Tag: Cheltenham Paint Festival

2497. Cheltenham 2018 (4)

Going to Cheltenham for the first time this September was such a treat, especially because so many pieces from last year (2018) were still intact, including this extraordinary and brilliant piece by SkyHigh.

SkyHigh, Paint Festival 2018, Cheltenham, September 2019
SkyHigh, Paint Festival 2018, Cheltenham, September 2019

I have seen SkyHigh’s work in London and in Bristol, but I think this piece in Cheltenham is as good as any other that I have seen. I can’t quite be sure that it isn’t a collaboration, because the jungle bookends don’t quite match his style that I am used to. As always SkyHigh spells out his letters with each one being distinct from the next to bring together an ecclectic whole that just seems to work. I have seen other artists try thisd technique, but in my view SkyHigh is top of the division. Sensational piece.

2484. Cheltenham 2019 (8)

We all love a little sunshine, or at least when it is the right kind of sunshine. In this set of photographs we have the wrong kind of sunshine, the kind that casts shadows in tunnels, the kind that people like me don’t like very much, especially when you don’t get regular opportunities to visit particular places.

Inkie, Paint festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
Inkie, Paint festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019

This is one of two pieces that Inkie painted for the Cheltenham Paint Festival, the other larger one being a little bit further out of town and rather more celebrated. Inkie has painted a truly Inkie piece here with his characteristic writing supported by one of his iconic profile portraits and lots of swirling hair. The letters spelling out ChelSpa, a confated version of Cheltenham Spa (for which he would have needed a much longer wall).

Inkie, Paint festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
Inkie, Paint festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019

It always great to see Inkie pieces especially when on travels outside his native Bristol/London bases, and Cheltenham certainly has some to be proud of, if you include his contributions to the 2018 Paint Festival.

2483. Cheltenham 2019 (7)

It seems pretty timely to be posting this stencil by John D’oh at this year’s Cheltenham Paint Festival, because it is impossible to keep Boris out of the headlines. I realise that views on this blustering champion of capitalism are mixed, and that he is immensely popular with little Britain Tories, I however remain firmly in the other corner, and as it would seem so does John D’oh.

John D'oh, Paint festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
John D’oh, Paint festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019

This single layer stencil takes a pop at Boris Johnson making the case that there is no excuse for stupidity with the words:

Ignorance can be educated, crazy can be medicated, but there is no cure for stupidity.

I am pretty certain that Boris’ prime ministership will very shortly be coming to an end, but I think we can be fairly sure he’ll be making headlines for some time to come. This can only be good news for the fertile creative mind of John D’oh and the rest of us who enjoy his slightly subversive work.

2482. Cheltenham 2019 (6)

One of the absolute highlights of Cheltenham Paint Festival 2019 was this extraordinarily complex and quite brilliant stencil by Johnman. I believe it is called ‘the viaduct’ and it brings in to play Johnman’s interest in trains, from the stencilled backdrop of tickets to the girl in the foregraound looking out over the viaduct below.

Johnman, Paint festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
Johnman, Paint festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019

This is a hugely complex stencil so beautifully executed and full of high drama. How badly do you want to see the girl’s face? Is she happy? Is she sad? Who is she? the whole thing is deliciously mysterious and I found it hard to drag myself away from it on the day I saw it. Actually there is a clue on the tickets following  the literary theme of the Paint Festival this is Hermione watching the Hogwarts Express from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books. It is absolutely incredible how he has stencilled over his stencil, but maintained the background through the grey. I am still trying to work out how he did this.

Johnman, Paint festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
Johnman, Paint festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019

It is in seeing pieces like this that reminds me why I care so much about street art. Johnman has gone to incredible lengths to produce this work and give Cheltenham a magnificent piece of free art for its citizens and visitors to enjoy, a landmark both for street art and Harry Potter enthusiasts alike. You can find out more about Johnman the artist on his very nice website. Top drawer stuff.

2480. Cheltenham 2018 (4)

Anyone who knows Dice67 also knows that his trademark pieces are based on stencils that he made of his daughter when she was about six or seven, wearing a top with stars and pink wellies. This is the largest version I have seen of this particular stencil and was painted of part of the Cheltenham Paint Festival 2018 As you will know, because I have said it before, Dice67 (Andy Davies) has been the driving force behind the Cheltenham Paint Festival since its inception three years ago. I guess he deserves a big wall as organiser-in-chief.

Dice 67, Paint Festival 2018, Cheltenham, September 2019
Dice 67, Paint Festival 2018, Cheltenham, September 2019

This piece is really rather special and along with one or two other amazing pieces it dominates this town centre car park. I wonder if his daughter ever gets to see this picture of her and how she feels about it. There are a lot of them about, in Cheltenham, so I suspect that she is used to it. More from Dice67 imminently.

2466. Cheltenham 2019 (5)

How fabulous to see a Decay piece in his old stomping ground of Cheltenham and what a stunner it is too. This writing, that we are all so familiar with has been given the ‘hades’ treatment, looking like the fiery colours of the Earth’s core. Actually it is a bit of a protest piece and has a message: ‘Flames rage while the Amazon burns’

Decay, Paint festival 2019, Chemtenham, September 2019
Decay, Paint festival 2019, Chemtenham, September 2019

I visited the festival twice, once on the Friday and again on the Saturday, but although I missed Decay painting this, I did catch up with him for a short while, and as ever it was a real pleasure. Like so many of his peers, he is so modest about his work which really has hit a new level this year.

2465. Cheltenham 2019 (4)

I don’t really have the right words to say about this piece by Deeds at the Cheltenham Paint Festival this year. It is simply quite brilliant. A study of cherries in a silver bowl. This is where fine art and street art meet…no blurred lines, this street art is fine art.

Deeds, Paint festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
Deeds, Paint festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019

I have no idea how this piece was created, but I do know that Deeds works a lot with stencils, and pushing the boundaries with them, however I just can’t see how this might be from stencils. Instead of pondering too long, I’ll simply enjoy the piece for what it is rather than how it came to be.

Deeds, Paint festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
Deeds, Paint festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019

It really is a classical still life piece and has more than a hint of Jeff Legg about it. I love it and celebrate it. Deeds has definitely raised the bar with this piece.

2464. Cheltenham 2019 (3)

The whole Cheltenham experience was new to me, but I had heard of the Honeybourne Line before I went to visit the town for the Paint Festival earlier this month. This disused railway line is now a beautiful footpath leading from the station into the town centre. The tunnels under a footbridge often play host to street/graffiti art, and the walls are buffed each year for the Festival. I will be posting more pieces from this spot in due course, but this first one is by Thisone.

Thisone, Paint festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
Thisone, Paint festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019

I have seen (and posted) some of his work from London, but this is the first time I have seen his work away from the capital. His archetypal work is in shades of black and white with an animal or bird as a central character, usually dressed with some jewellery. This curious piece meets all of these criteria, but the beast is an unusual one, looking like a cross between a bird of prey and a rat. I was lucky enough to meet the artist, and will talk more about our encounter when I post his other Festival piece in due course.

2454. Cheltenham 2019 (2)

How can this not be an enlarged photograph? Sam Art is surely playing with our eyes and deceiving us. This incredible piece was one of the first I saw at the festival and was in place early on the Friday when all the walls around were yet to be painted. I believe that he painted it off-site before installing it in Cheltenham North Place car park.

Sam Art, Paint festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
Sam Art, Paint festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019

The theme for the festival was literature or books to celebrate the 70th year of the Cheltenham Literature Festival and this portrait of J.K. Rowling could hardly be more fitting.

Sam Art, Paint festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
Sam Art, Paint festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019

It is way beyond my comprehension how artists produce photorealistic art like this so I prefer not to understand it but to wallow in its glory. An extraordinary piece from Sam Art.

2453. Cheltenham 2018 (2)

Whether it is a large piece or a small one, Chinagirl Tile never ceases to amaze with her imaginative and often slightly subversive ceramic tiles. I think this must be one of my favourites and I loved it from the first second I saw it. Created for the Cheltenham Paint Festival 2018 this striking dinosaur piece takes centre stage in one of the town’s car parks.

Chinagirl Tile, Paint festival 2018, Cheltenham, September 2019
Chinagirl Tile, Paint festival 2018, Cheltenham, September 2019

The dinosaur is enormous and one of the larger pieces I have seen by Chinagirl Tile. It is genuinely a fabulous work of art and Cheltenham are lucky to have it as a piece of public artwork. I cannot imagine how long this might have taken Chinagirl to design, fashion, glaze and fire, let alone bringing it over here from Austria where she is based, but it was definitely worth it.

Chinagirl Tile, Paint festival 2018, Cheltenham, September 2019
Chinagirl Tile, Paint festival 2018, Cheltenham, September 2019

An additional part of the overall piece is a ceramic listing of ‘rules for girls who want to become street artists’ with the words ‘BRING A DINOSAUR’ written over the top of it. Skill, charm, wit, placement, patience, dedication… this piece has it all. Bravo.