I love the stencil work of Stephen Quick, and I love Star Wars, so this was a nice treat for me to find. The piece is attached next to the front gate of the car park to the Tobacco Factory and looks out onto the street with a quiet modesty.
Stephen Quick, Raleigh Road Tobacco Factory, Bristol, May 2017
I guess it is a tribute piece to the amazing Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia. Stephen Quick is becoming a bit of a specialist at tributes to the stars…which is a little unfortunate, but they are also a wonderful way of recognising how important these people are in our lives.
Stephen Quick, Raleigh Road Tobacco Factory, Bristol, May 2017
A New Hope is simply shortened to HOPE – there is a story here somewhere. Simple, moving and some great drips. Nice work from Stephen.
The temporary hoardings in Raleigh Road are something of a honey pot for several members of the ASK crew. Given that there is little, if any, tagging on this space, I wonder if it is a curated legal wall. I guess I ought to know really.
Soker, Raleigh Road, Bristol, May 2017
This is an amazing wispy and colourful piece by Soker, and slightly different from the work we are used to seeing from him. It is interesting that the board had been blacked out before the piece was sprayed, suggesting that this was part of an organised event.
The best part about this picture is that I got to meet the artist Lemak, who I have admired for some time, and who creates some of the very best multi layered stencils I have seen. This piece, space cadet, is an exceptional example of the complex and painstaking work Lemak produces.
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He was telling me that it takes a very long time to cut the stencils for something like this, which is pretty much life size. The payback comes with selling limited numbers of the stencilled original. Talented beyond doubt, and his income drives further work…something of a virtuous circle.
Lemak, Raleigh Road, Bristol, May 2017
Lemak is a real gent, and happy to stop and have a chat. This piece was part of the paint jam organised by Stephen Quick, and sprayed at the same time as the Quick/Adamaszek collaboration featured here a couple of weeks ago. This is a great stencil.
These hoardings on Raleigh Road are becoming a favourite spot for Cheo, Soker and Voyder, amongst others. This piece by Cheo contains many of the hallmarks of his work…a bee, a cigar, a gold chain, a crisp design, clearly well prepared and some great writing.
SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURESCheo, Raleigh Road, Bristol, May 2017
I cannot decipher the writing, but Cheo hashtagged the Instagram image of this piece with #nintendope, #piranhaplant, #Nintendo and #Mario, which perhaps gives some insight into the inspiration and subject matter.
Cheo, Raleigh Road, Bristol, May 2017
I’m always pleased to see Cheo pieces, especially ones as crisp as this one.
I had had a tip-off, via Stephen Quick’s Instagram feed that he and Hannah Adamaszek would be doing a collaboration at the Tobacco Factory, on the weekend of 13-14 May, so I managed to sneak over on the Saturday to see what they were up to.
Stephen Quick and Hannah Adamaszek, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, May 2017
What a treat. Stephen had organised for a few established, up and coming and debutant artists to spray the car park bays during what was a bit of a Bedminster festival. This work is really interesting because it brings together two distinct styles into a synthesis that joins them. The subject matter is the same, but the techniques quite different.
Stephen Quick and Hannah Adamaszek, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, May 2017
Stephen Quick works mostly with stencils and Hannah with freestyle paints and spray. It was interesting watching them concentrating on their respective halves of the collaboration.
Stephen Quick and Hannah Adamaszek, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, May 2017
It is possible to see that some elements of the original piece obviously didn’t work too well for the artists, so they were removed, for example the purple birds in the background.
Stephen Quick and Hannah Adamaszek, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, May 2017
I love the work of both of these artists, and I love the way they have collaborated on this piece. Does it work? I am not sure. Has it enhanced their styles or cramped them? On balance, I consider it a triumph, but it brings into sharp perspective the difficulties of working together. A bit like being married I guess…different styles, a collaboration.
Stephen Quick and Hannah Adamaszek, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, May 2017
This is a subtle piece that I photographed in August 2016, and so I am guessing must have been part of Upfest 2016. It is by Lost Monkeys who produced this wonderful tiger at the same time. I hadn’t been aware that he did two pieces for Upfest.
Lost Monkey, Raleigh Road, Bristol, August 2016
I love the use of colour in what appears to be a black and white piece, and it has the appearance of having been drawn with charcoal…beautifully done. I couldn’t get a great shot of it, because it was stuck behind a parked car when I saw it.
Lost Monkey, Raleigh Road, Bristol, August 2016
There is a story going on here, but I am not too sure what. The figures and lines remind me a little of Bristol’s own Shab. This is a fabulous understated piece by a very accomplished artist.
This is a picture from some time ago…another that slipped through the net. It happens all the time. It is a piece by Voyder, who is quite one of the best writers in Bristol. I took this when the gates were shut, and so the angle of the picture is not too clever, and unfortunately there are some rather unattractive bin bags to one side.
Voyder, Raleigh Road, Bristol, July 2016
The colour gradient is beautifully worked, and the brush stroke effect masterful. The highlight of the piece though surely has to be the neon pink squiggle, which is made to stand out not only by its colour, but also by the feint shadow it casts. Brilliant.
This is the first of two posts by the same artist in the same spot, although chronologically reversed. The Artist is Soker, the spot is the hoardings in front of the Vector building, I took thisd picture in March 2017 and it had only recently been sprayed.
Soker, Raleigh Road, Bristol, March 2017
Soker produces just the most incredibly consistent and high quality pieces, using great colour combinations and fabulous clean lines. Recently he has been working a lot with Cheo, this was at least the third recent outing the pair have had together.
Soker, Raleigh Road, Bristol, March 2017
Not much more to say about this one really, to use contemporary parlance, he smashed it.
Here is a great piece of precision wildstyle from local Bedminster graffiti artist, Dibz. All of his works have this characteristic jagged look, and ere always lovely and clean.
Dibz, Raleigh Road, Bristol, March 2017
I don’t see his work on the streets too often, but he has a fine black book from which photographs are frequently posted on his Instagram feed. Always nice to see one of his sharp pieces up close though.
It has been a little while since I last posted a Deamze piece, and somehow that just doesn’t seem right for this blog. It is possible that I have posted more of his pieces than any of the other Bristol street artists…but I am not counting.
Deamze, Raleigh Road, Bristol, February 2017
This wonderful piece in greens and browns is on the hoardings next to the recent Voyder bones work. The wildstyle writing is as intricate and clean as you’d expect from a Deamze piece, and on the right hand side he features a cartoon hog (?) holding a little creature in its grip.
Deamze, Raleigh Road, Bristol, February 2017
I’m sure I ought to know who the cartoon character is, but on this occasion I am stumped. Many of the cartoon characters that Deamze chooses to paint are from 1980s TV cartoons, but I was doing other more important things, and missed out on this TV toon culture. Perhaps somebody knows who it is.
Deamze, Raleigh Road, Bristol, February 2017
I like always to photograph the D at the start of his lettering, just to compare the style from one to the next.
Natural adventures 