Although not her best work technically, I love this piece by Tasha Bee in Dean Lane, because of the incorporation of the budlia bush as the character’s hair. I love it when artists incorporate the surroundings of a piece into the work, and Tasha has done it beautifully here.
I think that this was done as a little extra while she participated in a recent collaboration with Soap and Stupid Stupid Meathole, posted a week or two back. A quick one with that touch of magic.
The pedestrian/cyclist tunnels of the M32 roundabout are festooned with Face 1st pieces past and present, many of which I photograph, but never get round to posting. I was never going to let this one get away though.
In this piece, which was very difficult to photograph on account of the narrowness of the tunnel and light intrusion, we see two faces with quite different expressions. It looks like the one on the left is full of mischief and the one on the right looks rather sad.
The hair of both the characters spells out FACE and for good measure the artist has added 1st at the right hand side. Another nice piece from this most prolific of artists.
There is a reward for those who wander. I took a little walk in St Pauls a short while ago and went down a back street I’ve never been down before and there on an old derelict building I found this interesting piece on dit of board covering a door.
The drawn sketch, which I assume is by Aicha, is an unusual find and one that would more likely be found in a studio or gallery. It is also unusual because it has been drawn directly onto the surface, rather than on to a piece of paper and pasted up. I have not heard of Aicha before so can tell you nothing about the artist. I am guessing that I might have seen some tags from this artist before. A fine creative sketch and welcome contribution to the Bristol scene.
Whoops! a slightly wonkey picture of a beautiful shutter piece by Vanesa Longchamp on North Street. This was one of two Upfest pieces by the artist that I had not come across before the festival. Looking at digital social media, you can see how popular her work is and it is easy to understand why.
I love it when artists do more than one piece at the festival, especially when one of them is likely to have some permanence. Like her other piece, this is a beauty which oozes class. While the lines and concept are straightforward, the execution and USP are stamped all over it. We wwere lucky to see two of her works this year.
Sadly I didn’t get to this lovely piece by Tasha Bee quickly enough before it had been tagged. Hers was not the only piece on this column that had been tagged, but that doesn’t make it any less annoying. I really do wonder what goes on in some people’s heads that they think it is ok to spoil deliberately other people’s work. I guess I’ll never really fully understand.
Here we have two of her serene characters, one atop the other, almost as if they are in a moment of meditation. A decent column piece from this prolific artist.
The first time I saw this figure by Face 1st it had some posters rather unhelpfully draped over her face. On returning some days later, the posters were gone and she was revealed in all her glory.
At any one time there must be four or five pieces by Face 1st on this roundabout, and as soon as one is covered over, another one seems to appear. This one belongs to the group of full figure ‘face girls’ that the artist has started doing lately and I have to say I am a big fan. There is always something soft and beautiful in his work, never threatening or aggressive. Another winner.
Busy, busy, busy like a bee, a Tasha Bee, who I fear may have ants in her pants. It seems that Tasha Bee never sits still and is just incredibly productive, spraying her beautiful faces here, there and everywhere. I cannot keep up.
This gorgeous one is from a couple of weeks back and has a lovely colour palette…there is something about that soft green face that due to its faintness draws you in to take a closer look. This is Tasha Bee at her best.
I realise that it must get a bit wearing for regular readers of Natural Adventures to keep seeing pieces by some of the more productive street artists in Bristol, but I shall not apologise for it. Artists like Face 1st are the lifeblood of any urban street art scene and without them we would be left with high-end commission-based artists painting in sterile environments, and frankly who wants that? Not me.
This is a beautiful piece from Face 1st, and the colour selection is rather special. For those not in the know, you should be able to make out the letters FACE in the hair/decoration around the face…for example the C is around the left of the face, and the E is to the right. So good.
I absolutely love this old one by Face 1st in The Bearpit, with its copper tones and trademark hair spelling out FACE. I guess that fairly soon I will need to do a gallery of his work because I have quite a large collection from the last three years.
What I really like about this artist is that he is relentless in pursuing his passion and will find any wall in Bristol that he can find and give it a face lift (see what I did there?). Always one of my favourites in Bristol and this particular one is a cracker.
Damn those parked cars!
Although this extraordinary piece is signed by Caro Pepe, I think she had some support from her frequent painting partner Age Age. This wall was another one themed with Bristol Women’s Voice (along with the Nomad Clan Lisa Simpson). Commemorating one hundred years of the Women’s vote.
I really like these rather surreal pieces that Caro Pepe is producing at the moment, with the cut-away pieces of head exposing thoughts, emotions and ideas – very powerful stuff and a further dimension to the covered eye that distinguishes her work.
So, another great wall and another great artist at Upfest 2018 – I think this is another one that makes it into my top 10.
Natural adventures 