Sometimes things are just meant to be, and this outstanding piece by TEAone for Westonwallz simply couldn’t be more at home than within this framed spot on the side of a building in West Street, Weston-super-Mare. I am guessing that the frame once played host so some kind of advertising hoarding, or something along those lines.
TEAone, Westonwallz, Weston-super-Mare, May 2023
TEAone is an exceptional artist and painted one of my favourite pieces at Upfest 2022 (below). Everything about this piece is perfect, and it captures a typical traditional beach-front scene perfectly, with colourful awning, donkeys and a boy on a bicycle. Packed full of atmosphere alongside serenity. This is a magical piece by TEAone… it would make a perfect jigsaw puzzle too.
Willl Cross, Westonwallz, Weston-super-Mare, May 2023
You wait for a Willl Cross piece to come along and then two come in quick succession, although actually, this one was painted some time ago, August 2022 to be precise, for Westonwallz, in Old Post Office Lane, Weston-super-Mare. Will Cross has an incredible knack for making contemporary scenes look like they have come from the romantic period in the 1800s.
Willl Cross, Westonwallz, Weston-super-Mare, May 2023
The reality of this scene is that it is a pallet bonfire on Turbo Island, a small triangle of land in Stokes Croft in Bristol, claimed by the people for the people, which often plays host to a variety of revellers, alcoholics, drug users and casual passers-by. Bonfires are a common occurrence, even since it was concreted over this year.
Willl Cross, Westonwallz, Weston-super-Mare, May 2023
This piece is painted in a narrow street, but I photographed it when the sun was playing tricks and causing a fair amount of reflection, which is a pity. I love Willl Cross’ style and would very much like to own one of his stunning paintings, but I imagine they are way beyond my budget. There is something very beautiful about the quality of light in the piece, and mystery about the figures sitting round the fire, chewing the fat. A couple of people in the background have stopped to look at the goings-on, which is beautifully observed and an accurate representation of what would happen.
Willl Cross has created a scene, which on first inspection could be a rural scene, but in actual fact is about as urban as it gets. Brilliant work and an outstanding touch from the artist.
When he’s not busy painting them, I am busy finding them. Mote tends to paint in pulses of activity, although to be fair his ‘quiet’ periods never last very long, which means that it is almost impossible to keep on top of his work during his bust times. The end result is that it would seem that there are always pieces out there to find, and this beauty on Feeder Road is an example of that.
Mote, Feeder Road, Bristol, August 2023
I love the site selection for this piece, almost as though the monster is lurking with intent to surprise passers-by. A friendly looking monster, in spite of his fierce teeth, beautifully painted with creative doodle fills, this is a really fine example of Mote’s work and a demonstration of how far he has come in a short time and how sophisticated his work is becoming.
Ooh! I love this recent piece from Desi, whose work just gets better and better. This time she is writing VEIL, one of her two variants, but with joined up script writing, which is a new and exciting development that works rather well.
Desi, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, August 2023
I have often been quite critical of artists who don’t buff walls before they paint, because the underlying graffiti can often be distracting, but Desi, whether by design or luck, has managed to pull it off with this piece. The background somehow complements her writing and helps it to stand out. Beautiful curvy letter shapes are accompanied by great blue and pink fills (that B/P combo again), perfectly blended. I think that this might just be my favourite piece from Desi yet.
I met Fink briefly at the Cheltenham Paint Festival recently, and he was good enough to stop for a quick chat. I mentioned to him that I had seen some of his work in Bristol from quite a while back and had been following his work on Instagram for a while. It turns out he lives now in Dubai and makes his living from his art commissions, which is pretty amazing. It seems that on his trip to the UK he dropped in to Bristol for a quick stop and painted this magnificent piece not far away from the back of Temple Meads station.
Fink, River Avon, Bristol, August 2023
Fink’s abstract portrait pieces are special, drawn with a continuous line, a bit like sketching a face on paper in one go without lifting the pen. The golden face is made up of smaller faces painted in the same way, that give the whole piece texture and interest. This is a very fine piece from a visiting artist, who has some history with Bristol.
I went on a bit of a wild goose chase last week looking for some boards in Bedminster, but was completely unable to find them. The walk, however, took me to East Street after working hours and all the shops were closed, and I was in shutter heaven.
Taboo, East Street, Bristol, August 2023
This shutter piece by Taboo, which I think is unlikely to be a commission, but you never know, spells out Boser, the significance of which passes me by. The anti-style letters are accompanied by an anti-style cartoon Tom cat from Tom and Jerry, with four ‘echo’ faces adjacent to the first. Typically anarchic and somehow charmingly comforting, this Taboo piece ticks all the right boxes. I am not too sure about the orange figure 8, which isn’t a motif I have seen in his work before, and I believe it to be a subsequent addition by a tagger, although the orange does match the letter ‘B’ in his signature. A mystery.
Peanutsdeli, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2023
I am a huge admirer of Peanutsdeli’s work, but unfortunately he does most of his painting in the Cheltenham/Gloucester/Stroud area and only occasionally comes to Bristol, which is a real pity. This is an absolute belter, painted for Werm’s recent birthday jam.
Peanutsdeli, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2023
The slim characters that Peanutsdeli creates, look like they are straight from a comic book and have something of a Manga style about them. In this piece, we have a vibrant heroine, complete with red hair and blue cape. The character is outlined with a thin black line, a trademark feature of Peanutdeli’s work. Loads of movement and beautiful detail in the piece, which obeys ‘house’ colours of blue and pink selected for the collaborative paint jam wall. I would love to see much more of Peanutdeli’s work in Bristol.
What fun it has been to follow Evey’s progress as a graffiti writer over the last few years. She has come a long way, and this recent RBF paint jam Barbie piece, I suspect, may have stretched her somewhat, and she has carried it off brilliantly.
Evey, Greenbank, Bristol, August 2023
The font is Barbieish, without conceding too much to the Mattel brand, but also works very well as an Evey piece. Some nice clean lines and solid fills, although some colours are a little bit thin in places. I only recently discovered (a tip from I bee W) that spray cans often have a little graphic on the can describing how thick or thin the paint is – good to know and explains why sometimes you can use twice as much of one colour than another. This is a fine piece from Evey on what looked like it was a super-fun day.
This is the third piece I have posted from the 650 years of Bristol celebration pant jam, and it is by the magnificent artist Willl Cross. For most of the artists, there was a major challenge in switching their spray cans for brushes, not so for Willl Cross who uses brushes for all his street art pieces, and is more familiar with studio art work.
Willl Crosss, Queen’s Road, Bristol, August 2023
Willl Cross tends to use a crossover method which incorporates modern scenes painted in a romantic style, and often his subject is wearing traditional Bulgarian costume. This outstanding piece presents a stunning view which many Bristolians will be familiar with, showing the Avon Gorge and Clifton suspension bridge viewed from the Downs. The woman in the portrait, with her eyes closed, appears to be enjoying the moment and is gently holding a wildflower.
Willl Crosss, Queen’s Road, Bristol, August 2023
There is more mystery to the piece though, with some menacing winged beasts or demons floating around the woman’s head. I would like to believe that the demons are being expelled by the peace of the moment.
The patterns on the dress are wonderfully painted, and the dramatic skies overhead indicate turmoil. I would so much love to speak with Willl Cross to understand more about the painting.
We are privileged in Bristol to have free access to stunning artwork like this for citizens and visitors to enjoy. Next time you are passing, stop for a moment and drink in this awesome painting.
What a treat! Two Fiva pieces in the space of three weeks, both in the tunnel, and both reminding us of what we have missed over the last couple of years. I am not too sure why he has been absent for so long, perhaps he moved away or there were other real life events that made painting difficult, but he is back and that is what matters. At the end of the last post I wrote “I hope this isn’t a flash in the pan”. The appearance of this piece puts that worry to bed.
Fiva, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2023
Fiva has used this overlay technique to great effect before, and it is such a clever way to tell two stories in one go. There are large block capital letters in Grey spelling out ‘FIVA’ and overlaid is a lower case, script written ‘fiver’ in pink and blue (that winning combo again). The clever part is how these interact, for example, the bevelled edge of the capital letters runs through the lower case letters, but in different shades. No self-respecting Fiva piece is fully complete without a cheeky cartoon character, and this grey chappie with a purple cap rounds off the piece magnificently. Looking forward to more from an artist who has been much missed.
Natural adventures 