Tag: Portrait

2514. Cheltenham 2019 (13)

This is an absolutely terrific piece from a Bristol fave, Hazard, and she has really stuck to the brief by painting a piece that links to literature and in this case the Maya Angelou autobiography ‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’. I have not read this book, but clearly it is a favourite of the artist, and she has created a beautiful atmosphere of reading with this long wall mural.

Hazard, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
Hazard, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019

What I like about this piece is that it has a real sense of calm about it, from the soft decorative bookends to the gentle light touching the reader’s face, a reader who it utterly absorbed by what she is reading. The piece is in stark contrast to its surroundings but cleverly draws you in so that all you can see is the reader.

Hazard, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
Hazard, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019

I was fortunate enough to meet Hazard for the first time when she was setting up to paint the wall, and I was pleased to discover that she knew about Natural Adventures and had read some of my posts about her work.

I always feel a little embarrassed about striking up a conversation with street artists, because what I do is a little bit niche and consuming and I am prone to being a little bit star-struck on a first meeting. This is an utterly irrational position, because in my experience street and graffiti artists are some of the most down-to-earth and decent people that I know.

I love this Hazard piece.

2502. M32 Cycle path (34)

It is a great feeling discovering an artist who is relatively new to the Bristol scene and finding their pieces dotted about the place. One such artist is Lobe and I get a little ping of excitement each time I find one of her stylised portraits, a feeling I get each time I find a piece by Laic217 – some artists have this effect on me more than others.

Lobe, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, October 2019
Lobe, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, October 2019

This piece looks like it is a tribute piece to Wayne. Such works often have a little touch of sadness about them, but that is ok, it is a fair reflection of life in general. Once again her bold colours and shadings demonstrate her distinctive style which is just as well as I have yet to see a signed piece by her. All good.

2490. M32 roundabout J3 (170)

Hurrah… another piece from Lobe, an artist whose work is instantly recognisable and really stands out from the crowd. It is the boldness and simplicity of her pieces that really appeal to me, but take a little look a bit closer and you can see the thought that has gone into the shading and lines that make her style so distinctive.

Lobe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2019
Lobe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2019

Finding her work is still  hugely rewarding as they are relatively rare, but I am sure that over the coming weeks and months we will be seeing plenty more from this emerging talent. Hit me with those big colours!

2473. Dean Lane skate park (251)

It feels like an absolute age (and it probably is) since I last posted anything from Jee See, and here on one of the ramps at Dean Lane he recently painrted this little collaboration piece with Pekoe. I think it might have been at the rescheduled DLH (Dean Lane Hardcore) event a couple of weekends back.

Jee See, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2019
Jee See, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2019

Jee See has written a rather nice 3D rendition of his moniker which adopts a whole load of very nicely done shadings, hatchings, drips, cracks and colour fades. So good to see him back in action.

Pekoe, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2019
Pekoe, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2019

Just to the right of Jee See’s writing is another one of Pekoe’s beautiful ladies in blue, a colour she often favours, and with a little tear beneath her eye – what does this tear tell us about the srtist? Is there some inherent sadness there? There is a clue in the top right of the piece which indicates that it is a tribute to Janet. Tribute pieces are often painted with a little extra love and have a poignancy to them.

Pekoe, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2019
Pekoe, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2019

I am so enjoying finding and appreciating Pekoe’s work which just seems to be on a steady improvement.

2472. St Mark’s Avenue (1)

Life is full of surprises, and earlier this week I took the dog for a road walk because it has been a bit wet and the parks are getting muddy. On the walk I took a few turns down roads I have never been to before. The reward… I discovered St Mark’s Avenue – a little secret in the heart of Easton where there are stunnung pieces by Bristol artists going back several years and quite untouched by taggers. How could I have not been here before and how many other little oases like this are there in Bristol?

Silent Hobo, St Mark's Avenue, Bristol, September 2019
Silent Hobo, St Mark’s Avenue, Bristol, September 2019

This piece dates back to 2012 and is by the magnificent Silent Hobo and what’s more remarkable is that it is pretty much in mint condition – only one of the eyes has been goofed up by some idiot. It is a great tribute to the artist that it is still here but it is more than that, it is a yardstick from which to measure his development over the last seven years. It is a beautiful portrait piece painted on a pebble dash wall which in itself is something of an accomplishment. The girl has a soulful look but her eyes are looking straight at you, something that his more recent figures don’t do in the main.

I can’t tell you how exciting it was to find this piece and indeed the whole road, I felt a bit like an archeologist uncovering an ancient tomb. More to come from this gold mine.

2454. Cheltenham 2019 (2)

How can this not be an enlarged photograph? Sam Art is surely playing with our eyes and deceiving us. This incredible piece was one of the first I saw at the festival and was in place early on the Friday when all the walls around were yet to be painted. I believe that he painted it off-site before installing it in Cheltenham North Place car park.

Sam Art, Paint festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
Sam Art, Paint festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019

The theme for the festival was literature or books to celebrate the 70th year of the Cheltenham Literature Festival and this portrait of J.K. Rowling could hardly be more fitting.

Sam Art, Paint festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
Sam Art, Paint festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019

It is way beyond my comprehension how artists produce photorealistic art like this so I prefer not to understand it but to wallow in its glory. An extraordinary piece from Sam Art.

2451. Cheltenham 2019 (1)

What a cracker! This is an absolutely stunning piece by Dice67, AKA Andy ‘Dice’ Davies, the architect and organiser of the Cheltenham Paint Festival which was held this year on 5-8 September. This colourful piece is a portrait of Debbie Harry and I think is probably the best freehand piece I have seen from Dice67 yet.

I felt it appropriate to start my Cheltenham posts with this piece and I’ll be interweaving more of them into my regular posts over the coming weeks/months.

I have not been to Cheltenham since I was a little kid, and so on this visit I was able to catch up with some of the pieces from last year’s festival too, and they really are rather impressive. Dice67 has tried to find new walls each year of the festival so that the old ones can remain in all their glory alongside the new ones rather than being over-painted. Let’s hope he doesn’t run out of walls!

Dice67, Paint festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
Dice67, Paint festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019

Back to this piece… it is so beautifully worked, especially the amazing reflections on the glasses, and this is all a far cry from his stencils which was my introduction to his work. There was a festival theme this year which I think was books and in this piece the link is that Debbie Harry will be atending the Cheltenham Book Festival later this year – Dice67 is rather hoping that she’ll be photographed standing next to this portrait of her. A great way to introduce the Cheltenham Paint Festival to Natural Adventures.

2436. Upfest 2018 (158)

I have already posted a very striking Upfest piece by Brighton-based Mazcan but this one slipped a little under my radar until I recently started sorting through another batch of pieces from last year’s festival.

Mazcan, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Mazcan, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

This is a superb work that looks like it has just dropped off the page of a rather dark comic strip book. There is drama and movement in the way the hair sweeps across the portrait… what is going on here? Her eyes give nothing away. Lovely piece.

Mazcan, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Mazcan, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

2434. Upfest 2018 (156)

Deuz is another artist who was at Upfest 2018 who didn’t appear in the Upfest official programme, which is always a bit troublesome for me because I have to do my own research rather than rely on others. Deuz is a French artist who cut his teeth by writing graffiti on the streets of Marseille in the 1990s. He went on to study art and now his work is largely portraits of Africans, his ‘faces’ that were inspired by hip hop culture.

Deuz, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Deuz, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

I don’t know who Nina Gabriel is but then again I can’t know everything. I would hazard a guess that she is probably a musician. The nicely worked greyscale piece was in the back yard of the Steam Crane, which since Upfest 2018 looks like it might have changed hands, and these hoardings have since come down, which is a pity.

2422. M32 roundabout J3 (165)

I’m on a bit of a Lobe fest at the moment, and this magnificent piece was actually the first of hers that I actually became aware of. It was tucked away on the St Agnes side of the M32 roundaboutand really stood out from the crowd.

Lobe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2019
Lobe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2019

Once more, her careful use of colours and clever design create what looks at first sight  like a simple portrait, but on closer inspection is full of complexity and sophistication. I’m sure that as she works more and more her execution will tighten up, and I am so looking forward to what the next few months will bring from this artist.