5739. St Werburghs tunnel (395)

Sako, Face 1st and Zake, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2023
Sako, Face 1st and Zake, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2023

This PWA collaboration as taken me an eternity to post, mainly because it was sited in the middle of the tunnel and the conditions for photography there are atrocious. These pictures were my third attempt to capture the wonderful work by Sako, Face 1st and Zake.

Sako, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2023
Sako, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2023

On the left is a wonderful piece by Sako, who is beginning to make a bit of a name for himself. This piece is telling a wonderful story which seems to represent a made-up mythology of higher beings and the communities around them. The central character (a God?) is collecting poppy heads, which appear to be represented in the landscape behind him. There is a lot to interpret here, thanks to the quality of artwork, and I hope one day to meet Sako to get some insight to what this all might mean.

Face 1st, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2023
Face 1st, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2023

In the middle, Face 1st has some interesting faces that are in different stages of decomposition, or so it would seem, with the two on the right dipping with brains and blood. I don’t know what this tells us about the inner workings of the artist’s mind, but it surely tells us something. There is a nice shout-out to Soap, Chill and Sikoh, PWA members unable to paint on the day.

Zake, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2023
Zake, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2023

On the right is a striking portrait by Zake, which, although eye-catching, doesn’t quite work for me. I am not really understanding the shading around the eyes and into the hair. The character is obviously top-lit, highlighted by the orange shading on the ears, nose and eyebrows, but I can’t unsee a mask around the eyes. Nonetheless, as I said before, the piece is striking and interesting.

2656. Hepburn Road (11)

In a part of Hepburn Road that I rarely visit, I was dropping my son off, I caught a glimpse of this qWeRT paste up. Of course I had to park up, and walk back to take a better look. I think, judging from the good condition of the piece, that it must have been left here during qWeRT’s recent trip to Bristol.

qWeRT, Hepburn Road, Bristol, November 2019
qWeRT, Hepburn Road, Bristol, November 2019

I believe that our friendly googly-eyed character greets us in the guise of Vishnu, the Hindu god and preserver of life. The wheatpaste is rather well camouflaged, set on a colourful background of random tags and swirls and is at first quite difficult to see. More to come from qWeRT and more to find I hope.

1808. St Werburghs tunnel (48)

Well this was a nice surprise. You don’t get to see much of this kind of street art in Bristol, so it is great when visiting artists come and switch it up a bit.

As an aside, the expression ‘switch it up’ is new to me…in all my life I had never heard it until my fourteen year old daughter said it a few weeks ago and I told her it wasn’t a phrase. She just laughed at me. I had to go and look it up. Of course since then I have heard it quite a lot, and now am using it for the first time ever in writing. You saw it here first folks.

Spray Saint, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2018
Spray Saint, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2018

Jordan Lauder, A.K.A. Spray Saint is from Hemel Hempstead and has an awesome story to tell. I am not a follower of any faith, but I do believe in goodness and people having the chance to turn their lives around, and for Spray Saint finding God has helped him to find some peace. I really recommend that you take a look at a video he made about his journey.

His leopard piece in St Werburghs tunnel is beautifully worked in blue tones and has a real sense of movement about it. As I said at the start, we just don’t get to see much work like this in Bristol and I really hope he comes to visit again, and wish him well on his continuing journey.

309. Albert Park Place (3)

This is a rather cheerful and witty work that has been sitting in my ‘pending folder’ for rather a long time now. It has been there because I have no idea who painted it. It looks to me like the work of someone who doesn’t paint often, and while nicely executed, it has a certain naivety to it.

Unknown artist, Albert Park Place, Bristol, March 2016
Unknown artist, Albert Park Place, Bristol, March 2016

I don’t think I have seen any other work by this artist, but I could easily be wrong…it happens quite a lot in my posts. The cat has the fine privilege of overlooking my favourite Sepr piece of the year so far.

Sit back and enjoy the pun and celebrate the fact that anyone can be a street artist.