Bringing a wonderful splash of colour and some real class to Upfest was this fabulous small piece by Emily Donald. Some of you may remember her equally brilliant work from last year’s festival.
Emily Donald, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
This talented artist from Cornwall has made this technique of using rays of light combined with flowers and birds her own. There is a lightness, peacefulness and joy about her work which makes it very easy on the eye. It would be pretty cool to have one of these hanging on the wall at home. Once again some great work from Emily…I hope she is able to return next year.
Well several of these beautiful stencils by Kin Dose appeared sometime between Saturday evening and Sunday morning, each sprayed on a utility box. This one of a hare I think from recollection is opposite the Louis Masai piece.
Kin Dose, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
I think that this is a very clever stencil, because of the thought that has gone into the background swirls which really help to highlight the subject so well. Kin Dose only occasionally takes to the streets, but when he does he excels every time. A perfect ‘unofficial’ Upfest piece. More to follow.
Just as Upfest was waking up to the Saturday morning influx of visitors, I took a look in Dean Lane to see what was happening, because it is usually pretty busy down there during the festival. I took shelter from a downpour with a couple of artists who worked on this lose collaboration.
Unity, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2018
On the left was a half finished piece by Unity, an artist from Cardiff. I very much liked what I saw, but regrettably it had been painted over by the time I came back to see it at the end of the day. I had a great chat with her while we waited for the rain to abate and discovered that I probably have one or two of her older pieces in my archive…time to dig them out.
Rusk, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2018
The middle section was by Rusk who had already finished and left the scene – maybe to work on his ‘official’ piece in South Street park. This quick one was of the high quality you expect from Rusk – he never disappoints.
Cyst, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2018
Finally, on the right of the collaboration was a piece by Cyst, from Cheshire. I was pleased to have been able to meet him, because it can be difficult sometime to identify work from visiting graff writers. All three pieces were very short-lived, but that is what you expect in Dean Lane, especially so during Upfest. Nice collaboration
Only a few days ago I posted some work by qWeRT in Cortona, Italy that must have been pasted up some years ago, judging by the shift in style (and also the fact that the Italian pieces were signed QWERTY). This is much more what qWeRT’s stuff looks like at the moment.
qWeRT, Stokes Croft, Bristol, July 2018
I love this particular wheatpaste with our googly eyed hero riding a scooter, and seeming so right for this particular area. The door is really quite a messy scrawl of tags, and indeed I think I must have walked past this piece several times before I actually noticed it…it is fairly well camouflaged. Hurrah for qWeRT coming to Bristol and leaving us these little presents dotted about the place.
Mr Draws is an artist I have always rather liked. His work always brings a smile to my face…it is bright and cheerful, simple and striking and it has a habit of cropping up anywhere in Bristol.
Mr Draws, The Bearpit, Bristol, July 2018
This is one of his faviurite spots in The Bearpit, and this quick one uses the space perfectly. Never too sophisticated, but always really easy on the eye. Mr Draws has plans to leave the UK for Germany soon, but I’m not sure if that is still going ahead. If so, I will surely miss his cheerful work – I still have loads in my archive that will keep me going for a while.
There seems to be no stopping Soker at the moment, it seems that everywhere I go in Bristol there is a new piece by him. What this means is that there will be several posts following this one in the near future featuring his work.
Soker, New Stadium Road, Bristol, August 2018
I rather like this one in the foot tunnel under the M32 spot, and for once my photographs aren’t too polluted with the awkward light conditions that seem to be omnipresent on this wall. I like the colours – blue and yellow/gold are always a strong combination, but what I really like about this piece is the kind of effortlessness it conveys, Soker just seems to be, like several of his ASK fellows, an artist at the top of his game.
The other day, just before heading off to Italy, I had a quick trawl around my favourite spots in Bristol just to get as up-to-date with new pieces as I could before missing out on a week of photographing street art. Dean Lane was fairly busy, as it was being prepped for the annual Hardcore funday that weekend. Feek was working on one of the large ramps (to follow) and I met DJPerks (a fellow admirer of street/graffiti art) for the first time. I think that we ‘hunters’ (I’m not sure if I like the tag) are almost as elusive as some of the artists. While talking to him, this green piece caught my eye.
Nightways, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2018
It is by Nightways, a visitor to Bristol, but I am not too sure where he calls home. He sprayed this piece as a three colour challenge, and I think it has turned out rather well. His Facebook page is a little cryptic, and he seems to have a thing for bears, although looking at his Instagram it all seems to be monkeys. Whatever his thing is, I rather like this piece, and hope he comes to visit again soon.
Natural adventures 