A week wouldn’t really feel like a complete week without posting a piece from Pekoe, so here, to complete the circle is a small recent column piece under Brunel Way from the RBF warrior.
Although Pekoe isn’t turning out pieces at quite the rate she was a few weeks back, she continues to remind us she is there. This is a rather nice quick one, portrait style, well suited to columns. Blue face, salmon hair, what’s not to like?
Striking and definitely photogenic is this lovely recent portrait piece from Zake, who has been rather quiet of late. It is kind of comforting when artists who have been lying low, for whatever reason, come back and hit a wall with such gusto.
Zake is an artist who pretty much specialises in portraits and gives them loads of depth with his trademark shading around the features. This face feels like it should belong to a comic book, perhaps it is a representation from one. He has labelled the piece with DLH 21. DLH in my book is Dean Lane Hardcore, but I am not too sure what it means in this context. A decent and long-awaited return.
Somehow I forgot to post this wonderful little gem by Pekoe from a little while back. I think that I thought I might have posted it already, such has been the productivity of Pekoe in recent months, it has been hard to keep up, and I am just about to head out to Dean Lane straight after writing this to photograph another new one.
Smaller than many of her pieces, this one is nonetheless a bit of a gem. With the customary big hair being crafted into a bun (that’s what we used to call them when I was young) and a strong solid green face with pink lips, this piece screams out ‘Pekoe’… in a nice way. Great work.
Ordinarily this artist would need no introduction, but that is especially the case right now, as hardly a week passes without Pekoe appearing on the pages of Natural Adventures. This wonderful portrait in purples and greens was part of a large paint jam in Cumberland Basin, and the themed colours ran from piece to piece.
This is a wonderful piece from Pekoe and incorporates a new feature that she is incorporating, namely the dotted circle on the cheek with the tear in it. I have only recently noticed this embellishment, and think I rather like it. It’ll be interesting to see whether it becomes a mainstream part of her work. This is a fabulous portrait as always, and she even has a Kid Crayon party hat.
Watching the progress of Big Hev is proving to be an uplifting experience. Her naive style is gradually becoming more sophisticated, and she is building on her themes. However, I think that she is very much at the start of her journey (one that I sincerely hope she pursues) and is learning from piece to piece.
Big Hev seems to like this spot, and why not, it is secluded and away from public gaze. Her customary portrait has fused a little with some abstract ideas and swirls and some hearts. I would consider this to be a practice piece, but all part of the formation of new and beautiful ideas.
I knew all about this wonderful new collaboration from Rosalita’s Instagram feed, and because I recently (and at last) found the Greenbank wall, I rushed down to take some photographs. It was well worth the trip.
The collaboration is from Rosalita and Antikki and they certainly decided to go big with this one. There is so much to love here. Rosalita’s clown face behind layers of theatrical make up that disguise the emotional disposition of the subject, as is so often the case with Rosalita’s work there is something sad or uncertain about the portrait. The hair, oh my goodness the hair. Antikki has done an extraordinary job of weaving her dancing figures into the hair, which if you don’t look properly you might miss. The whole portrait is set on a starry and atmospheric background. This is a masterclass in collaborative working where the two styles and cleverly fused into the one piece.
Like many other people, I am so enjoying Rosalita’s strong presence on our streets, which has blossomed over the last six months or so and it is great to see Antikki joining her. I would love to see more collaborations from these two.
More fabulous Pekoe work… this artist has been going paint crazy over the last few weeks and keeps turning out beautiful portraits. Painting this one would have involved climbing over an iron railing (rather her than me) to access this swimming pool wall.
This face-on portrait in blue with bright yellow hair certainly grabs attention. The subjects cheeks are emphasised with circles in which sit Pekoe’s trademark tears. I feel sad when I see the tears as it makes me think that the artist herself is sad and expresses her sadness in this way. Of course, it might simply be a thing that has no deeper meaning at all. This is another fine Pekoe portrait, yet another one in a superb series.
The incredibly busy and talented Pekoe painted this piece a short while ago along with several of her RBF friends on a section of wall that was long overdue for a refresh. The wall at this particular point is in a narrow stretch of cycle path and very difficult to photograph without being totally over-faced by it.
Pekoe has been producing so many top drawer pieces of late and this is another one to add to her catalogue, although there is something about it that I am a little uncomfortable with, I’m not sure what, but I think it could be the mouth. The feature image gives you an insight into the length of this wall, and the size of the collaborative paint session (all the yellow-background pieces). Still more to come from Pekoe’s purple patch.
I knew that this piece by Rosalita existed, I just wasn’t quite sure where and when I finally discovered it on the Greenbank wall it was looking a little bit worse for wear. There is definitely a dark and tragic side to a lot of Rosalita’s work and this is something of a deathly portrait set on a backdrop of flowers.
I don’t often cut-and-paste quotes into Natural Adventures, but Rosalita’s explanation of this piece on her Instagram feed gives us an insight into this portrait:
“🌺From my rotting body flowers will grow🌺
Emptying cans with a mishmash of colours.
Dreamt I visited my mother last night, in our old home, as if she had never departed. There was comfort in feeling her presence again. Buddhist believe in meditating on death and impermanence as the only certainty in life 🌱 The intention is that when we embrace the reality of death we are freed of its fear and are able to live our lives fully with an open heart 💓
It is shamanic work throughout all cultures. Themes of death are a form of meditation in my practice, the impermanence of murals is guaranteed and comes with the territory of graffiti/street art culture. In its own way is a reminder of how fragile life is, and through acceptance we can kiss the joy as it passes our way ☠️ nuff love !”
The piece is very similar to another one she painted at around the same time and which I posted here back in January 2021. Fabulous work, and I love the flowers.
Greenbank is the most wonderful temporary graffiti/street art spot. It is a very long hoarding, perhaps 100m, which separates the Bristol to Bath cycle track from a large new development. I guess the hoarding will be here for a few more months and then this great art asset will disappear and we’ll all have to look for somewhere else. This is the way.
Pekoe has been on fire over the last year and she is turning out some truly magnificent pieces. This ‘kill the bill’ portrait is in magnificent purple and yellows (which I recollect from school are opposite colours) and with her white beanie, it really hits the mark. This is beautifully finished and it looks like she took her time to add in some details in the face and hair. Another triumph from the very busy Pekoe.
Natural adventures 