Sophie Long, Upfest 2024, North Street, Bristol, May 2024
Sophie Long is an incredible wildlife artist, who blends accuracy of the subject creature with a soft artistic impression to create utterly outstanding murals and artworks that are uniquely hers. This Upfest piece, in a little annex (Ebeneezer Pocket Park) on North Street is a perfect example of what I am trying to describe.
Sophie Long, Upfest 2024, North Street, Bristol, May 2024
Sophie has a penchant for painting bees, and manages to represent their character without anthropomorphising, which is a real skill. This is a special wall that has played host to numerous wonderful pieces over the years, and this one comfortably stands among them. A perfect Upfest piece from Sophie.
Sophie Long, Midland Road, Bristol, March 2024Sophie Long, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023Sophie Long, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023Sophie Long, Weston wallz, Weston-super-Mare, May 2023Sophie Long, Weston wallz, Weston-super-Mare, May 2023Sophie Long, Cheltenham Paint Festival 22, July 2022Sophie Long, North Street, Bristol, August 2021, Upfest 21Sophie Long, North Street, Bristol, August 2021, Upfest 21Sophie Long, North Street, Bristol, October 2020Sophie Long, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019Sophie Long, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019Sophie Long, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019Sophie Long, North Street, Bristol, January 2020Sophie Long, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018Sophie Long, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018Sophie Long, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017Sophie Long, Cheltenham Road, Bristol, November 2017
It is always a real treat when artists who most usually paint commissions, festivals or in a studio decide to produce a stunning piece of public street art, and this fox by Sophie Long, is an absolute belter.
Sophie Long, Midland Road, Bristol, March 2024
The piece is painted on a hoarding of a development plot that looks like it might be around for quite some time, and is becoming more popular with Bristol artists. Sophie long is well known for her portrayals of wild animals, and Bristol has a long association with urban foxes, so it was only a matter of time before she would create a beauty like this. This is a stunning piece that is there for all to enjoy – those with their eyes open, that is.
Sophie Long, Cheltenham Paint Festival 23. Cheltenham, July 2023
There was a time not so long ago when Andy ‘Dice’ Davies (Dice 67) had had to cancel this year’s Cheltenham Paint Festival due to the lack of funding – a swiftly organised crowd-funding scheme saved the day and meant that the festival could go ahead, and in my view was the best festival to date. Huge gratitude and congratulations have to go to Andy and his organising team and the funders to have made it such a success.
Sophie Long, Cheltenham Paint Festival 23. Cheltenham, July 2023
I visited the festival on the Saturday, and many pieces were unfinished, so I will be paying Cheltenham a visit, when time permits, later in the year. One of the first complete pieces I found was this outstanding pair of lovebirds by Bristol artist Sophie Long, and what a beautiful site it is. There is a reference to Sinead O’Connor, whose recent death still hits a chord for those who loved her music and approach to life. Nothing compares to you.
Sophie Long, Cheltenham Paint Festival 23. Cheltenham, July 2023
Sophie Long is well known for her wildlife paintings and street art and has absolutely nailed it here, without a drip in sight. It is a pity I didn’t see her, because she is always up for a chat. This is the first of five posts from the Cheltenham Paint Festival, with more to come in due course.
Sophie Long, Weston wallz, Weston-super-Mare, May 2023
Bristol artist Sophie Long is a favourite, not only in her home city, but also on the street art festival circuit, so it is no surprise to find a piece by her in Weston-super-Mare for the Weston Wallz project. What is perhaps a little surprising is the scale of the piece, taking up two entire walls of a corner building, occupied by ‘Dolphin Square Kitchen’.
Sophie Long, Weston wallz, Weston-super-Mare, May 2023
On the front of the building, Sophie Long has painted a happy dolphin, some coral and a jellyfish, and this fits very nicely with the restaurant below and the overarching marine theme of the Weston Wallz project, but it is what lurks on the side of the building that I expect will generate most interest.
Sophie Long, Weston wallz, Weston-super-Mare, May 2023
The open-mouthed great white shark looks like it will be making short work of the restaurant branding – or it is targetting the 20 mile an hour sign. The piece is beautifully painted, with the mottled shades of the shark’s skin faithfully reproduced. Another fine piece in a string of amazing festival pieces from Sophie Long.
Sophie Long, Cheltenham Paint Festival 22, July 2022
I sit here writing this morning’s posts listening to the chirp of cicadas, overlooking a small pool which I will be enjoying in a few minutes, with the mountains of Croatia at my back.
I didn’t think I was going to make it to the Cheltenham Paint Festival this year, as my wife was away and I was on dog duty. The solution to the problem was to bring the dog, and I have to say he was unbelievably well behaved the entire time we were there.
The day itself was only a partial success though. Within fifteen minutes of arriving, I managed to drop and break my camera beyond repair, so I had to use my ageing iPhone to take the rest of the pictures, with a fast diminishing battery life. To say I was a bit grumpy was an understatement. That wasn’t the end of the tale of woe though. Last week I received a parking fine for not paying the correct amount in the Cheltenham car park. Grrrr. I put in only one hour by mistake and was there for at least four. So these photographs come to you at great personal cost and not a little irritation.
Sophie Long, Cheltenham Paint Festival 22, July 2022
This piece was the first I saw and is by the magnificent Sophie Long. A pair of hammerhead sharks, in great swimming positions, painted in greyscale and blending in perfectly with the grey buffed boards. Perhaps the most surprising thing about this piece is the absence of her signature drips. Perhaps she was trying something new, or perhaps I never got to see the finished piece. I feel that it stands up perfectly well without them.
Sophie Long, Cheltenham Road, Bristol, November 2017
I am generally pretty well tapped into the appearance of new pieces in Bristol through Instagram and Twitter, especially anything to do with Upfest, which made finding this piece accidentally/incidentally, by Sophie Long, extra special. Sophie Long is a Bristol artist who creates stunning colourful canvasses and murals of wild animals (and usually lots of lovely drips too), and who is an Upfest favourite.
Sophie Long, North Street, Bristol, August 2021, Upfest 21
These beautiful whale pieces, on the door shutter and wall of People Solutions on North Street, replace a pair of octopi from a previous Upfest event. Sophie Long has managed to use the vertical space brilliantly, who’d have thought you could paint blue whales in a diving pose?
Sophie Long, North Street, Bristol, August 2021, Upfest 21
There is always an emotional connection with our largest mammal cousins and Sophie Long has done a brilliant job at representing that connection. Skilfully painted in ghostly colours, these two leviathans remind us of the fragility of biodiversity on Earth. Beautiful.
It took a little while to get there, but this outstanding mural from Sophie Long has been well worth the wait. The row of shops in North Street, which includes the Upfest shop in the middle, is becoming a bit of a showcase, with four of the five similar buildings now boasting a fine mural. Most interestingly all of these murals are by female artists. I reckon that we should be lining up Hazard for the remaining slot… That would be my first choice.
Sophie Long, North Street, Bristol, October 2020
Sophie Long is well known for her paintings of wildlife and use of bright colours and in this mural she doesn’t disappoint. Four bumblebees surround the top window of the building with rays of bright colour shooting out from the centre. Often Sophie Long will pay attention to anatomical accuracy, but in this mural, the bumblebees have a slightly cartoonish appearance. This is a fine addition to the existing murals in this row.
Zoe Power, Gemma Compton and Sophie Long, North Street, Bristol, October 2020Bex Glover, North Street, Bristol, July 2020
At last I have a space to unlock this amazing piece by Sophie Long at the Cheltenham Paint Festival featuring a family of polar bears taking a walk. The piece is one of the larger ones that I have seen by the Bristol-based artist and was one of the highlights of the festival. Unfortunately, although I went to the festival on two days, I didn’t get to meet Sophie on this occasion.
Sophie Long, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
The painting carries all the hallmarks I would associate with Sophie Longs work. The bears are beautifully laid out in differing poses and touched with some colourful paintwork that complements the overall composition. Imagine how different this piece would look if it were just plain white bears.
Sophie Long, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
Of course, no Sophie Long piece would be complete without drips, and this piece has lots of them. This is a fine wildlife work from an artist who specialises in this kind of subject.
I love seeing Sophie Long’s work on the streets and simply don’t see enough of it out there, so finding this on North Street a little while back was genuinely a wonderful surprise. Her striking wildlife paintings/street art are truly beautiful and nearly always have this characteristic dripping which marks the piece as one of hers.
Sophie Long, North Street, Bristol, January 2020
This tiger is skilfully done, although if I were being ultra critical I’d say the the body proportions aren’t quite right. The head is a little exaggerated and the body too short, but it does comply with our mind’s eye of what a tiger looks like. I very much look forward to seeing more of her work if and when the lock down eases.
Natural adventures 