Tag: Bristol

597. James Street (1)

Once in a while, you feel that you might be witnessing something rather special, and so it is with the art of Tom Miller. I would be the first to concede that his surrealist style isn’t to everyone’s taste, but what he has to offer, both on canvass and on walls, is very different, refreshing, challenging, intelligent, busy and bright. I think and hope he will go a long way.

Tom Miller, James Street, Bristol, January 2017
Tom Miller, James Street, Bristol, January 2017

He was busy painting this new wall on New Year’s Eve and into New Year. Dedication to his craft.

Tom Miller, James Street, Bristol, January 2017
Tom Miller, James Street, Bristol, January 2017

I am not entirely sure what the piece is depicting, but it looks a little like Buddha with a whole load of things going on around him and a rather nice little hut ion his head for a hat. Miller’s pieces are always bursting with energy and weirdness. Lots of body parts and face parts adorn his subjects. There is meaning to all of this I’m sure, but it is probably deeply rooted in the artist’s sub-conscious.

Tom Miller, James Street, Bristol, January 2017
Tom Miller, James Street, Bristol, January 2017

A wonderful new landmark on the Bristol street art trail, slightly off the beaten track, but worth the walk.

Happy

 

Irrepressible

good mood on a Monday morn’

I should bottle it!

 

by Scooj

595. Upfest 2016 (89)

This is an unusual piece by the artist Codefc. When I first saw the piece from a distance I thought it was something to do with Start Wars, when it is in fact a stencil of film/video cameras stacked together. The black and white stencil is set off beautifully by the gold background, which I think is a technique he uses a bit.

Codefc, Upfest, Bristol, July2016
Codefc, Upfest, Bristol, July2016

Codefc did some really interesting works in Rio for the Olympics, and you can see some of this on his website. Other than that, there is little biographical information out there about him, so I don’t have much more to add.

Rain 

.

Uncomplaining they,

while I watch them play netball

 in the pouring rain.

.

by Scooj

594. Upfest 2016 (88)

This is a rather fun piece from an Austrian artist, originally from Graz, called SizeTwo. He is largely a self taught artist who is constantly striving to improve his skills. As part of his road to improvement, he has moved to Berlin to ‘broaden his horizon’.

SizeTwo, Upfest, Bristol, July2016
SizeTwo, Upfest, Bristol, July2016

His work, I have just taken a look at some of it on the Interweb, is highly accomplished, and I hope that he will be returning to Upfest next year, so we can get another glimpse of his work. I do like a monkey in a spacesuit – it seems to be a common theme for street artists, and this is at least the third I have posted.

 

593. Upfest 2016 (87)

Jody is no stranger to the streets of Bristol and I have featured works of his before, most recently this Virgin Mary just off North Street. He was one of the established Bristol artists at last year’s Upfest and took over a tricky wall that had previously been occupied by Osch and his tiger.

Jody, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Jody, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

I watched this piece by Jody take shape over the two days of the festival, and visited the scene a few days later to get a decent view of the piece. It is absolutely stunning. Clean, fresh and with a story going on.

Jody, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Jody, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

This wall, however, must be the most difficult to photograph of all the walls used at Upfest. Try as I might, I just don’t seem to be able to get a decent shot. I notice that Jody took one from the top of the building opposite, but not all of us are fortunate enough to get such a privileged view.

Jody, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Jody, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

I do like this piece, and admire it every time I walk up North Street. A great piece by the self-styled ‘aerosol artist’.

Jody, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Jody, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

 

Let me be

 

Summer daydreams are

rudely interrupted by

the here and the now.

 

by Scooj

592. Upfest 2016 (86)

I absolutely love this beautiful work by N4T4, and was lucky enough to visit it several times during its creation at Upfest 2016. It is an outstanding piece by an artist who left his mark so memorably at the previous year’s event.

 

N4T4, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
N4T4, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

It is always a privilege to see a street artist at work, at least that’s how I feel, and of course, when so many are in one place over two days that privilege is filled to the brim, and some. The eyes in the picture above show the evolution of the work…drafted out on the left and near complete on the right.

N4T4, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
N4T4, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

The finished work has something  about it that I really like. It might be as simple as it is really beautiful and easy to look at, it might be the style, with so much going on within the piece itself, I’m not sure, but I know I love it.

N4T4, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
N4T4, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

I haven’t seen any of N4T4s work other than the two pieces at Upfest, so it would be great to see him return next year to lighten up the place.

N4T4, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
N4T4, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

 

591. Upfest 2016 (85)

One of the first pieces I saw at Upfest 2016 was in the back garden area of The Steam Crane pub at the eastern end of North Street. These remarkable pigs are by brothers who paint under the name Id-Iom.

Id-iom, Upfest, Bristol, July2016
Id-iom, Upfest, Bristol, July2016

Their entry in the Upfest programme reads: “In a nutshell? Determined never again to suffer under the yoke of an oppressive employer, this is the ongoing tale of two brothers who are going to take the world by storm or die trying!”. Well you have to admire their ambition.

Id-iom, Upfest, Bristol, July2016
Id-iom, Upfest, Bristol, July2016

Id-Iom have a great WordPress site, and unlike many artists, they keep it very up to date and post their artworks regularly. Well worth a look. I can work out that they might originally be from the Isla of Man, but now operate out of London.

Id-iom, Upfest, Bristol, July2016
Id-iom, Upfest, Bristol, July2016

The pigs in this piece remind me of Animal Farm, but that is probably because it is a book that is very front of mind for me at the moment. It is a brilliantly stencilled wall and a piece that really set the standard for Upfest.

Id-iom, Upfest, Bristol, July2016
Id-iom, Upfest, Bristol, July2016

It’s a very British thing

 

Some things are just too

funny; Johnners and Aggers

corpsing still kills me.

 

by Scooj

 

  • Reminded of a small piece of cricket commentary: