There are a couple of Basketball courts next to the Dean Lane skate park, and adjacent to them is this container, which I haven’t really paid much attention to. I decided to take a look and there on the side is a rather nice burner from Soge.
Soge, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2018
The uneven surface of the container must make it difficult to work with, but I think he has done a fair job. I am used to seeing something a little more intricate from Soge, so this is a refreshing change. Perhaps not the best burner in the world, but nice to see nonetheless.
Biers is fast becoming a favourite writer of mine. His designs are pleasing to the eye and pretty much always spell out BIERS. Looking at this great piece on the M32 wall though, I am reminded about how little I know about the street art scene and the cultural references.
Biers, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2018
The character in the middle of the piece is familiar to me, but I don’t know if that is just because I have looked at this picture a lot, or whether it is because it is ‘off of the telly’. Unfortunately the tags IMOK and MCF were added subsequently, taking the edge off the piece a little.
It feels like it has been a very long while since I saw anything new from Deamze, so this piece came as a long-awaited pleasure. In one of his favourite spots (I’m not sure anyone else sprays this wall) alongside the M32 he has created one of his most riotously colourful pieces to date.
Deamze, M32 cycle path, Bristol, May 2018
On the left hand side we see a fabulously intricate and sophisticated piece of wildstyle writing, spelling out DEAM, and on the right a trademark cartoon from this brilliant artist.
Deamze, M32 cycle path, Bristol, May 2018
Often the characters that Deamze recreates are from ’70s to ’90s TV shows, but I just can’t make out who this one is, and there isn’t a lot to go on to ‘Google it’ either. The whole thing is very refreshing and a reminder of just how good some of the Bristol street artists are.
One of the things I love about hunting for and writing about street/graffiti art is when I come across new artists and find out a little bit more about them. I have seen the burner ‘ONER’ for a few months now, but as many readers will know, I don’t like to post about artists until I know a little more about them.
Oner, M32, Bristol, May 2018
Well I got lucky recently and met Oner when he was spraying a burner in one of the tunnels of the M32 roundabout (see above). What an incredibly nice man. I started to chat with him, which has become a bit of a thing for me (before I started all this malarkey, I never struck up conversations with complete strangers, least of all spray-can-toting ones) and rarely have I met such an enthisiastic person, and so easy going.
Oner, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2018
Now he told me where he was from, and I think he said Exeter, but it might have been Taunton, whichever it was (and I really should have listened better) he now lives in Bristol. This piece in St Werburghs tunnel is typical of his work, which is nice and tidy (can you spot the small error at the bottom right?) and colourful. I expect to see a lot more from Oner and look forward to seeing how his work develops.
On the lovely curved wall of Dean Lane skate park, this bright and cheery piece by Mr Draws was sprayed on 20 April to mark the 420 campaign. Regulars will know that I have long enjoyed the work of Mr Draws, and although his freestyle is not to everyone’s taste, it works for me.
Mr Draws, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2018
Mr Draws is going through one of his incredibly productive phases at the moment and I simply can’t keep up…there is too much in Bristol to cover in two posts per day, let alone all my other material from New York, Barcelona and London. I’ll do my best to keep it all coming.
Whichever way you look at it, this end of Hepburn Road is one of the dingiest roads in Bristol, but it is a bit of a Mecca for graffiti. Occasionally there are some good pieces that appear here, usually at this top end.
Smak, Hepburn Road, Bristol, March 2018
This is a quick one from Smak, who is now firmly established as a writer in the pages of this blog. Not as elaborate as some of his work, it is nonetheless clean and tidy and oozes quality.
A nice quick one from Mr Draws, which was to mark the arrival of storm Emma, one of a couple of snow events that hit the UK and Bristol during March this year.
Mr Draws, M32, Bristol, March 2018
I like this piece, it is modest and unassuming, but contains some lovely little details inside the dull chrome letters. As ever, always good to see Mr Draws’ work.
A few weeks back there was a bit of an informal paint jam at the M32, with artists from Swansea, Cardiff, Tiverton and Taunton all represented. I managed to be there at the right time and photograph the artists at work. The interesting thing for me was that most of these artists/graff writers were completely new to me.
Amoe, M32, Bristol, February 2018
This is a lovely piece by Karm Amoe from Cardiff. He has a website, but it doesn’t say too much and appears to be incomplete, so I really don’t have too much information on the artist.
Amoe, M32, Bristol, March 2018
There is something very pleasing about the form of his letters, and the colours he has selected are outstanding. The swirly pattern at the base of the piece and white at the top adds some real class. Nice to be able to see something new (to me).
I write my posts in batches, getting a few done in advance, when I have a moment to do them. This can be tricky while juggling a full-time job, two teenage children, a cat, a dog, a chameleon, an extremely hard-working wife, housework, an allotment, decorating and so on. Life is full, and it would be impossible to find the time to write two posts a day every day. Doing them in batches also carries economies of scale, where I can process a batch of photographs in one go and writing tends to come more freely once you are on a roll.
Why am I mentioning this? Well, by the time I publish this post on a fabulous piece by Kleiner Shames, I will be on a special short break trip in Barcelona with my daughter, and I wanted to say ‘hello from Barcelona’, but to say this I have had to think ahead and I am saying ‘hello from Barcelona’ from the comfort of my study which all feels a bit artificial really, but is helping me to get very excited about our trip.
Kleiner Shames, Upper York Street, Bristol, May 2016
This is a fine piece of writing from one of my favourite Bristol artists who now lives in London. I have posted many of his works on this blog, and each of them is a winner. Concealed in this splash of colour is the word ‘FOIS’…time in French. Most of his pieces have this word, and at first I thought his street art name was Fois.
Kleiner Shames, Upper York Street, Bristol, May 2016
This is another one that I have dug out of my archive, because it is simply just too good not to share.
Oh and ‘Hi from Barcelona’ I think I’m having a wonderful time.
I walk past this shutter most days on my way to work and always take a look at it, but never properly look at it. Part of the problem is that the shutter isn’t very generous with its light, especially to the naked eye – it is quite difficult to properly make the piece out. Strangely, photographs do it far more justice, which is slightly counterintuitive. I took this in 2016.
Sled One and Smak, Moon Street, Bristol, April 2016
It is a lovely collaboration between Sled One and Smak, who appear to have enjoyed their collaborations in the past. The caveman-like character by Sled One is holding Smak’s writing in front of him…an interesting way of bringing the two styles into one narrative. This piece is really very nice, but I suspect rather overlooked. It even seems to be off the tagger’s radar.
Natural adventures 