6039. Cumberland Basin

j9449j, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024
j9449j, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024

The Bristol street art and graffiti scene is so broad that it welcomes all styles and all levels of talent. We get to see it all here. Some towns and cities in the UK embrace street art through holding festivals, but have no underlying culture 365 days of the year. While there is nothing wrong with that at all, what remains is a sanitised selection of high-end art, keeping the place pretty. Upfest provides us with a microclimate of high-end art in the Bedminster area, but the rest of the city is up for grabs, and I like it that way.

j9449j, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024
j9449j, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024

A great example of Bristol’s artistic diversity comes in the form of artists like j9449j, whose abstract fills are really quite unique. There is a wonderful organic feel to his work, with plant-like forms cropping up through the lettering. j9449j’s work feels quite ‘designed’, if you know what I mean, and although some of the borders could be a little cleaner, there is an element of anti-style that works well. This is a bright and colourful calming piece.

Heracleum mantegazzianum

Giant Hogweed, River Frome, Bristol, June 2023
Giant Hogweed, River Frome, Bristol, June 2023

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Towering giant

phytotoxicity risk

plant best left alone

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by Scooj

4122. Mina Road (7)

Most street artists have a background in art, illustration or design, and many have jobs related to their craft and skills. Some supplement their income with commissions and some (the really lucky ones) derive a comfortable income from their street art and spin-offs from it, for example, Banksy, Inkie and Nick Walker. Hazard, I think, falls into the category of supplementing her income, and you will find a lot of her work around the city, on commercial or private walls that have earned her a little money.

Hazard, Mina Road, Bristol, December 2021
Hazard, Mina Road, Bristol, December 2021

This is one of Hazard’s mos recent commissions in Mina Road, and although not bold or brash, the plant piece oozes class. The mural is painted above the Haus of Hair hairdressers and looks to be a sumptuous collection of houseplant leaves (of the rainforest ilk), providing texture and depth to an otherwise ordinary wall. This is a beautiful commission and a great advert for Hazard’s work.

Ivy broomrape

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Parasitic plant

sustained by its ivy host

beautiful flowers

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by Scooj

St John’s Wort

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Pretty yellow blooms

commonly used for the blues

grown with green fingers

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by Scooj

 

  • did you see what I did there?

 

Winter Heliotrope

 

Looking for the sun

where there is none to be found

a winter beauty

 

by Scooj

 

 

Give peace a chance

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A tired peace lily

emblematic of these times;

needs some TLC

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by Scooj

Sweet death

 

Intoxicated

by your seductive perfume

I’m drawn to my fate.

 

by Scooj

Japanese Knotweed

 

Hostile alien

ornamental, unwelcome

in the native lands.

 

by Scooj

 

  • Edited because I can’t count. The word ‘hostile’ replaces ‘invasive’. Sorry fellow counters.

Wisteria

 

Cascading florets

casting out subtle purples

and pinks. And the scent.

 

by Scooj