Tag: Pekoe

4818. St Werburghs tunnel (318)

Pekoe, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2022
Pekoe, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2022

There are a handful of artists whose work fills me with a little tingle of excitement each time I came across their work, and Pekoe is right up there with the best of them. Her portraits feel like part of the furniture of the Bristol scene, and represent what is so good about the range and diversity of the city’s street art.

Pekoe, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2022
Pekoe, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2022

This piece was another RBF contribution to Bnie’s birthday celebrations a week or so back. A three-quarter view portrait with a blue face and ginger hair… what’s not to like about this colourful piece? The downturned mouth makes the woman look a little grumpy perhaps, but there is a friendly sparkle in the eyes. Pekoe has added in some clever shading, both on the face and in the hair, to give the whole portrait depth and texture. This is another fine piece from the wonderful Pekoe.

4786. Cumberland Basin

Hika and Pekoe, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2022
Hika and Pekoe, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2022

This is an unexpected collaboration between Hika and Pekoe… unexpected because I don’t really know much about Hika, although I do know all about RBF’s Pekoe. The two have combined nicely and there is much to like about the collaboration.

Hika and Pekoe, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2022
Hika and Pekoe, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2022

Hika’s letters might appear, on first inspection, to be a bit messy, but take a closer look and they are nice and clean with decent fills and a black 3D drop shadow. Some of the embellishments include red squiggles, and some rather nice yellow drips.

Pekoe, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2022
Pekoe, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2022

Regulars will know how much I admire Pekoe’s work, and this is a lovely portrait piece from her. Perhaps the most unusual thing about this one is the hairstyle. Pekoe’s portraits usually host big hair full of stars and shapes, but this one has a stylish short cut that works really well on the limited height of this space. Beautiful big eyes and a customary tear – great work from Pekoe. All in all, a really nice collaboration from this pair.

4699. Dean Lane skate park (526)

Pekoe, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2022
Pekoe, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2022

A really quick one this morning. I have to make an unexpected trip and won’t have much time for blogs. This is a pity, because it feels like an age since I last posted anything by Pekoe.

Pekoe, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2022
Pekoe, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2022

This piece was painted for the annual Dean Lane Hardcore (DLH) event a couple of weeks ago, when skating, music and spray painting come together in a raucous and fun festival. All a bit loud for me, so I decided not to attend. I don’t mind what the reason for getting Pekoe out to paint, I will always welcome her work.

4424. Greenbank (44)

Another wonderful piece from Pekoe, painted during a bit of a purple patch, when she seems to be getting out and about rather a lot, which can only be a good thing. This stunning portrait was painted alongside RBF crew friends and carried the blue background theme that bound the pieces on the collaborative wall together.

Pekoe, Greenbank, Bristol, April 2022
Pekoe, Greenbank, Bristol, April 2022

Pekoe has a remarkable talent for painting these portraits, which are so distinctly her work. I guess that the difference between her work, and the work of photorealists is that her style shines through, whereas sometimes it can be difficult to identify a photorealist artist. I am not sure if I have explained that very well, but in short, her work is unique. This time we have a purple face and blue and yellow hair decorated with orange and green symbols and shapes. Another fine piece from Pekoe.

4409. Sparke Evans Park (41)

Another fabulous Pekoe portrait in a series of recent pieces that it has been a pleasure to witness in recent weeks. This one was painted alongside her RBF friends in Sparke Evans Park a couple of weeks ago.

Pekoe, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, April 2022
Pekoe, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, April 2022

There is something very special about the colours that Pekoe uses and the blue and pink in this piece are absolutely perfect. There is enough shading on the face to give some depth to the features, and we can sense a sad expression, which the tears reinforce. The big hair is magnificent, but again alludes to sadness with some unhappy faces in place of smiley ones. The crown is well deserved and appropriate. A fine piece from Pekoe.

4315. Stokes Croft

Although I struggle to keep on top of the sheer volume of amazing street art and graffiti that appears in Bristol every day, I always make space on Natural Adventures for Pekoe. She is one of a handful of artists whose work I will try my hardest to post whenever I photograph it. Another example would be Laic217. There is something about Pekoe’s portraits that I find compelling and unique and feel the need to share.

Pekoe, Stokes Croft, Bristol, March 2022
Pekoe, Stokes Croft, Bristol, March 2022

This piece has been here fort a little while, but I only recently got round to photographing it. Before this piece there was another of her pieces, but this one is a real beauty. Fabulous colours and a half body portrait, rather than just a head. The piece overlooks the summer seating area of a café and is immediately below the recently refreshed Stinkfish piece in Stokes Croft. Very nice work indeed.

Pekoe, Stokes Croft, Bristol, January 2018
Pekoe, Stokes Croft, Bristol, January 2018

4274. St Werburghs tunnel (281)

It is very easy to get complacent when artists regularly produce great work, which is something I try to guard against. We can take it for granted sometimes without recognising that each piece is a discrete and unique work, we just expect it. I felt this when starting this post, that this was another nice piece from Pekoe, but it is so much more than that, and requires a great deal of thought and effort on her part.

Pekoe, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2022
Pekoe, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2022

The piece was painted as the central part of an RBF collaboration with Bnie to her left and Evey to her right. Pekoe has returned to a theme she has used many times before of the portrait having a third (all seeing) eye. I just had a flashback to my biology lessons as a youngster and recalled the pineal body… also known as the third eye. Read up on it if you care to, it is interesting stuff. Great hair and a great piece that has been enhanced with colour correction as the original photograph is very yellow/orange.

4174. Cumberland Basin

Painted as part of a recent paint jam from the RBF crew (Resting Bitch Face) is this magnificent portrait piece by Pekoe, who seems to be the beating heart of the crew. The whole wall is a cheerful and bright delight and I’ll be posting other pieces in due course.

Pekoe, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, January 2022
Pekoe, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, January 2022

The colour scheme is really fresh and up-beat, creating a positive vibe. As always with a Pekoe piece, the facial expression and big hair feature strongly. I’m not too sure about the hunched shoulders and short neck, but otherwise another beauty from Pekoe.

4168. Dean Lane skate park (451)

Ok, ok, so Christmas was a little time ago now, but I am still so far behind with my posts that this delightful Christmas message from Pekoe in Dean Lane is coming to you a little later than I would have liked. The sentiment is still well-meant though and beautifully delivered.

Pekoe, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2021
Pekoe, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2021

I didn’t see nearly as many Christmas pieces this year as I would have expected, so this was a sight for sore eyes. The portrait almost has a comic book look to it, especially with the speech bubble, and the dark colours used for the features add to that school of art. Something almost ‘Lictensteiny’ about it. The three TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms) at the end of the Christmas message relate to three of the places Pekoe loves to paint. This piece was the cherry on the top of a very nice Christmas break.

4143. Elton Street (1)

Persistence is the name of the game when out looking for street/graffiti art. The digital age that we live in means that I will often see pieces on Instagram long before I ever get to discover them for myself, and sometimes they are difficult to find. The reason I label all of my posts by location rather than by artist is so that if people are surfing the Interweb or Googling for Bristol street art, they will be able to find the piece or the spot easily, from the title or the metatags.

I found this amazing wall in Elton Street on the side of The Lost Horizon Arts Centre and Bar building, by extending a dog walking (street art hunting) walk by a few hundred meters, and was very well rewarded for doing so.

Pekoe, Elton Road, Bristol, December 2021
Pekoe, Elton Road, Bristol, December 2021

There are about five or six panels that have been painted with a pink and blue theme, and this first one is by the ever-fabulous Pekoe. It is a lovely piece, incorporating all of her trademark elements, and working the colour scheme brilliantly. It is great to see a head and shoulders piece from her rather than just the portrait, but the space and access to a ladder or platform probably lent itself to the fuller format. A great piece and satisfying find.