Tag: I bee W

4003. Walliscote Road (1), Weston-super-Mare

I will never quite understand why some artists never have as high a profile on Natural Adventures as they deserve, this is even more puzzling when those artists are as talented and creative as I bee W. I have several of his pieces in my archive simply waiting to be posted, but they are trapped. I wasn’t going to let that happen with this wonderful stencil piece in Weston-super-Mare

I bee W, Walliscote Road, Weston-super-Mare, September 2021
I bee W, Walliscote Road, Weston-super-Mare, September 2021

The stencil is unusual, because it features a nude figure which is very unusual in UK street art. Maybe we were prudish or something, but nude art is rarely seen. The complex, multi-layered stencil is typical of the excellent work we see from I bee W, and has a sense of optimism and freedom about it. I will be unearthing more work from this fabulous stencil artist.

2678. Cheltenham 2019 (27)

I love the work of I Bee W, but feel a bit guilty that I haven’t posted much of his work – there is no reason for this, I just have a few pieces in my archive that never made it out. This poignant piece from the Cheltenham Paint Festival 2019 was always going to get posted as the subject matter chimes with me.

I bee W, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
I bee W, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019

There is a high-gloss quality about this piece, which is remarkable really as it has been sprayed onto chipboard. The image is a sad tale of the disappearance of wildlife through biodoversity loss and climate change, the two most significant issues facing the planet. A little red-eyed tree frog – a representative of life on earth – is saying ‘Bye then!’ as if its existence is a trivial afterthought. Although quite funny, I find this piece and all it represents very depressing. I never thought I would witness first-hand the tipping point, where slowing or reversing biodiversity loss becomes impossible, but all I see around me is an acceleration towards that eventuality. Big changes are needed urgently if we want a beautiful future.

2438. Upfest 2018 (160)

Way back at Upfest 2016, I bee W was the first street artist at a festival that I had the courage to speak to, shortly before I spoke with Dice 67 (who I later went on to conduct my first, and so far only, interview). Turns out that the vast majority of street artists are lovely people and even at festivals make time for a quick chat.

I bee W, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
I bee W, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

I bee W is a stencil artist whose stencils are often placed on carefully crafted or textured backgrounds and so become part of something bigger than the stencil alone. There is a story here, but I’ll be damned if I know what it is. A lady in a bikini bookended by a pair of seahorses. It is a pretty piece albeit slightly surreal. I have a few more of his pieces lurking in my archives, so I’ll have to dig them out.

That rounds off this series of ten Upfest 2018 catch up posts, but I’ll be doing more over the autumn and winter as there are still so many I haven’t yet posted.

1451. The Bearpit (138)

I bee W is an artist I admire very much. I first met him at Upfest 2016, and knew of his work before that, but this is the first time I have written about him, which surely can’t be right. His intricate stencils are often set on reasonably plain backgrounds, which brings out the central subject.

I bee W, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2018
I bee W, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2018

This ‘pigs might fly’ piece was created during the Spring paint jam in The Bearpit and I think carries a message, but I am not entirely sure whether it is connected to the clampdown on graffiti in The Bearpit or not.

I bee W, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2018
I bee W, The Bearpit, Bristol, April 2018

It is a nice composition and contrasts well with the surrounding graffiti, helping it to stand out. It is like a gallery piece, and I like that.