There are many hazards and obstacles to taking street art picures. This was in fact the second visit I had made to photograph this lovely eye by My Dog Sighs (his second Summer Editions piece for Upfest). On the first visit, there was a shadow cast right across the middle of the piece, and in this one I managed to capture a customer at the North Street Standard, and being alone he obviously had to be texting someone to give the illusion that he wasn’t in fact alone… but he was, so there.
My Dog Sighs, North Street, Bristol, July 2019
The eye is everything you might expect from My Dog Sighs, and is beautifully presented. It would be easy to fall in to the trap of saying that he is a one-trick pony and indeed I know some people who think that, I happen to disagree with that particular assertion. He has certainly nailed his technique for painting eyes, but it doesn’t stop there, he still works on the background and the silhouette in the eye and creates an atmosphere or story individual to each piece. Here he has used some stencils with Japanese characters falling like a digital rain around the eye.
You might spot a slight ‘blemish’ on the eye which is caused by a little vent pipe in the wall – My Dog Sighs has concealed it brilliantly. Well done Upfest for organising yet another triumphant Summer Editions piece.
How fortunate we are in Bristol to have had the unbelievable collaboration by My Dog Sighs and Curtis Hylton on Windmill Hill. As if that wasn’t enough, My Dog Sighs also left a couple of smaller pieces on a wall around the corner of the main piece and this is one of them.
My Dog Sighs, Windmill Hill, Bristol, April 2019
There is something absolutely magical about this piece and the face has similarities in style to the tin can faces that are one of his trademarks. I yearn to own one of his tin cans, but I guess I just have to be in the right place at the right time. Serene, even beautiful the character on the left is simply drawn and has four eyes, all of which contain a silhouette scene. To the right is harlequin clown, dare I say it with a feel of Picasso there somewhere. I don’t use the word adorable, but if I did, I might use it to describe this piece.
My Dog Sighs, Windmill Hill, Bristol, April 2019
The blue crown is rather special and casts a thin glow of light on the character’s head and antlers. I cannot tell you how much I love this work. It is so unusual and so very classy. As I said at the beginning, we are very lucky in Bristol.
I know that some of you will have been waiting for me to post this, as it is an internationally high-profile collaboration by My Dog Sighs and Curtis Hylton and is already deeply embedded in the ‘datasphere’. Nonetheless I wanted to give you my own perspective of this wondrous Bristol piece.
My Dog Sighs and Curtis Hylton, Windmill Hill, Bristol, April 2019
Firstly, props to Upfest for organising this special event. This year Upfest are taking a rest, a fallow year, from the Summer street art festival. Instead they are going to be orchestrating a few large and significant walls like this one, which will continue to keep Bristol firmly on the street art map.
My Dog Sighs and Curtis Hylton, Windmill Hill, Bristol, April 2019
While I am certainly familiar with the work of My Dog Sighs, I don’t think I have come across Curtis Hylton before, but he is an artist/muralist based in Hampshire, which is probably why he teamed up with MDS who lives in Portsmouth. Curtis painted the amazing artwork surrounding the eyes by MDS. The blue feathers on the left hand side, I believe are of a kingfisher, and in a WIP shot I saw from Paul121 showed some orange feathers, which were subsequently replaced with blue.
My Dog Sighs and Curtis Hylton, Windmill Hill, Bristol, April 2019
Eyes are one of the things that MDS specialises in and this one shows a very Bristol scene… the windmill is from Windmill Hill, the balloons from the Bristol balloon fiesta (one of the largest in Europe) and the Clifton suspension bridge. The silhouette runs through the middle of the eye with an extraordinary orange below and stunning sky scene and reflected eyelashes above. Just amazing.
My Dog Sighs and Curtis Hylton, Windmill Hill, Bristol, April 2019
The eye on the right hand side of the piece shows the same scene… it would look very odd if it didn’t.
My Dog Sighs and Curtis Hylton, Windmill Hill, Bristol, April 2019
Surrounding this his eye is a different scene altogether. Beautiful cream roses and rose petals, together with some other flowers just below the eye. Taken as a whole the collaboration is beyond impressive, and one of the best to be seen in Bristol for a long time.
My Dog Sighs and Curtis Hylton, Windmill Hill, Bristol, April 2019
Just to the right of the piece, the artists completed the wall with further decorations that on their own world be worth the trip, let alone the main work. MDS has really nailed the water drops here. I am going to try and see if I can copy them this weekend, if I get a chance to practice in the garden. Not holding my breath though.
Great to have this world-class piece in Bristol. Bravo My Dog Sighs and Curtis Hilton.
A truly awe-inspiring collaboration from Upfest this year was by the magnificent My Dog Sighs and Snub23. There is so much to like about this piece, starting with the wall itself, which played host to this fabulous piece by Sokar Uno in 2016.
My Dog Sighs and Snub23, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
The eye and the water drops which provide the focus for the piece is by My Dog Sighs, and there is a whole story going on in the reflected figure in the eye itself. I am a big fan of his work, and it just seems to be getting better and better.
My Dog Sighs and Snub23, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Snub23 has been to Upfest for the last three years now, and his geometric patterns are becoming more of a feature of his work. You may recall he created similar patterns on the side of the bus at Upfest 2016.
My Dog Sighs and Snub23, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
This is an absolutely outstanding collaboration and one that will go down as a highlight of this year’s festival for many visitors, including myself.
Another great artist to claim a wall in Rivington Street is My Dogs Sighs, and his piece is alongside other greats such as Fanakapan, Stinkfish and Thierry Noir. This is a piece typical of My Dog Sighs, composed of a pair of eyes, and on closer inspection a scene going on in the reflection of the eye itself.
My Dog Sighs, Rivington Street, Shoreditch, August 2016
This is a clever technique used by My Dog Sighs, and it is in the detail of the eye that the story lies. Difficult to make out, but the artist knows. It is always nice to stumble upon anything by My Dog Sighs.
On my recent day-trip to Weston-super-Mare, I felt compelled to visit the Tropicana, site of Banksy’s very successful Dismaland. I never made it to the exhibition, which I deeply regret, but read a great many posts and blogs about it and felt quite well acquainted with many of the exhibits. The site now plays host to a temporary fairground, with open entry, so I decided to take a look around. Ironically it all felt rather more dismal than it might have been during the exhibition.
My Dog Sighs, Tropicana, Weston-super-Mare, August 2016
Going in through the entrance lobby, there are several stencils by JPS, Fawn and Pzy, which I will get round to posting soon. Once into the main area, there were several larger murals on the left hand side walls. Unfortunately these were rather obscured by heavy fairground wagons and equipment. Undeterred, I found a way round the back and snapped away. This is a beautiful piece by the excellent My Dog Sighs, and so utterly unmistakable.
My Dog Sighs, Tropicana, Weston-super-Mare, August 2016
The photographs were tricky to take, because I couldn’t get any real distance from the piece. It didn’t matter though. This was another great extra surprise, because I didn’t know there was going to be anything here at all. It all comes down to wandering around, being curious and looking. I got my rewards.
Inspired by this recent post by Frankie Beane, I went in search of some pictures I had in my archive by the same artist. Miss Wah is a street artist and designer from Worcester who loves to doodle (you’d never guess) and who’s art is in the Kawaii style. There is more about the artist on her website.
Miss Wah, Greville Road, Bristol, January 2016
This piece sits in the garden/yard of the Hen and Chicken on Greville Road, and is in the very good company of a piece by My Dog Sighs – a favourite artist of mine. This was not so much a collaboration as a sharing of space at Upfest 2015.
My Dog Sighs, Greville Road, Bristol, January 2016
The day I went photographing these was too bright, and unfortunately the pictures are not very good because of the sun/shade issues. This is part of the reason I hadn’t posted them, but thanks to Frankie Beane, here they are. I would expect this whole area of Greville Road to be repainted in less than two weeks when Upfest 2016 begins.
My Dog Sighs, Greville Road, Bristol, January 2016
