4301. Brunel Way (146)

This is another stunning tribute to the honour and bravery of the people and government of Ukraine in the face of an invasion directed by the Russian dictator Putin. Maybe Paints, to give him his full moniker, is without doubt going from strength to strength and is grabbing the attention of the Bristol community, as evidenced in this lovely interview he recently gave to Bristol 24/7 which is well worth a listen.

Maybe, Brunel Way, Bristol, March 2022
Maybe, Brunel Way, Bristol, March 2022

This column piece (he talks about columns a lot in the interview) is in his favoured Brunel Way location, and features two face profiles, in the colours of the Ukrainian flag, looking at each other, with the sun, the earth and the moon between them in an inky black starry sky. His techniques include the use of stencils, and a ‘secret’ method for creating the planets. I have enjoyed following his progress over the last year, and am excited about what he has in store for us in the future.

4286. Brunel Way (145)

The Bristol Womxn Mural Collective paint jams have become events worth looking forward to in Bristol and always turn up some real gems that offer something slightly different to the usual fare we see on a daily basis.

Raquel Blazquez, Brunel Way, Bristol, February 2022
Raquel Blazquez, Brunel Way, Bristol, February 2022

This is a gorgeous portrait piece by Raquel Blazquez and is a perfect follow up to the piece she painted in Dean Lane skate park in November 2021. There is a lot of feeling and emotion in this portrait, and how good is it to see this kind of free art in a D.I.Y. skate park, in the middle of a concrete jungle? Seeing fine art pieces in these settings is truly wonderful, and long may these paint jams last. Exquisite work.

Raquel Blazquez, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2021
Raquel Blazquez, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2021

4282. Brunel Way (144)

What a wonderful piece to come across a week or so ago. This was one of several new pieces tucked away in the D.I.Y. skate park under Brunel Way, following a paint jam by the Bristol Womxn Mural Collective. These paint jams always throw up some unusual and unique pieces, bringing studio art out onto the streets.

Erviti, Brunel Way, Bristol, February 2022
Erviti, Brunel Way, Bristol, February 2022

This column cat, by Erviti, is set on a dark blue background and stands out as something rather special. Apart from Daz Cat’s offerings, you don’t see too many street art cats about the place, so this is a real pleasure.

Erviti, Brunel Way, Bristol, February 2022
Erviti, Brunel Way, Bristol, February 2022

One of the things about studio artists painting murals is that they often use rather more conventional paints and materials, rather than spray paints and so the artwork is often more detailed and stands up to close inspection. Erviti has absolutely nailed this cat portrait, and what a fine contribution to the urban landscape it is.

4247. Brunel Way (143)

This is a rather special collaboration from a pair of Spanish artists who seem to like painting together, Varo and Zake. Their styles are rather different, but their collaborations seem to gel really well together, maybe thanks to a common background and slight interface.

Varo and Zake, Brunel Way, Bristol, February 2022
Varo and Zake, Brunel Way, Bristol, February 2022

To the left are some rather nice and colourful letters spelling out VARO. The letters kind of start with a dragon figurehead to the left and a different colour for each letter. The grey 3D shading is really nicely worked and bordered with a fine red line.

Zake, Brunel Way, Bristol, February 2022
Zake, Brunel Way, Bristol, February 2022

To the right is one of Zake’s familiar faces, although this time it is attached to a body with the classic spray paint theme going on. I love Zakes faces that major on shadings to create depth and contours around the features. A classy double act.

4245. Brunel Way (142)

This is absolutely amazing. This column piece is by yet another new artist on the Bristol scene, Morag, and it absolutely ticks all my boxes. Beautifully executed, with a unique style and endearing expression. There are so many things it reminds me of… Barbara Hepworth’s sculptures and Thomas the tank engine faces, for example.

Morag, Brunel Way, Bristol, February 2022
Morag, Brunel Way, Bristol, February 2022

This particular piece is the second one I have found in Bristol so far and I will be posting the other one very soon. I am not usually so fond of circular column pieces because they are so difficult to photograph, but this one can be forgiven because it is just so good and original. I am really looking to seeing from Morag this year – we need great creative stuff like this.

4243. Brunel Way (141)

It feels like Maybe has slowed down just a tad with his frequency of work, but the quality has certainly improved since his early pieces first started appearing on the columns under Brunel Way.

Maybe, Brunel Way, Bristol, January 2021
Maybe, Brunel Way, Bristol, January 2021

This is a fine piece of two faces, one smoking a cigarette and the other a face in the smoke. The composition is thoughtful and tells a story, and the soft colours typical of the work of the artist. I recently published a gallery of Maybe’s work, so if you like this piece, the gallery is certainly worth a squint. One of the finds of 2021.

4227. Brunel Way (140)

It is plain to see that coming back to work after a week away has hit me pretty hard, and I wasn’t able to prepare two posts before work this morning, and I have had to wait until now to get this second one out today. My apologies.

Enn Kay, Brunel Way, Bristol, January 2022
Enn Kay, Brunel Way, Bristol, January 2022

This is a nice and simple monster column piece from Enn Kay very nicely done. I do like monster painters, and we now have a couple vying for space in some of the Bristol spots. Enn Kay has managed to upsize his sketches really well, and each monster is different. There is plenty more to come from this new and prolific artist.

4224. Brunel Way (139)

Painted a little while ago on a column shared with Andy Council is this magnificent crocodile piece from Rowdy. My first photographs of the piece weren’t very good so I have had to delay this post a while until I managed to get something a little better. The light conditions under Brunel Way are always a challenge.

Rowdy, Brunel Way, Bristol, January 2022
Rowdy, Brunel Way, Bristol, January 2022

The bright and contrasting colours of this piece make it stand out, and it certainly grabs your attention, but I am not too sure what the significance of the medieval-style heraldry is all about. The crocodile gives away the artist, and it is always great to see a new Rowdy piece, as they don’t appear all that regularly. This is a fun column piece.

4216. Brunel Way (138)

With this post I am going to reacquaint you with relative newcomer to Bristol Enn Kay, and the second of his recent Octopus monster pieces. Although I haven’t yet met the artist, I understand that he has only been painting walls since December last year. That is incredible when you think about it, as it can take years to reach this standard. Enn Kay is an illustrator who has been drawing his characters for a while, so he is familiar with them, but upscaling to spray paint and walls is no mean feat, and he has achieved it very well indeed.

Enn Kay, Brunel Way, Bristol, January 2022
Enn Kay, Brunel Way, Bristol, January 2022

The octopus-monster is set on a backdrop of stylised clouds, already introducing another layer of sophistication and his initials to the left are nicely done too. I love the mouth and teeth with the zig-zag running through it. There are many cartoon signature illustration techniques in this piece and Enn Kay has executed them really well. Look forward to more from the artist, I think he has a hunger for spray painting.

4151. Brunel Way (137)

An artist whose work I really rate, but never seem to have many photographs of is Conrico, or Conrico Steez as he signs himself. I think that part of this discrepancy is that he paints many of his pieces in places that I don’t tend to go all that often. Anyhow I managed to snap this rather fun column piece under Brunel Way recently.

Conrico, Brunel Way, Bristol, December 2021
Conrico, Brunel Way, Bristol, December 2021

If I am honest, circular column pieces are a pain in the backside because of the difficulty in capturing the whole thing in one shot. I often think that it would be good if phones could do panoramas the opposite way round… if that makes sense, then columns would be a piece of cake. The character face has that Conrico life about it, derived from the style he uses which is like drawing with spray paint. Good to see.