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Gifts by mail order
uncomfortable new norm
planning a real shop
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by Scooj
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Gifts by mail order
uncomfortable new norm
planning a real shop
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by Scooj
Doors 189 – Porto doors (Part 4)
It is a bit of a busy day today, so I am having to rush this post a little. Porto is an extraordinary city and has an eclectic mix of old and new architecture and well-preserved and derelict buildings all in close proximity, adding to the visual interest of the place. You never quite know what surprises there are going to be around the corner. This week, I have themed the doors loosely around retail – I hope you enjoy them.






May I wish you a happy rest of week, and to those of you in the UK, I hope you don’t fry over the weekend.
If you have made it this far, you probably like doors, and you really ought to take a look at the No Facilities blog by Dan Anton who has taken over the hosting of Thursday Doors from Norm 2.0 blog. Links to more doorscursions can be found in the comments section of Dan Anton’s Thursday Doors post.
by Scooj
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.

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.
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Peanut butter jar
not long since back from the shop
smashed on kitchen floor
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by Scooj
Child-like excitement
Choosing colours of spray paint;
an Aladdin’s cave.
by Scooj
Doors 62 (although it might be 63)
I have been a little short of time this week so I’m afraid you’ll have to make do with a few doors picked up from my walks around Bristol. Some are rather old others from just a couple of weeks back. No theme…just doors.





That’s it for now, wishing you all a wonderful week.
Scooj.
Check out a great world of doors at: Thursday Doors – Norm 2.0, just follow the frog.
I guess this piece by Pelmo is something of an exclusive, as it was painted on the practice wall at the back of the Upfest shop, and is therefore not on public display.
I took the picture a week or two after I had sprayed my own very first effort on this exact wall, and went back to the shop to see if it was still there. Sadly (but not unsurprisingly) my amateurish effort had been buffed over, but I was honoured that it should have been replaced by such a fine artist as Pelmo.

I don’t really know what the protocols are around publishing pictures from this wall, but on this occasion I think I’ll take the risk, mainly because I am a big fan of this artist’s work. His work often contains these, oversize and overweight people with a love and sensitivity that can be difficult to gauge without offending. Pelmo does this brilliantly. A wonderful forgotten piece.

Door 37

I like these kind of composite doors, doors within doors that are rather shabbily finished. This one has a slot cut out of it for a letterbox and locks on both sides, so where are the hinges?
The most observant among you might have noticed a little blue plaque on the right of the door which is one of Will Coles’ bees that he installed during Upfest 2017 last July. In fact I realise that is it one that I haven’t photographed before, so of course I have to go back to snap it up.

The building is what we used to call a junk shop when I was a kid, but I’m not sure it is terribly polite to call it that. A trader of second hand goods, house clearance and antiques might be more appropriate.
There is also something rather appealing about the angry face graffiti too. A nice grey door – something quite ordinary transformed into the extraordinary by simply stopping to take a look at it.
by Scooj
More doors at: Thursday Doors – Norm 2.0
Door 16

These doors belong to a small shop called Pastimes, which tells us everything really, a shop was never so aptly named. I don’t think that anything about the decor of the shop, and indeed much of its content, has changed since the 1960s.

I would guess that it is owned and managed by a passionate collector, and not a shopkeeper. It looks very much like a situation where a hobby has spiralled out of control. I cannot recall seeing the shop being open…ever, and it appears to have been in a condition of stasis over the last couple of years. Maybe the owner is unwell or too old to look after things. But it is still there, and when I pass I gaze through the windows trying to see what lies within. Wartime memorabilia, stamps, cigarette cards, coins, plates…all those kinds of things adorn the walls (and floor space).
It is interesting that the shop seems to span two buildings, each with its own front door. I don’t know if they join up inside. The building itself is not kept in the best of repair, and I am left wondering if the owner of the shop is also the owner of the buildings – how else could the shop still be there?
I think every town has a shop like this. A wonderland. An old curiosity shop.
Shops come and shops go
I’m sad it’s the tackle shop
where will I get bait?