Tag: Daz Cat

5688. Peel Street Green (22)

Daz Cat, Peel Street Green, Bristol, November 2023
Daz Cat, Peel Street Green, Bristol, November 2023

I have to say that I am missing the large ‘storytelling’ pieces that Daz Cat has produced over the last couple of years, and can only think that he is busy with other things to have time to put into his more complex pieces. I will have to make do with enjoying his quicker pieces that he is continuing to turn out reasonably regularly.

Daz Cat, Peel Street Green, Bristol, November 2023
Daz Cat, Peel Street Green, Bristol, November 2023

This is a wonderful blue cat in three-quarter profile, full of detail and character, which demonstrates just how far Daz Cat has developed over the last few years. There is a confidence and self-assuredness about his work now, as if he has nothing to prove, that comes across as relaxed and easy to look at. I hope he gets some time soon to pull together one of his storytelling pieces before too long.

5604. Dean Lane skate park (655)

Werm and Daz Cat, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2023
Werm and Daz Cat, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2023

Oooh. This is a lovely collaboration by Werm and Daz Cat in one of my favourite spots, the curved wall at Dean Lane. The writing/character combination utilises the slightly awkward space on the wall really well. It feels like a while since a good piece appeared here. Back in the day this wall was a bit of a premium wall, but recently it has been occupied by rather too many throw ups and frankly a lot of rubbish, so it was refreshing to come across this piece.

Werm, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2023
Werm, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2023

To the left on the lower bit of wall, Werm continues with his transition towards a different presentation of his letters which have been nicely thought out, offering a little bit of bilateral symmetry. With Werm, I feel like he experiments and then settles on a particular form before transitioning to the next until he feels he needs to change. A stop-start method that seems to work for him. Some other artists won’t change at all, while others make subtle or wholesale changes with each new piece they paint. This is the joy of the vast spectrum of artists in Bristol.

Daz Cat, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2023
Daz Cat, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2023

For me the star of the show is the Daz Cat cat and friends toasting marshmallows. I love these storytelling pieces by Daz Cat, he seems to capture something really special that you need to look at, interpret and enjoy. Quite what creatures the companions are I am not sure, but one looks most contented, the other a little concerned. The main character has an air of compassion and love. A brilliant piece, and it is always good to see Daz Cat painting these expansive scenes.

5597. Brunel Way (242)

Daz Cat, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2023
Daz Cat, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2023

Daz Cat painted this wonderful piece during a paint jam some while ago, which was themed along the lines of a dystopian future. I ought really to have written up the whole collaboration in one post, but felt that each element was worthy of its own write-up.

Daz Cat, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2023
Daz Cat, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2023

I am not quite sure what the creature in the piece is meant to be, but I think that is in part the point. A goat? A cat? Whatever it is, it is well armed with some kind of futuristic ray gun. The background scene is suitably gloomy, and the ground appears to be composed of toes, eyes and teeth. All a bit weird. Something a little different from Daz Cat.

5387. M32 roundabout J3 (496)

Daz Cat and CD.TC, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023
Daz Cat and CD.TC, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023

It is always a great pleasure to see these two collaborate, it is a pity that it just doesn’t seem to happen all that often. I imagine that the limitation probably stems from CD.TC’s availability, as Daz Cat is a constant presence on our streets.

Daz Cat, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023
Daz Cat, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023

There would appear to be a bit of an Italian theme going on with Daz Cat’s cat holding a little white pendant with the words ‘Bella ciao, bella ciao, bella…’. There is also a shout out to ‘Caroline’ on the cat’s pink shirt – maybe she is the bella. This cat feels very much like ‘old school’ Daz Cat, reminding us where he came from.

CD.TC, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023
CD.TC, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023

CD.TC continues the theme, with his rather cheerful monster character calling out ‘Ciao, ciao, ciao’. There are some nice touches going on with this piece, for example the sun visor glasses and the cross of sticky plasters at the base of the piece. As one might expect, the character has a disproportionately large mouth and gleaming teeth. Always great to see these two painting together.

5348. M32 roundabout J3 (488)

Daz Cat, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2023
Daz Cat, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2023

When I first encountered Daz Cat’s pieces, they were pretty much always portraits of cats, sometimes dogs, and reasonably basic, but with that Daz Cat style. Over time his work has become more sophisticated, and about 18 months ago reached a new level, each piece telling stories, rather than just a portrait.

Daz Cat, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2023
Daz Cat, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2023

This one on the St Werburghs entrance to the roundabout, is a piece that uses the square space supremely well, and the illustrative rabbit (or cat with very long ears) curled up in a tight ball appears to be spinning. There is lots of movement here and even though it is painted in greyscale, it makes a strong impression. Who’d have thought he’d be producing stuff like this a few years ago. Great to see.

5333. Cumberland Basin

Daz Cat, Werm and Kool Hand, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2023
Daz Cat, Werm and Kool Hand, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2023

I am very pressed for time this morning, so this is a bit of a quick one. There were actually four pieces in this collaborative wall, but these three were more familiar to me and formed part of a set, with the fourth having a slightly different feel to it. The three artists, well known to regular readers are Daz Cat, Werm and Kool Hand.

Daz Cat, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2023
Daz Cat, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2023

To the left of the three is a rather cool rabbit character, or long-eared cat, sitting cross-legged and striking something approaching a yoga pose. What you don’t get from this picture is the scale of the piece which is probably 9ft tall, I know this because I painted something immediately to the left, which was dwarfed by it.

Werm, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2023
Werm, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2023

In the middle is another stunner from Werm, who is getting his style sorted with his small letters and expanding decorative extensions. He has consistently been one of the most productive artists on the streets for quite some time , and rarely disappoints.

Kool Hand, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2023
Kool Hand, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2023

On the right, Kool Hand has painted one of his customary character/writing combinations in his soft curvy style. The toothy dog is leaning on the letters, and both elements are nicely highlighted with white dots which offer depth to the piece. Altogether a nicely colour coordinated triptych from the trio.

5283. Purdown (56)

Daz Cat, Purdown, Bristol, May 2023
Daz Cat, Purdown, Bristol, May 2023

A little bit about the mechanics of Natural Adventures, which might explain why there is a bit of a time-lag between a piece being painted and that piece being posted on the blog. I would guess that on a typical day I will come across 5–10 pieces of street/graffiti art that are new to me, and all of these go into a monthly folder. I then select from the folder pieces I’d like to feature on the blog and upload them in batches, so that I usually have at least a week’s worth of images ready to go, which gives me time to write the post in the morning before work, or the evening before.

So anything appearing on Natural Adventures will be at least a week old, and often considerably more. In exceptional cases I might fast track something special to the front of the queue, but that is rare. So if you are looking for ‘breaking news’ blog posts here, you are in the wrong place.

Daz Cat, Purdown, Bristol, May 2023
Daz Cat, Purdown, Bristol, May 2023

This is an interesting piece from Daz Cat in a spot that he likes to frequent. The blue cat character, with the yellow top, appears to be casting away an abominable creature with rabbit ears, horns, cat-like claws and a dragon tail – what is that thing? There is lots of movement in the piece, aided by the cream flashes, but its meaning is a little lost on me.

Looking at it again, the creature looks like it is by GYS? And the style is rather different from Daz Cat’s. There is nothing on Instagram that would help me work this out, though.

5247. Greenbank (81)

Kool Hand and Daz Cat, Greenbank, Bristol, May 2023
Kool Hand and Daz Cat, Greenbank, Bristol, May 2023

I can’t believe we’re almost at the end of May, but it is true and with each day that passes more and more pieces of graffiti writing, and street art adorn our city walls. It can be a struggle at times to keep up, but a pleasurable struggle, if there is such a thing.

The light wasn’t particularly helpful on the day that I photographed this collaboration between Kool Hand and Daz Cat, but I might have just got away with it.

Kool Hand and Daz Cat, Greenbank, Bristol, May 2023
Kool Hand and Daz Cat, Greenbank, Bristol, May 2023

To the left, a Kool crocodile chills up against a colourful palm tree, looking almost like a piece of quilt work (watch out Louis Masai!). On the right is a Daz Cat cat floating and mixing music. What is interesting about the collaboration is that Kool Hand’s work is quite flat, and Daz Cat’s has depth and perspective, bringing different aspects and styles to the piece. It is always good to see these two painting together.

5204. M32 Cycle path (214)

Kool Hand, Conrico and Daz Cat M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2023
Kool Hand, Conrico and Daz Cat M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2023

I’m not sure that I will ever work out this wall properly. Sometimes pieces will stay on it for months and turnover will be practically zero, other times it can change twice within a week, and I believe that this recent charming triptych by Kool Hand, Conrico and Daz Cat has already been painted over.

Kool Hand, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2023
Kool Hand, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2023

The left-hand panel is a wonderful leopard character from Kool Hand, wearing a floppy bucket hat. The fingers appear to be magically zapping the letters KH, and the blue/purple feline is set on a fantasy woodland backdrop, painted by Conrico I would guess.

Conrico, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2023
Conrico, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2023

In the middle is a rather shady looking character shrouded in a cloak and holding a spray can, probably preparing to do a spot of illegal spraying by the look of it. This is a really nicely worked piece by Cobnrico, with some great attention to detail in the creases and folds in the cloak and hat. A classy character.

Daz Cat, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2023
Daz Cat, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2023

On the right-hand panel, Daz Cat has departed from his customary cat characters to give us this woodland sprite holding a couple of frogs, one of which is holding a toadstool. I’m not too sure what the smoking head is all about, but this section, in fact the whole thing, definitely has a bit of a dreamy fantasy feel about it. An unusual and entertaining collaboration from three fine graffiti artists.

5102. St Werburghs tunnel (361)

Daz Cat, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2023
Daz Cat, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2023

Daz Cat is no stranger to painting this exact spot on the flat section of wall at the entrance to the tunnel. I like to think that the characters he paints are guardians of the tunnel, protecting the pieces within. Just a little fantasy of mine.

Daz Cat, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2023
Daz Cat, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2023

Indeed, Daz Cat reinforces my imaginative interpretation with this ‘Gandalf’ cat and the famous words “you shall not pass”. Daz Cat has come on such a long way over the years and his cats (and dogs) are part of the furniture, with many cat face ‘super tags’ to be found all over the city. A quick squint at this Daz Cat gallery presents, in reverse chronological order, his journey over the last five years.