Tag: Smile

6891. St Werburghs tunnel (490)

DFC1848, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2025
DFC1848, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2025

It is always a pleasure when DFC1848 comes to visit, and sometimes I even manage to catch up with him, but unfortunately not on his most recent visit, during which he dropped a few pieces about the place, including these ones.

DFC1848, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2025
DFC1848, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2025

He has become an accomplished character painter, coming up with a raft of different cartoon-style creatures for us to enjoy. I’m not sure what this little fellow is, a beaver? A meerkat? It doesn’t really matter. The animal is holding up a placard which simply reads ‘smile’. Unfortunately, yellow text on a white background is a real  ‘no no’ in the world of communications, as for many people it is difficult to pick out the writing.

DFC1848, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2025
DFC1848, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2025

Not content with his first creature, DFC1848 also painted a ‘sticker’ character a few yards away, for good measure. Decent fun stuff.

3718. Muriel Alleyway (3)

The message from Rtiiika here is very clear ‘stop telling women to smile’. I must confess to being a little bit puzzled by the sentence. I like to think that I am reasonably well acquainted with issues of gender inequality, and sensitive to the political and societal pressures, but I don’t really understand this message. It might be something that I am unaware of, and if so need to understand better.

Rtiiika, Muriel Alleyway, Bristol, May 2021
Rtiiika, Muriel Alleyway, Bristol, May 2021

The artwork is wonderful and adopts the characteristic long thin lines that Rtiiika uses in her work, this time in the form of her letters. The piece is capped off with a smiley in the centre in the colour of the original we are all so familiar with. There is a juxtaposition between this smiley and the message of the piece. I like the concept of messaging like this and wonder if she will do more of it.

Face mask

.

Unacknowledged smiles

bring social uncertainty

eyes can’t do it all

.

by Scooj

1226. Wilder Street (21)

Wilder street is home to some of the best walls in Bristol, but the turnover here is not as high as in other parts of Bristol. I think it is because some of the walls are curated and pieces left on show for longer.

Laic217, Wilder Street, Bristol, December 2017
Laic217, Wilder Street, Bristol, December 2017

This is an interesting work by Laic217, who appears to have dropped his activity of late. I expect it is better viewed through 3D glasses, although I am never quite sure if artwork like this is done simply to give the effect of a 3D piece or if they actually work as well.

Laic217, Wilder Street, Bristol, December 2017
Laic217, Wilder Street, Bristol, December 2017

I love the way his signature is cleverly worked into the elbow of the skeleton character. Now where are those cardboard glasses?

1212. Dean Lane skate park (96)

What a lovely big smile in Dean Lane, from an artist called Luke Petty (Instagram @lukesmile91). It is a nice big bold piece and has similarities to the work of Pref 1D without the wordplay element.

Luke Smile, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2017
Luke Smile, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2017

I have not been able to find out much about the artist other than that it seems he is British but has been travelling in Australia. Since doing this piece in Bristol and an earlier one in Shoreditch, it appears he has done one in Sydney, Australia. So I am guessing that he is back down under again.

At the time of writing (three or four days ago) this piece was still there and in pristine condition, where all around it has changed.A mark of respect.

Smile

 

Smile of a stranger

distracts me from the humdrum;

recalibration.

 

by Scooj

235. Wilder Street (2)

Another great find, that I had seen on the Interweb, but tracked down recently on one of my walks. This is another acid house trippy piece by Laic217 similar to the one on Moon Street. In this case though the face is melting vertically rather than horizontally.

Laic217, Wilder Street, Bristol, May 2016
Laic217, Wilder Street, Bristol, May 2016

There is something about Laic217’s pieces that I really like. They are quite raw, but rather potent. They will stand out in a crowd, so there is something special there. I will be posting more of his work soon.

Laic217, Wilder Street, Bristol, May 2016
Laic217, Wilder Street, Bristol, May 2016