Purdown – Page 4 – Natural adventures

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The anti-aircraft gun emplacement at Purdown, is a bit of a hit and miss spot (no pun intended). Sometimes when I go up there, there have been no new additions, other times I seem to find a raft of new work. It is always a bit of a practical struggle for me, because I take the dog along (of course), and he gets very excited in this enclosed area because of the goats – I have to be swift taking pictures and move on, before he gets too frenzied.

I’m not sure how old this piece by 3GV is, but I don’t recall seeing it before this visit I made last month. 3GV has bookended his letters with a tribute to Vaughn Bode, with Lizard to the left and Cheech Wizard on the right. The irregular letters, with a cool colour palette, are set on a blue diamond shaped background. I feel that 3GV’s work is quite raw, but it is great to see the artist out there practising and improving.

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Jest Soubriquet, Purdown, Bristol, March 2024

When visiting artists come to Bristol, they will often paint more than one piece, and in the case of some, such as Logoe, they might paint several over a single weekend. I think that this is one of two pieces painted by Jest Soubriquet earlier this year.

The portrait piece is set on a Palestinian flag, thus making it a relevant contemporary addition to the complicated and troubled commentary on the conflict between the Israeli government and Hamas. The portrait is cleverly painted in a patchwork of colours that shouldn’t really work, but somehow do. This is a wonderful and highly distinctive piece from an artist who will always be welcome in Bristol.

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Scrapyardspec, Purdown, Bristol, March 2024

In recent months, a travelling artist has visited Bristol on a few occasions and left his very distinctive mark. The artist in question is Scrapyardspec, and his original face mega-tags are perfect for small spots such as columns and these square concrete walls up at the Purdown gun emplacement.

There were three of his pieces up there the last time I visited, each similar in form but painted in different base colours. There characterful faces can be found all over the city as Scrapyardspec moves from spot to spot, filling gaps and finding small walls to decorate. I believe he calls London home, and paints in a few favoured spots there.

His Instagram feed is worth a quick look as he posts short videos of how he goes about his work. I expect to see more from Scrapyardspec this year, as he seems rather fond of the opportunities Bristol offers.

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Set on the windy hilltop of Purdown, overlooking North Bristol, we find a glorious piece by Slakarts at his simple best. His regular stylised character has been given something of a facelift (literally) with both colour fills and patterns. The oranges and reds contrast beautifully with the background blues, rounding the piece off really nicely.

It has been an absolute age since I last met Slakarts (the last time was in St Werburghs tunnel during a lockdown) and now that he appears to be painting a little more frequently, there is a chance I might bump into him soon, which would be nice, because he is a really sound bloke. I am definitely enjoying his spring renaissance.

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Jevoissoul, Purdown, Bristol, January 2024

I think I have met Jevoissoul only once, and we had a great discussion about his emergence on the scene and his likely direction of travel. He told me at that point that he had ambitions to be very busy and to paint all over Bristol. Fast-track a few months, and he appears to be realising his plans, with new pieces popping up all over the place.

This typical piece is on one of the square concrete slabs of the WWII gun emplacement at the top of the hill at Purdown, with commanding views across Bristol. The picassoesque character is clutching a rather large joint from which a slug of smoke wafts upwards. I like Jevoissoul’s work and I would like to see him develop his ideas to create new scenarios. I’m sure this will come in time.

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Acer One, Purdown, Bristol, January 2024

Acer One struck gold with this concept of building a geometric design around an impossible triangle, and this is a sister piece to one he painted about a month or so back. The piece plays tricks with the eyes, because everything inside the concentric hexagonal stripes is three dimensional , which makes the centrepiece stand out from the wall.

There is a lot of skill to designing and painting geometric pieces like this and there is absolutely no room for error. Unfortunately there were some people sitting on top of the concrete block, and so I have tried to crop them out of the photographs, which is a pity, because it would have been nice to get a shot from a little more distance. These studies by Acer One are a rather fine direction of travel in my view.

Acer One, Purdown, Bristol, December 2023

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Benjimagnetic, Purdown, Bristol, December 2023

I recognised the style, but couldn’t put a name to it when I first saw and photographed this classy piece up on Purdown. I had to do a google search when I got home and then the penny dropped that ‘Sentinel 793’ is the music moniker that is used by Benjimagnetic, so here is a piece using his graffiti writing skills to promote his music skills.

I guess this cross advertising worked to a degree as I have just been listening to some of his tracks, and although not really my cup of tea, they are nicely produced. The writing and the dancing character in particular, are, on reflection, easy to spot as Benjimagnetic pieces in retrospect. The blue and gold colours work really nicely together in this unusual piece.

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Daz Cat, Purdown, Bristol, December 2023

I always like finding pieces by Daz Cat, as there is something comforting and very ‘Bristol’ about them. I do miss his rather larger storytelling pieces, which seem to be few and far between these days, but I expect that is because he is otherwise occupied and only has time for his smaller cat characters.

This one up at Purdown is a classic piece of Daz Cat artwork. The cat character is looking straight out from the wall with long whiskers and flattened ears (to fit the limited space). The trademark shape on the Cat’s forehead marks this as a Daz Cat piece… no signature necessary. More please in 2024.

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I’m not sure that I have seen any work by Acer One at the Purdown spot before, but with this piece I think he has earned the freedom of the City (metaphorically speaking at least). An utterly mesmerising piece with a pink triangle interlocking with a white cube with hexagonal holes – a masterpiece of geometric design.

The pink works so well against the black and white hexagons in this piece, and the whole thing is a beacon of classy artwork on the top of a bleak hill. This looks like a bit of a new direction for Acer One, and another new piece (to follow I hope) has some similar design ideas. 2024 could be an exciting year for the artist.

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Mr Klue, Purdown, Bristol, September 2023

Mr Klue is definitely one of those ‘peak and trough’ artists. During his productive spells, you can barely visit certain spots without seeing a new piece from the artist, and earlier this year he dominated the walls in St Werburghs tunnel. At other times Mr Klue goes very quiet for extended periods, so it was a genuine pleasure to find this small piece by him up at Purdown.

The piece carries a common motif that Mr Klue paints, of a headless character wearing a large top hat with a ticket in the band. The hat belongs to Lewis Carroll’s Mad Hatter. Although only a quick one, it is great to see Mr Klue out and about. Perhaps this is the start of a new productive period.

	Sheree on 7516. Berwick Road
	paulh121 on 7505. Brunel Way (350)
	paulh121 on 7503. Stapleton Road
	Bill Bisgood on Seven ages of man
	Laura Newhampshire on 7513. M32 Spot (216)

	Sheree on 7516. Berwick Road
	paulh121 on 7505. Brunel Way (350)
	paulh121 on 7503. Stapleton Road
	Bill Bisgood on Seven ages of man
	Laura Newhampshire on 7513. M32 Spot (216)

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