2814. Dean Lane skate park (291)

Rusk is so, so busy just at the moment as you will notice on Natural Adventures in coming days/weeks. This piece was painted on a very special day last week when there was a gathering of some of the best Bristol graffiti writers including Rusk, Soker, Inkie and Hemper. I got extraordinarily lucky as I had decided to take the dog for a walk in Dean Lane at the exact right time (more on the others coming soon).

Rusk, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2020
Rusk, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2020

Rusk is a friendly guy and when I arrived he made time for a quick chat and even posed for a picture. I have said it so many times before, but I’ll say it again, his work is always tight and he takes a lot of care in keeping it tidy. In this piece the colour fills are merged vertically, which is quite unusual and which looks rather nice.

Rusk, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2020
Rusk, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2020

I have separated out his piece from the others that were painting at the same time, because this end of the wall is somewhat separated from the rest of the wall in terms of photography due to a wall opposite it and being in a narrow space.

2810. Dean Lane skate park (290)

The original Bristol bunny has woken up after a winter slumber. Hire has been painting these rabbits for a while and before his compatriot Nevergiveup (@followmyrabbits) turned up in Bristol. Who’d have thought we’d get one, let alone two bunny specialists in the city?

Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2020
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2020

Hire’s rabbits are edgy and have an element of menace about them… I suspect I’d cross the road if I saw one approaching on a dark night. I think the first one I ever saw was in The Bearpit, but at that time I didn’t know who had painted it.

Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2020
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2020

On this occasion we are fortunate enough to get a double helping of rabbits, a green spiky one and a white smooth one, both based on the same basic formula. I guess this is what you call a glorified tag that has been perfected after many years of use. Great to see Hire back on the streets – now to look out for some more.

2801. Dean Lane skate park (289)

There is something very comforting about the work of Bnie. Also, and I know it is dangerous territory going down any kind of gender stereotyping, but her pieces definitely have a feminine touch, which I find incredible really… maybe it has something to do with the formation of the letters, or maybe something to do with my unconscious bias kicking in because I know she is a female artist and so I expect to see clues in her work. I could tie myself in knots, so I had better stop there, but perhaps you can see what I mean.

Bnie, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2020
Bnie, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2020

This is a beautifully crisp piece and she has filled her letters in a very Bnie style. The dotty pattern in the 3D shadow is excptional. I love her work and certainlky get a bit of a kick every time I see a new piece by her. First class.

2800. Dean Lane skate park (288)

Well, here we have yet another fabulous piece from an artist that I have not seen before or featured on Natural Adventures, Nick Silav. I have looked at his Instagram feed and profile and it would seem that, like so many street artists, Nick Silav is a tattoo artist.

Nick Silav, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2020
Nick Silav, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2020

This piece was painted at the same time as the Dasco/Oseque collaboration just to the left of it and it would seem that they all know each other. It is an unusual and rather captivating piece combining some stylised writing and a character (possibly Yoda?). The writing is highly technical and cryptic and I’m not too sure what it spells out. A nice addition to the Bristol collective.

2797. Dean Lane skatepark (287)

How brilliant is this? set on an unprepped wall, this remarkably tight piece from Dibz is close to graffiti writing design and execution perfection, and its magnificence is exaggerated by the untidiness of the backdrop. It is like a black and white TV that has unexpectedly discovered colour.

Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2020
Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2020

Dibz is a local graffiti writer whose work is almost exclusively reserved for these walls in Dean Lane. It is rare to find his work elsewhere. Since I photographed this one, he has painted another excellent piece in the same place, on what turned out to be a red letter day on Friday last week. More about that to come soon.

2787. Dean Lane skate park (286)

What a dazzling portrait from Pekoe on Dean Lane. It is so good to see that she is painting a lot already this year and that this is the fourth piece I have posted (I think) from her so far in 2020.

Pekoe, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2020
Pekoe, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2020

I would say that the facial features on this piece are as good as I have seen on a pekoe face to date, and that maybe having a solid fill rather than shadings has accentuated the features. I would make a further observation, which is a very minor point because I do really like the piece, that the hair on top needs to go a bit higher for the whole head to be in proportion. I am guessing that the height of the wall here was the limiting factor, not the talent of the artist

2784. Dean Lane skate park (285)

Regular readers will know that I really don’t like posting pieces by ‘unknown’ artists, but sometimes I’ll see something that is just too good to consign to the depths of my archive and this is one such piece. Rather simple, yet appealing to me at least, is this slightly geeky looking character on one of the walls at Dean Lane.

Unknown artist, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2020
Unknown artist, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2020

The cartoon style and subject matter appeal to me, and while it might not be the best piece of art in town, I actually like it a lot. I can’t work out the letters just to the left, it could be GTIFF or STIFF ot STTFF or some other combination, but Google searches have yielded nothing so far, so if anyone out there knows who the artist might be please shout.

2768. Dean Lane skate park (284)

This beauty is the second recent collaboration from Dasco and Oseque. I know that Dasco is Bristol-based, but haven’t seen any of Oseque’s work before now, and have kind of assumed that he is not from these parts. I have done a little checking on the Interweb, and as far as I can make out, Dasco is from the Canary Islands and Oseque (José Castillo) is from Granada, but also seems to have a connection with Bristol. Either way, I hope we get to see more from this pairing.

Dasco and Oseque, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2020
Dasco and Oseque, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2020

The piece itself is a beautifully merged collaboration with the character portrait rising out of the letters. The colours are quite dulled and although really impressive as it is, give the whole thing a low-key feel. Oseque has a way of making his portraits look like they are drawn into a sketchbook rather than sprayed on a wall. Really nice work.

2767. Dean Lane skate park (283)

Here he is again, this time half way up a fire escape on the recently disused building at Dean Lane. I speak of yet another rabbit from Nevergiveup (@followmyrabbits), this particular one is painted as a balloon drifting up into the sky.

Nevergiveup, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2020
Nevergiveup, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2020

I think that the artist’s name is a self-fulfilling prophesy. I just wonder if he will ever tire of painting these things. When he first came to Bristol, he used to paint monsters but he seems to have given up on them now. Naturally, many more to come from my archives.

2766. Dean Lane skate park (282)

Modest and understated, Pekoe just goes about her business from time to time. No fanfare, no fuss and she turns out pieces like this beauty behind the railings on the swimming pool wall at Dean Lane.

Pekoe, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2020
Pekoe, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2020

This is the second piece by Pekoe that I am aware of this year, the other was down by the M32. Typically, Pekoe has painted a portrait, this one in three quarter view, with characteristic big hair decrated with rain drops, stars and an unhappy ‘smiley’. Many of her pieces are tinged with sadness which I hope is not indicative of her own state. It is always a pleasure to find her work.