Tag: No Frills

4393. Sparke Evans Park (40)

Just because this is the first appearance from Tes (Slim Pickings) for quite a long while, it doesn’t mean that he hasn’t been painting much recently. On the contrary, there are many of his pieces in my archives that I haven’t managed to post, such is the stiff competition at the moment. It is a crying shame that so many outstanding pieces may never see the light of day on Natural Adventures, but it just indicates the quantity of artists out there at the moment.

Slim Pickings (Tes), Sparke Evand Park, April 2022
Slim Pickings (Tes), Sparke Evand Park, April 2022

These are quite recent works by Tes and they show a playful reversal or mirror image of his usual mega-tag. Well if you’ve only got three letters, you have to find some way of switching it up a little, and this is just the ticket.

Slim Pickings (Tes), Sparke Evand Park, April 2022
Slim Pickings (Tes), Sparke Evand Park, April 2022

These pieces were painted alongside some No Frills crew friends during a paint jam, that included Bags, Turoe and Biers in early April. Both pieces are nicely executed, as one would expect, and demonstrate that even with quite a formulaic approach, Slim Pickings manages to bring variety to his work through colour selections and details.

4366. M32 Cycle path (173)

It is great that Turoe manages to paint reasonably regularly in spite of some health challenges, and when he does paint he still has the ability to surprise. This rather retro piece is a bit of a beauty down on the cycle path, and I suspect it will be there for some time.

Turoe, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2022
Turoe, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2022

The block letters overlap one another and are on the lean, but each one is perfectly finished with crisp, clean lines and borders. You can date the piece from around the time of the Oscar ceremony thanks to the reference to Will Smith. I love the way that street art does this, chronicling contemporary events before being irreversibly wiped from the ‘canvass’ through being buffed, bombed, tagged or replaced.

4228. M32 Cycle path (161)

This is another piece from Dybe, part of a spate of No Frills crew collaborative efforts painted in recent weeks. I am trying to make amends for the terrible underrepresentation of Dybe’s fine work in Natural Adventures. I feel an archive trawl coming on sometime.

Dybe, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, January 2022
Dybe, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, January 2022

The most noticeable thing about Dybe’s work is that his simple letters (full caps) are always really crisply and neatly finished. Nothing here is rushed or slap-dash, and although I have never met the artist, it is clear from his work that he is conscientious. The brick wall is nicely done, but it is the white highlights that give Dybe’s letters that 3D effect and lift away from the wall. A really nicely presented piece.

4199. M32 Cycle path (160)

I have found it a little difficult to identify some of the little characters in Biers’ pieces recently, but there is absolutely no mistaking this grey man, former Prime Minister John Major. A long time ago, when I lived in Godmanchester, I used to see John Major and Jeffrey Archer drinking together in my local pub. Goodness knows what plans they were cooking up.

Biers, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, January 2022
Biers, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, January 2022

So Biers has portrayed John Major brilliantly peering out of the ‘0’ in WD40 with his laser stare. Major must be wondering what on earth is happening to his political party at the moment, they are such a rotten lot, and the Johnson defenders, by lining up behind him, are hanging themselves. It is the quiet ones we have to watch (Sunak, Gove, Hunt).

Biers is favouring the wobbly border at the moment, something that the PWA crew were playing with a little while back. This is a lovely piece painted during a rich vein of form from the artist.

4179. M32 roundabout J3 (378)

An artist, whose work I have photographed many, many times, but rarely, if ever posted on Natural Adventures is Dybe. Well I am putting that wrong right with this post today. I believe Dybe is part of the No Frills crew, and he has certainly been busy alongside Slim Pickings, Biers and Bags all over Bristol lately.

Dybe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2022
Dybe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2022

Dybe’s writing is superbly presented, and seems always to be very tight and clean. The letters are not the kindest for graffiti writing, but he always presents them really well. There is usually a little character that emerges somewhere in his letters, and in this piece it is on the ‘Y’. There are loads of elements to admire, such as the fades of colour fill, the brick wall and the drips. An all round excellent piece of writing. More to look forward to from Dybe.

4178. MoonStreet (90)

Without doubt, Moon Street is my favourite graffiti spot in Bristol. It was where I cut my teeth discovering the joys of the art form, taking little detours on my walks to work (I haven’t been to the office for nearly two years now, imagine that!). Although the frequency of new pieces in Moon Street has been low for some time, I still like to swing by now and again for old time’s sake.

Biers, Moon Street, Bristol, January 2022
Biers, Moon Street, Bristol, January 2022

Imagine my happiness when I came across this Biers piece on my most recent visit. I can’t think I have ever seen any of his work here before, so it was a double surprise. The piece adopts his WD40 moniker with a musician emerging from the ‘0’. The colours are nice and the whole thing really works for me. Great fun from Biers.

4172. M32 roundabout J3 (375)

I told you a few posts ago that Biers has been hitting the streets pretty hard recently, and here is another of his WD40 pieces from the M32 roundabout. If I am honest, I’d say that Biers seems to be a man in a bit of a hurry. He virtually stopped painting since the first lock down, and has only recently started up again but would appear to be making up for lost time. While he has massively increased the quantity of his work he has perhaps let his quality go a touch, but I am sure that will come back when he settles into a new rhythm.

Biers, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2022
Biers, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2022

The piece is a classic letters/character combo. Sometimes Biers’ characters are based on personalities or known cartoon characters, but I can’t identify this one at all. He reminds me a little of the ‘calm down Scousers’ parodied by Harry Enfield. Lots more to come from Biers…

4166. River Avon (24)

Tes, or Slim Pickings as I call him, is one of the most consistent writers in Bristol with his familiar TES super-tag, but every once in a while he throws something different at us, and this piece is an example of how he switches it up.

Slim Pickings (Tes), River Avon, Bristol, December 2021
Slim Pickings (Tes), River Avon, Bristol, December 2021

The letters are the same, but aren’t presented in his usual very prescriptive form, they are more uniform and spread further horizontally, but the fills and lines are solid and clean, just as we would expect. Great to see something a little different from Slim Pickings.

4130. Dean Lane skate park (447)

Aah! The familiar shape and style of a Slim Pickings TES plastered big and bold on the Sally Army wall at Dean Lane skate park. Like several other artists in the city, Slim Pickings’ (Tes) work is a driving creative pulse, a regular heartbeat, that creates the foundations of a thriving street art culture in Bristol. Ever present and confident.

Slim Pickings, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2021
Slim Pickings, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2021

This pink on yellow belter was painted over the rather nice portrait by Tao.create, illustrating how ephemeral the work of artists can be, especially in spots like this one. Lovely bubble-gum colours and drips, this is a great piece by Slim Pickings. Most unlike the artist, his pink fill is a little thin in places, and I can only think he was short of paint, because he is well known for his full and solid fills. Nice one.

4053. River Avon (23)

To use urban slang, this piece is sick (metaphorically and literally) and is a long awaited resumption to spraying walls by Biers (who goes by several other names, but Biers is the one I use).

Biers, River Avon, Bristol, November 2021
Biers, River Avon, Bristol, November 2021

I find it hard to read exactly these letters, but I am confident that Paul H might be able to enlighten me. This is a tight piece; the letters are bold and clean, the fills nicely horizontally graded, the white accents neat and tidy and the character clean and simple. Overall this is the work of a talented and experienced graffiti writer and it is great to see him getting busy again.