Dean Lane – Page 33 – Natural adventures

5127. Dean Lane skate park (583)

This door at the far end of the skate park gets quite a lot of attention from artists and taggers, and is a candidate for the ‘One Wall‘ series of posts that I do. This time it hosts a lovely rabbit piece from Hire. These are not to be confused with other rabbits that were a common feature in Bristol, until the artist, Eldey (followmyrabbits) was jailed for rape and attempted rape in 2021. Hire’s rabbits were the original Bristol rabbits and have an element of edge to them.

A yellow rabbit on a green door is the stuff of children’s picture books, I had a particular favourite called ‘Go Dog Go’, which features coloured dogs and trees and so on… I digress. This is another fine rabbit from Hire in a long sequence going back to when I first started photographing graffiti and street art in Bristol.

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5118. Dean Lane skate park (582)

There was a time last year when Maybe was painting roughly once a week, but he has definitely slowed down of late… perhaps it is the cold weather. This is a rather nice large piece in the skate park which is quite tricky to photograph because of the angle of the slope and the size of the piece.

Featuring his interlocking faces in a variety of contrasting colours, this triangular piece demonstrates how far Maybe has come in developing his early concepts from a couple of years ago. Some great use of blended fills and dark shading show a significant improvement in sophistication of his contemporary work.

5113. Dean Lane skate park (581)

Amy Lee Jones, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2023

This is another piece from the Bristol Mural Collective paint jam on 8 March to celebrate International Women’s Day – and what better way to celebrate than to paint a few walls.

This piece, on the right, is by Amy Lee Jones, an artist whose website states that she is from Leiden in the Netherlands, although I am guessing she is living or staying in Bristol at the moment. Primarily a studio artist who is focussing on abstract realism portraits, this piece is inspired by @reedamberx, and is quite different to her studio work.

To the left is a very powerful portrait piece, which I think is also by Amy Lee Jones, but can’t be completely certain. The style looks the same. These paint jams are always a great opportunity to be introduced to a whole raft of Bristol artists that might otherwise be overlooked.

5107. Dean Lane skate park (580)

This is the second of two ‘lost treasures’ that somehow got stuck in my publishing system from January, and which continues to be a bit of a mystery to me. It is a stunning and bright piece by Smut, and a great reminder of his outstanding talents.

Smut always creates arresting pieces with bright bold letters and the cleanest finish of any artist in Bristol. His work is always immaculate and precise, and a benchmark for others to strive for. The black letters, with a white 3D shadow and border, are interrupted by a school of pink ovals passing through, with an element of ‘transparency’ where they drift in front of the black lettering. Brilliantly conceived and executed.

5106. Dean Lane skate park (579)

I’m not quite sure how it happened, but this piece and another one somehow got stuck in my publishing conveyor belt. Human error, of course, but I have managed to recover the mistake and bring you something a little different from Logoe, painted back in January.

Logoe’s letters are usually in a rather scratchy script form, but for a change he has presented us with fat, nicely rounded letters. Perhaps he was having a Rubensesque moment. The signature feature of a scattering of colourful oval dots in a horizontal row identifies the piece as one of Logoes (which of course the writing does too). Very nice to see something a bit different.

5104. Dean Lane skate park (578)

Cock Dicks, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2023

The Bristol Mural Collective, formerly known as the Bristol womxn Mural Collective, is a street painting group organised by women for women, predominantly made up of studio artists who like to hit the streets once in a while. Every time they organise a paint jam, I find myself discovering new artists and a different approach to street art. The most recent paint jam was organised to celebrate world women’s day on March 8, 2023.

This small mural by Cock Dicks (an interesting name) didn’t last very long before it was painted over. It certainly sparked my interest though. The brush painted piece is full of symbolism. Stairways appear a lot in street art, and seem to indicate a spiritual journey to celestial bodies. The pink and blue smoke clouds are obscuring the sun, looking rather less than impressed, and beneath the clouds a crescent moon lights up the night sky. What can it all mean? More to come from this special paint jam.

5101. Dean Lane skate park (577)

Zake, Chill and Face 1st, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2023

The Pirate Wall Art (PWA) crew have already produced some outstanding collaborations this year, but this surely has to be the most striking so far. Zake, Chill and Face 1st have teamed up to produce this triptych of stylised faces.

To the left is a curious pair of faces which feel like they are symbolic of something, but I am not quite sure what – sun and moon or light and dark? Who knows. The flower face is something new that I haven’t seen from Zake before, but he carries it off really well.

In the middle of the triptych is a cartoon face by Chill. When Chill moved away from his black and white pieces, I wasn’t sure how long it would last, but I am pleased to say that his inclusion of several colours once again might indicate that this is a new direction of travel for the artist. I love the inclusion of some greenery and flowers in most of his pieces, showing a sensitive connection with nature.

Face 1st, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2023

To the right, Face first has painted another group of faces, in which he continues to explore ways of peeling back the layers of our facades to reveal what lies beneath. In this case, the face with yellow hair has been split open to reveal a laughing girl emerging from inside. Some might see these pieces as gory or grotesque, I see them as a joyful exploration of emotions unearthed in a rather surgical, but playful way.

Plenty to think and enjoy about in this fine PWA collaboration.

5096. Dean Lane skate park (576)

Acer One, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2023

There have been many tributes to Shimmer, since he passed away, indicating the loss felt by the street art community in Bristol. This is the second tribute piece by Acer One on this wall to Shimmer, who appears to have felt the loss particularly strongly.

As always, Acer One’s execution is clean and precise, geometry being his modus operandi. As we might expect, the beautifully designed letter font, of hollow letters, has two shadows, one black and one purple, giving the writing depth. Some tight colour transitions in the letters themselves, completes this fine work, which I expect to occupy this wall for some time.

5094. Dean Lane skate park (575)

Saor’s unannounced visits to Bristol usually culminate in a first class production, and this recent one in Dean Lane fits the pattern perfectly. The piece is exactly as you’d expect from Saor – beautifully thought out and designed and executed with extraordinary precision.

This piece spells out SAOR and incorporates the toothy monster face that the artist refined when painting under the name Flava136. This really is a first-rate work and incorporates so many nice little touches. I love the granite-effect patterned shapes, which really add an extra level to the piece.

While he was in the area, Saor also painted this mega-tag just around the corner. I love it when artists leave behind a few ‘extras’ when they visit.

5085. Cumberland Basin

Roo, Cumberland Bain, Bristol, March 2023

Naturally, whenever SkyHigh comes to town, Roo will be with him, as they are partners as well as painting partners. This ensures that we receive a double hit of great artwork from two wonderfully talented artists, each time they come to Bristol.

This is a beautifully executed and framed piece from Roo, featuring a dog with a spray can. What I love about Roo’s work is that everything is perfectly finished. There are no rough or blurry edges, no see-through fills, and the composition is always first-class. The cartoon style is perfect for her animal characters, and there is always a sense of fun in her work.

On this occasion, Roo left behind some extras, one of them a few yards away from this piece, another in Dean Lane and a small cat piece in the middle of the M32 roundabout. She and her other half can come back any time they like!

	Cethru Cellophane (a… on 7571. M32 roundabout J2 (…
	Laura Newhampshire on 7568. M32 roundabout J3 (…
	Sheree on 7569. St Werburghs tunnel…
	paulh121 on 7568. M32 roundabout J3 (…
	paulh121 on 7566. L Dub (84)

	Cethru Cellophane (a… on 7571. M32 roundabout J2 (…
	Laura Newhampshire on 7568. M32 roundabout J3 (…
	Sheree on 7569. St Werburghs tunnel…
	paulh121 on 7568. M32 roundabout J3 (…
	paulh121 on 7566. L Dub (84)

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