Tag: Monster

5696. Peel Street Green (23)

Mr Crawls and Mote, Peel Street Green, Bristol, November 2023
Mr Crawls and Mote, Peel Street Green, Bristol, November 2023

One of the most entertaining and, on reflection, most likely collaborative partnerships is that between Mote and Mr Crawls. The biggest surprise is perhaps that this coming together hadn’t happened Sooner. This is the second collaborative piece that I have posted, and I have another waiting to post, although that one is rather badly tagged.

Mr Crawls and Mote, Peel Street Green, Bristol, November 2023
Mr Crawls and Mote, Peel Street Green, Bristol, November 2023

To the left, Mr Crawls has come up with something really unusual, and for once not a bird. Quite what it is, though, I am not sure. Bones, horns, a muzzle with sharp teeth – a rather nasty monster. Next tom this imaginary beast is a bird monster by Mote, looking a little more evil than some of his character creations – perhaps it is the company it is keeping. This motley duo (the characters, not the artists) prop up the far end of the long wall at Peel Street Green.

5633. Brunel Way (245)

Mr Crawls and Mote, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2023
Mr Crawls and Mote, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2023

How could I not have seen this coming? Perhaps one of the most obvious collaborations in Bristol has happened, and it has taken place right under our noses. Mr Crawls and Mote have painted their distinctive birds side-by-side in this wonderful and ‘made-in-heaven’ collaboration.

Mr Crawls and Mote, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2023
Mr Crawls and Mote, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2023

Mr Crawls’ bird head is one of several versions of his bird, this one having horns and a hooked beak. His style is rather cartoony and the expression of the bird enhanced by the use of heavy eyelids. Mote’s style is a little bit more doodle-based and his bird is tending to the monstrous. The hatch markings in the eyes and downturned beak create a slightly grumpy appearance. It is amazing that although the basic elements are similar in the two birds, my/our response to each of them is quite different. I’m definitely looking to more collaborations from these two.

5550. Brunel Way (237)

Mote, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2023
Mote, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2023

Mote is another artist who appears to have taken his foot off the pedal a little bit of late, after a very busy summer indeed. Having said that, he has simply returned to a more steady flow, rather than standstill. I am not sure that this piece survived for very long, as both sides of this wall have encountered very high turnovers recently.

Mote, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2023
Mote, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2023

Another in the bird monster series of pieces, Mote has managed to create a humorous creation composed of five or six discrete components. The highlight of the piece for me is the decorative fill in the pink section on the bird’s back, Mote is beginning to make these patterns something of a trademark in his work. A very nice piece.

5536. Dean Lane skate park (643)

Cheo, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2023
Cheo, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2023

What an absolute belter from Cheo, an artist who has lost none of his touch during his absence, and if anything has come back to painting on the streets with renewed vigour and creativity. It took me several attempts to get a clean shot of this piece in Dean Lane, because developers, who are working on the old Salvation Army building behind, had fenced off half of this wall, much to everyone’s irritation.

Cheo, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2023
Cheo, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2023

I understand, thank you Paul H for the insight, that the piece was influenced by the Rayman video games, something I would not and could not have ever known. The beast is so brilliantly painted, and has such depth and detail that few artists would be able to recreate. Just an awesome piece from an awesome artist.

5467. East Street

Andy Council, East Street, Bristol, August 2023
Andy Council, East Street, Bristol, August 2023

A rare foray into a part of Bedminster last week, looking for something that wasn’t there, led me to East Street, long after the shops had shut, which meant only one thing, a glimpse at closed shutter artwork that I hadn’t even been aware of before and which might have been there for some time. Among the discoveries was this gem from Andy Council.

Andy Council, East Street, Bristol, August 2023
Andy Council, East Street, Bristol, August 2023

From the signature, it looks like Andy Council painted this composite dinosaur piece in 2022, so it is possible that it was painted as an extra piece for Upfest, but more likely it might have been a permitted or commissioned piece from the shop store owners. As with much of Andy Council’s work, the whole monster character is made up of different components, including buildings and mechanical joints. He has thrown in a few toadstools for good measure too. I was most happy to come across this, especially as the things I was looking for didn’t even seem to exist.

5459. Feeder Road (3)

Mote, Feeder Road, Bristol, August 2023
Mote, Feeder Road, Bristol, August 2023

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
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.

5398. Cumberland Basin

Mote, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2023
Mote, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2023

Cumberland Basin is a bit of a generic area name that I use to describe quite a large space north of the bridge over the River Avon. This particular piece from Mote is on the Eastern edge of the Cumberland Basin area, adjacent to one of the very large warehouses that fringe this part of the river.

Mote, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2023
Mote, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2023

The large piece is another bird-monster character, this time double-ended and with a fluffy thing in the middle. I am not too sure the middle section works too well, as it interrupts the flow through the creature. Mote might have added it in to fill the space, but more conventional patterns and colours might have done the job. It is clear that the middle section is by Mote, but it looks like it could have been a creative addition by a different artist altogether. Still an immensely enjoyable piece though.

5380. River Avon (46)

Mote, River Avon, Bristol, July 2023
Mote, River Avon, Bristol, July 2023

It is difficult to make it through a week without coming across something wild and wonderful from Mote. Not only is he becoming one of Bristol’s most prolific artists, but he is also improving and pushing his boundaries with incredible pace, and I am thoroughly enjoying the journey he is taking us on.

Mote, River Avon, Bristol, July 2023
Mote, River Avon, Bristol, July 2023

This magnificent bird beast is on the larger side for a Mote creation, but fills the space really well. The face and beak are picked out in red and pink colours, separating them from the rest of the head, in shades of blue and green. The monster has three eyes, each decorated with Mote’s unique take on pupil representation. The decorations are interesting and eradicate any danger of too much solid fill space. This is an attractive piece that adds to the artist’s growing and improving portfolio. Time to see him at a festival or two?

5373. Peel Street Green (17)

Mote, Peel Street Green, Bristol, June 2023
Mote, Peel Street Green, Bristol, June 2023

Mote has taken a bit of a shine to this spot on Peel Street Green, and the wall lends itself really well to his work, because it is square. It isn’t quite so good for graffiti writers, who in the main prefer rectangular spaces for their letters.

Mote, Peel Street Green, Bristol, June 2023
Mote, Peel Street Green, Bristol, June 2023

This Mote monster is armed with an array of extremely sharp teeth, and three eyes (the central one more of a pineal body than an eye). Usually Mote creates happy-go-lucky monster characters, but this one isn’t quite as light as some of his others. Colourful gums and lovely fills, Mote just keeps on getting better and better.

5366. St Werburghs tunnel (372)

Stiff, St Werburghs, Bristol, June 2023
Stiff, St Werburghs, Bristol, June 2023

I managed to snap this piece by Stiff just before heading off on my holiday, which I was pleased about, because, for whatever reason, his work never seems to last very long. His work tends to be on the alien theme and in this piece a red monster is sticking its toothy tongue (?) out of a very toothy mouth.

Stiff, St Werburghs, Bristol, June 2023
Stiff, St Werburghs, Bristol, June 2023

Stiff pretty much always paints on a black background, which tends to bring a focus on the monster/alien. Red on black works very well, and this is a striking piece. There appears to be a square speech bubble at the base of the piece, but it contains nothing – I am not too sure what that is all about. It is always great to find one of Stiff’s sporadic pieces.