Pekoe has undergone something of a step change in her work this year, making a bold decision to start concentrating on her letters and moving a little away from her portraits. A part of me is a little saddened by this, because I love her portraits, however I am also excited that she is developing her writing, which usually incorporates a small portrait within it, such as in this piece.
Pekoe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2023
The first thing that jumps out at you about this piece is the happy and colourful design. Some of the colour is picked up from the piece she has overwritten, but somehow they blend rather nicely. Pekoe’s blue full capital letters spell PEKOE, with the ‘O’ being replaced with a slightly sad/grumpy looking portrait (it’s in the mouth), are nicely filled with shapes and symbols we associate with her work. I am looking forward to seeing where this change in direction takes us.
There is never a time when I am not thrilled to find a Pekoe piece. She belongs to a small handful of artists who define the Bristol scene and ones that I always keep a special eye out for. This modest piece on the M32 roundabout marks a return to her portraits, which have been playing second fiddle to here writing recently.
Pekoe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023
This pink faced girl with green hair is in three-quarter profile and is glancing out of the side of her eyes, giving her a slightly irritated or angry look. With great lips and the signature tears, this small piece reminds us what a great artist Pekoe is. It is amazing that she has found the time to paint this piece, given her bust summer festival itinerary.
Still, Pekoe and Maes, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2023
For some unknown and rather annoying reason, my attempts to photograph this fabulous collaboration from Still, Pekoe and Maes, were poor at best, despite visiting it and photographing it several times. I think that something to do with the greyscale colours of the piece and the artificial light in the tunnel messed with the autofocus on my camera and on my phone. This is the best you’re going to get.
Still, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2023
To the left a rather haunting piece from Still, including an excellent Betty Boop character to the right, and ghosts that look like they might have come from one of her early cartoon sequences. With the black and white colours it certainly has a 1930s kind of look to it.
Pekoe, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2023
Next up we have another letters piece from Pekoe, who is definitely having a try at improving her graffiti writing, and in this game as we all know, the only way to improve is to practice. Getting into the ghostly spirit of the collaboration, Pekoe has included drips on the border and in the fills and included a number of eyes.
Maes, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2023
Maes is an artist who is quite early on in his development, and has surrounded himself with more experienced artists. He is getting to grips with his letters and hasn’t fully settled on a ‘Maes style’ just yet, although his letters are always large and bold, so there is never any mistaking the artist. This is an interesting collaboration which might have been better suited to October rather than May, but was definitely a talking point in the tunnel for a little while.
This recent collaborative wall is one I didn’t see coming, and I think that it demonstrates the camaraderie that exists in the street/graffiti art world, which is often perceived as being aggressive, territorial and threatening, which it can be, but mostly isn’t. The three artists are Werm, Pekoe and Fade, an artist who is new to Natural Adventures, but whose work I expect to be posting a fair amount from now on.
Werm, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2023
To the left, the very productive Werm treats us to gold and electric blue graffiti writing, painted in his ever-evolving style. Recently Werm has been writing quite small letters in the centre of the piece and extending the letters outwards with intricate designs. His work is tending towards an overall symmetry, not unlike Elvs’ and Hypo’s work at the moment. A classy piece of writing.
Pekoe, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2023
The rose between two thorns (sorry guys) is by Pekoe, whose portrait pieces are part of the binding DNA of contemporary Bristol street art. The girl in the picture appears to be a little haunted and unhappy, often a feature of Pekoe’s work. The big hair is dutifully decorated with yellow blocks of marks and the cheeks decorated with an anarchy symbol and heart. I am tying to work out if the pink in the eyes was added by Pekoe or a tagger – it looks a little out of place to me.
Fade, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2023
To the right is a tidy piece by Fade, who tells me he has spent the last 15 years in New York photographing skaters and street scenes – his work is amazing – but has returned to Bristol and picked up a spray can again, to great effect. I expect to see a lot more from Fade as he gets his eye back in and decorates the streets of our city.
An unusual grouping of artists, but nonetheless a fine collaborative wall.
This post gives you a sense of how far behind I am with my posts and how difficult it is to keep up with the sheer volume of street art and graffiti writing being painted in Bristol right now. The wonderful piece by Pekoe is from an Easter paint jam with her RBF crew friends.
Pekoe, Greenbank, Bristol, May 2023
Pekoe has spent this spring concentrating on her letters, and it is always great to see artists pushing and challenging themselves. I think that Pekoe may struggle a little with straight lines and that she might benefit from writing a more curvy word – there are a lot of straight lines in PEKOE. The fills are lovely and typical of her style, and the eggs a nice festive touch. More writing from Pekoe in the pipeline.
Hicka, Pekoe and Maes, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2023
At first inspection, this ‘Goosebumps’ collaboration looks like it was painted by three artists; Hicks, Pekoe and Maes, and that would be a fair assumption, but there was another hand in the piece provided by Still, who I met with Maes while they were finishing off the piece. Pekoe and Hicka has just left, moments before I arrived.
Hicka, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2023
To the left is a fabulous creepy piece of writing by Hicka, augmented by Still, who was adding some finishing touches the first time I passed by. There is a lovely bubbly organic feel to the letter fills, and the whole thing oozes from the wall. The clever purple shading gives it a bit of a 3D lift too.
Pekoe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2023
Pekoe is always a delight, and her green portrait piece sits beautifully with the theme. The piece is a bit creepy, but also really attractive and I think that Pekoe has absolutely smashed it. The red lips and pupils of her eyes really stand out from the green skin tones, and the white zig-zags on the black hair give it a shiny look.
Maes, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2023
Finally on the right is some writing by Maes. You can probably tell that Maes is at the start of his journey with graffiti writing, but is doing really well. He was receiving some coaching from Still. His chunky letters have drips and dots and a little bit of what looks like snow-capping on the top left of each letter. With regular practice, I can see Maes improving, he certainly already is making his mark about the place. Overall this is a really decent collaboration.
A weird thing I have noticed about my last three posts is that the three different featured artists’ names all end in ‘OE’. Logoe, Turoe, and in this post, Pekoe. What are the chances of that? We are used to seeing Pekoe’s stylised portraits, but her last couple of pieces have been graffiti writing instead. Perhaps she feels like a bit of a change.
Pekoe, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2023
I think the most noticeable thing about this piece is the colourful fills in the letters, which are painted in a fairly random and unruly fashion. Features that are common with her portraits are the tears and little diamonds, adding interest. Although I like the fact that Pekoe is doing something different, I do prefer her portraits, which bring out her strengths.
Some things work so well together, strawberries and cream, Morecambe and Wise, Pekoe and Bnie. These two from the Resting Bitch Face (RBF) crew seem to have a great rapport, which rubs off when they collaborate.
Pekoe, Brunel Way, Bristol, March 2023
This pairing was painted alongside Wispa, but I decided to post them separately as these two followed a strict colour scheme. To the left is a really fabulous portrait piece from Pekoe, which includes an upper torso, something of a rarity in her work. The hair is fantastic – I absolutely love this piece.
Bnie, Brunel Way, Bristol, March 2023
To the right is some outstanding technicolour writing from Bnie, beautifully designed and executed. The piece is totally on point, and I love the clever touch with the outer border, which is pink and white along thee top, and blue and white underneath. This is a nicely thought out and eye-catching piece.
It is a curious thing when an artist paints over their own work, but that is what happened in this instance. Maybe Pekoe didn’t like her last portrait piece here, or maybe she didn’t want to paint over anyone else’s work out of politeness, who knows, but the replacement is an upgrade in my view, and anything from her is always a bonus in my book.
Pekoe, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, February 2023
The portrait is painted in purple tones, with blue hair, and the girl carries a slightly anxious expression. Many of Pekoe’s portraits are tinged with sadness, but I don’t think that is the case here, for a start, there are no tears. Some subtle shading brings depth to the face, and the white circles emphasise the lips and eyes. This is another beautiful piece from Pekoe.
There has never been a time when I haven’t been absolutely made up to find a portrait piece from the wonderful Pekoe. It feels like quite a while since her last piece, so this one was a very welcome find.
Pekoe, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, February 2023
Of course, the portrait has many of the characteristics you’d associate with Pekoe’s work; big hair, sad eyes, great shading to bring out the features and incredible presence. I would have to say that I am not entirely sure about the colour scheme, a little bit too much brown and orange for my liking, but overall this is another wonderful shot in the arm from Pekoe.
Natural adventures 