Tag: Mural

225. Stokes Croft, Snug Bar (1)

I am often left wondering how street artists manage to do pieces which can only be accessed from a roof. Do they have permission? Do they jump up a ladder? Do they find some other way to get up? I guess it depends. Anyhow, this appeared a month of two back (I think) above a bar in Stokes Croft.

Akarat and Hoax, Stokes Croft, Bristol, March 2016
Akarat and Hoax, Stokes Croft, Bristol, March 2016

The piece is by Akarat and Hoax. I think that the birds on the left are by Akarat and the stencil is by Hoax. This is a tribute piece to Buzz, and you will see all the little Buzz words all around the piece.

Akarat and Hoax, Stokes Croft, Bristol, March 2016
Akarat and Hoax, Stokes Croft, Bristol, March 2016

I think I can also see a bit of a Mr Klue mural to the left. This is strange as it can’t really be seen from the road, but I suppose a wall is a wall. As we have come to expect from Akarat and Hoax, this piece is full of symbolism, but what it means…?

223. Devon Road (2)

I’m just so excited about Devon Road and the wealth of street art that it offers, that I am having to contain myself and even out my posts a bit. This is a lovely piece by Deamze of Ren and Stimpy – a cartoon show I rarely watched. Somehow it works really well on this alley wall, and even the door in the middle of the piece fails to disrupt it.

Deamze, Devon Road, Bristol, May 2016
Deamze, Devon Road, Bristol, May 2016

I am more used to seeing the wildstyle writing that I associate with Deamze, but occasionally he does these character pieces, and has an extraordinary talent for them.

Deamze, Devon Road, Bristol, May 2016
Deamze, Devon Road, Bristol, May 2016

I wish I lived on a street with lots of walls.

222. Armada Place (3)

One of Sled One’s incredible wildstyle pieces. He sprays these unimaginably quickly, and I consider him to be very talented. One of the best writers in Bristol who is both energetic and prolific. This can be found in Armada Place, parallel with Stokes Croft, and just around the corner from the Fois piece on Nine Tree Hill.

Sled One, Armada Place, Bristol, April 2016
Sled One, Armada Place, Bristol, April 2016

When you get your eye in with these wildstyle pieces, you can start to make out the letters and words. I saw some today however that were unfathomable.

221. Devon Road (1)

A new location for me. I found out about this incredible road in Easton through a friend of mine who wondered if I had heard about a community project, the purpose of which was to brighten up Devon Road. I looked up the community Facebook page, and was astonished that this was completely off my radar. I decided to check it out…what delights!

The main part of the road is a regular Bristol street, but at the Northern end it has a dogleg tracking West, which is actually a lane with two long terraces backing onto it. Each terraced house has a yard with walls and doors opening out into Devon Road. It is these walls and doors that are being sprayed. Everyone is happy. The street artists have walls to spray and there is little tagging here as it is a bit off the beaten track. The residents have the benefit of some beautiful works going up on their properties and the whole area looks vibrant, especially on a lovely sunny day.

Aspire, blue tit, Devon Road, Bristol, May 2016
Aspire, blue tit, Devon Road, Bristol, May 2016

My first post from Devon Road is a stunning piece by Aspire. This, in my view, is one of his finest. The birds are a blue tit on the left, and a coal tit (I think) on the right. Just fabulous. I am now on the hunt for a blue macaw that I know he has recently sprayed. I will find it.

Aspire, coal tit, Devon Road, Bristol, May 2016
Aspire, coal tit, Devon Road, Bristol, May 2016

220. Drummond Road (1)

On the edge of St Pauls at the Stokes Croft end of Ashley Road, this lovely work by Face F1st complements a PWA collaboration opposite it. Some may consider Face F1st to be a bit of a ‘one trick pony’, as the works are all very similar, with little variation. I, however do not subscribe to this idea. All the faces are beautifully crafted with clean lines and have a distinctive consistency, which is in a way rather comforting in a world of frenetic spraying.

Face F1st, Drummond Road, Bristol, March 2016
Face F1st, Drummond Road, Bristol, March 2016

This piece I photographed in March this year, but I also snapped a newer one today during my lunch walk. I always get a bit of a glowing feeling whenever I happen across any of Face F1st’s work.

217. Hepburn Road (2)

It is  great how things start to come together. Twelve months ago I could probably have named only two Bristol street artists, and one of them was Banksy! Now that I have been blogging about the amazing street art in Bristol for about a year, I am slowly becoming more familiar with the local artists and their styles. Some still confuse me, but generally I know what I am looking at.

DNT, Mr Klue, Akarat, Hepburn Road, Bristol, January 2016
DNT, Mr Klue, Akarat, Hepburn Road, Bristol, January 2016

This lovely collaboration appeared in January this year in Hepburn Road – a heavily sprayed alleyway, about 20m long. The robot thing on the left is by DNT (Bruno Dante), the swirly abstract is by the wonderful Mr Klue (getting a lot of posts at the moment) and the rat is by Akarat

DNT, Hepburn Road, Bristol, January 2016
DNT, Hepburn Road, Bristol, January 2016

I have struggled to separate the work of Hoax and Akarat, and still do. I now know though that the little squiggle above the rat’s head is Akarat’s signature, which shouyld make things a little easier.

Akarat, Hepburn Road, Bristol, January 2016
Akarat, Hepburn Road, Bristol, January 2016

Sadly this piece is now gone, but I was lucky enough to see and enjoyed passing it many times.

215. Stokes Croft, the Carriageworks (8)

You can probably tell by now that I am clearing through my December backlog of images. Here is another one by Mr Klue. Mr Klue (Klue Wone) is a Bristol based designer and illustrator whose work is turning up everywhere at the moment. This is a particularly colourful piece that typifies his excellent selection of colours and shades and presents his swirling patterns with soft angular corners.

Mr Klue, Stokes Croft, Bristol, December 2015
Mr Klue, Stokes Croft, Bristol, December 2015

Mr Klue’s work is so original and distinctive, and it is nice to see some abstract stuff adorning Bristol’s walls. His website is here.

213. Stokes Croft, the Carriageworks (7)

Instagram is a wonderful thing. I have only been using it for a couple of weeks, but it is a great way of finding new works by local street artists…getting a ‘tip-off’ if you like.

Yesterday I saw a post by Mr Klue of this fresh new piece. I managed to get some pictures on my way to London for a football match. Had it not been for Instagram, I may not have seen this until next week some time, by which time it will probably be tagged.

Mr Klue, Stokes Croft, Bristol, 30 April 2016
Mr Klue, Stokes Croft, Bristol, 30 April 2016

This is a lovely collaboration between Mr Klue, with his characteristic swirly patterns, and Akarat and Hoax on the top.

Hoax and Akarat, Stokes Croft, Bristol, 30 April 2016
Hoax and Akarat, Stokes Croft, Bristol, 30 April 2016

Akarat and Hoax collaborate a lot, and I find it difficult to know which of them does which part. I think that the stencil work is by Hoax. Either way, this is a wonderful piece.

Hoax, Stokes Croft, Bristol, 30 April 2016
Hoax, Stokes Croft, Bristol, 30 April 2016

I am not sure of the relevance of the number 64, but it was a good year!

212. Dalton Square

This large wall by Sepr gave me enormous pleasure when I eventually found it in Dalton Square on the side of The Bell pub. I had seen images of it on the Interweb, but it took me an eternity to find it. It turns out, it is only a very small detour from my usual walk into work.

Sepr, Dalton Square, Bristol, April 2016
Sepr, Dalton Square, Bristol, April 2016

This is classic Sepr, plenty of things going on and lots of fine detail. It might be considered a little nightmarish, with all the characters inside the main character. It is difficult to figure out what is going on…are they all influences from the past?

Sepr, Dalton Square, Bristol, April 2016
Sepr, Dalton Square, Bristol, April 2016

Common to a lot of his work is wheeled transport, in this case a bicycle. There is also a beautifully crafted ball chain framing the main picture and leading to the two rather wonderful dogs.

Sepr, Dalton Square, Bristol, April 2016
Sepr, Dalton Square, Bristol, April 2016

Sepr signs off the work with an ornate wildstyle signature to the left of the piece. This really is a fabulous work, and the photographs, taken on a dull day, really don’t do it justice. So totally worth a visit.

Sepr, Dalton Square, Bristol, April 2016
Sepr, Dalton Square, Bristol, April 2016

 

210. Nine Tree Hill (3)

Sometimes you can hang on to a photograph for so long that it becomes a bit of an albatross. I took these pictures back in January this year, and I have some that are even older. The reason that I haven’t posted them until now is that although I know who the street artist is – Kleiner shames – who writes FOIS in his pieces, I don’t know anything about him, so I don’t have a lot to say.

Fois, Nine Tree Hill, Bristol, January 2016
Fois, Nine Tree Hill, Bristol, January 2016

I think I have actually photographed him working on a piece in Hill Street, but I’ll save that for another time. Other than that, Kleiner Shames remains a complete enigma. His work is very elaborate wildstyling of his name, with a touch of what I would call art deco influences…I think it is the curves. This work can be found on the corner between Nine Tree Hill and Armada Place, another Stokes Croft hotspot.

The observant viewers might see an iconic Rowdy crocodile on the building behind. More about that in a future post.