Lane skate park, but is actually a Dental surgery on the corner where North Street and Dean Lane meet, it is however, adjacent to the skate park. Over the last year or two this whole wall has become progressively grubby as taggers started a job that then moved on to rather useless throw ups. Something had to be done.
I was down at the Deaner a couple of weeks ago and was lucky enough to run into Nina Raines and Ali Hamish Campbell who were just finishing off this fun commission for the dental surgery. Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures of what it looked like before, but this is a dramatic improvement, and just demonstrates how uplifting great street art can be.
Nina told me that she designed the piece (she is a scenic artist) and the pair of them collaborated to paint it, Nina drawing on Ali’s experience of using spray paint. Overall this is a really nice commission, and hats off to the dental practice for making it happen. A win-win situation.
2237. M32 Cycle path (27)
Another tremendous piece of writing from Smak along the M32 cycle path from a few weeks back. In some of his more recent pieces I have noticed that he is going for this style of blocking out letters in different ways, along similar lines to SkyHigh, and here, the M and A in particular are outstanding.
All the letters are blended and yet individual, clever work, but for me the jewel in the crown is the box around the A and circle around the M which make this piece extra special. I had difficulty photographing this piece, because it was very bright every time I visited, and the way the light falls in this alleyway makes photography really tricky. Yet another outstanding work from Smak.
Tick dock
Strange fascination
forever a nature boy;
canine passenger
by Scooj
2236. Dean Lane skate park (213)
Tight. That is the best word that I can think of to describe this amazing piece of wildstyle writing from Dibz. He is the master of executing the most complex of pieces from the sketches and drafts in his black book. This wall was painted in the very good company of Cheo (to the left) and was nicely prepped with the brick-red wash which offers a very clean finish to this work.
With a vanishing point adopted for the shadowing, the piece stands out really nicely and the blue background adds interest and depth. I don’t think I have ever seen a piece from Dibz that isn’t technically excellent.
2235. M32 Spot (41)
Silent Hobo manages consistently to paint these amazing character pieces on the tall thin upright concrete pillars under the M32 motorway. This latest arrival of a Bristol youth gathering is wearing a yellow t-shirt overa shirt with collar (is that a thing?). Best of all is his fetching Jacques Cousteau red woolly hat – I want one of those… really.
You can just about make out another Silent Hobo character on the adjacent side of this pillar that I posted a little while back. I know I’ve said it pretty much every time I write about Silent Hobo, but he is brilliant at capturing a youth mood, without glamourising it. These are not ‘snowflakes’ but ordinary urban people caring about ordinary urban things, like in this case music (base head) and probably drum and bass at that. Always great to see a New Silent Hobo piece. I believe he has done some cricket world cup pieces in milennium square… I’ll have to take a look.
Shades of pink
Child-like excitement
Choosing colours of spray paint;
an Aladdin’s cave.
by Scooj
2234. North Street
Well, this picture is a bit on the slant isn’t it? Such was my excitement at just admiring this incredible piece by Loch Ness, my photography skills went to pot. Sorry about that. Loch Ness is a bit of a specialist at these long walls, managing to create a psychadelic journey through an unintelligible story, but a story nonetheless.
I think that there is a bit of a climate change and biodiversity story going on. A bird on a healthy tree to the left seems to be interacting with the central bear character. On the right some buildings and clouds, maybe representing emissions, take the eye to a dead or dying woodland.
I will be forever indebted to Loch Ness for the two hour spray paint lesson he gave me in May 2018. From that he gave me the confidence to buy my own cans and give it a go. My experimenting so far has been tricky – this is a whole lot harder than it looks – but enormous fun. I am mostly getting used to the pressure and the caps and thinking about layers for cutting in. I’m also having fun sketching out drafts and ideas, which from a non-artist is rather fulfilling. Thank you Loch Ness.
Natural adventures 