St Pauls – Natural adventures

3561. St Paul’s

Soker hasn’t painted many walls during the pandemic, but what he has lacked in quantity he has surely made up for in quality. This is a magnificent recent piece painted alongside Inkie and Sepr in the depths of St Paul’s.

Everything about this piece of graffiti writing is right out of the top drawer, from the colour selection to the letter design, the graded fills and dripping black spots. There is so much to enjoy here, and Soker is exceeding even his very high bar.

I genuinely think that in Inkie, Soker and Sepr, we have some of the very best graffiti writers and street artists in the world, a bold claim I know, but difficult to argue against.

3556. St Paul’s

Anyone over a certain age will probably remember the cartoon series Hong Kong Phooey, I certainly do, but what is incredible is that there were only 16 episodes made. How is that possible, at one point in my life, I would have been about 10 years old, this cartoon seemed to be on all the time? Inkie has breathed new life into this hapless undercover crime solver in this breathtaking new piece in St Paul’s.

Inkie, St Paul's, Bristol, March 2021 — Inkie, St Paul’s, Bristol, March 2021

Painted on a new hoarding, this piece is in the very good company of Soker and Sepr (to follow). This is a beautifully finished high-quality piece from Inkie set on a blue star background with bright orange and red lettering to match the skin tones and costume worn by our hero. Great to see Spot the cat making an appearance too.

Street art in Bristol seems to have undergone a renaissance over the last few months, something that I suspect will calm down a little as artists return to their day jobs and a form of normality resumes. If not, then I am in big trouble because I simply can’t cope with the amount of new art being produced each and every day.

Thursday doors – 23 July 2020

Doors 116 – Some random Bristol doors from lock down walks

I have taken a day off work today and so am able to spend a little bit of time sorting out some new doors for you. This is a selection of doors from all around North Bristol from the long dog walks I took during the lock down days.

I am constantly reminded of what strange times we live in that we have developed a whole new language around the coronavirus epidemic, and that we will reference world history in terms of pre-Covid and post-Covid. I find it all very unsettling.

Anyhow – on to the doors. I hope you enjoy them.

Back yard gate, Montpelier, Bristol, May 2020

Back yard gate with graffiti, Montpelier, Bristol, May 2020

Front door in blue, Montpelier, Bristol, May 2020

A smart front door with boot scraper, Montpelier, Bristol, May 2020

So, that’ll be it for another week. I expect I’ll revert to my graffiti door archive next week, but we’ll have to wait and see. Take care wherever you are and have a great weekend.

If you have made it this far, you probably like doors and you really ought to take a look at the Norm 2.0 blog – the originator of Thursday Doors where there are links to yet more doors in the comments section at the end.

by Scooj

2960. Wilder Street (40)

Ah what joy, a fabulous new piece from Hazard in the middle of St Paul’s. I understand the piece has been painted in lieu of the St Paul’s carnival, which of course won’t be happening this year.

Hazard, Wilder Street, Bristol, May 2020

Hazard has painted a stylish and colourful face with an incredibly ornate headdress loaded up with feathers and flowers. It is a really stunning piece and sits right up there with some of her very best work.

I sometimes have to pinch myself when I see her work here in her home town, we are truly blessed and privileged to see her pieces around us and in our manor. I suspect that unlike much of her work, this one will be around for a long while. An outstanding beauty from Hazard.

2400. Brighton Street (3)

Another one from a month or two back from Decay which was painted for this year’s St Paul’s carnival. What is interesting about this piece is that it is a reversion to his older style of work with ‘Chuck’ in the centre of rays of concentric ovals eminating from the middle. I guess this design probably fit the space better than his more recent writing designs which are better on a ‘landscape’ wall.

Decay, Brighton Street, Bristol, July 2019

Of course the colour selection is entirely appropriate to the carnival and many other pieces by other artists carried the same base colours. I can’t think how many pieces Decay has painted this year, and I haven’t captured them all by any means. I think that together with Rezwonk he bears the crown of most productive Bristol artist 2019, unless things change for the remainder of the year.

2355. Grosvenor Road (2)

I think that this piece by DNT was specially comissioned for this year’s St Paul’s carnival, and it is a gentle reminder to us all that knife crime in the UK is on the rise, and is not welcome at the carnival. In years gone by, there has been trouble at the carnival, and St Paul’s, when I first arrived in Bristol 28 years ago was a bit of a ‘no-go’ area. Things are much improved these days, but there is still a bit of edge to the place.

The piece itself demonstrates that DNT can turn his talents to pretty much anything, and stylistically, this piece is quite different from the kinds of things we are more used to sdeeing in the Stokes Croft area. Nice one, great message.

2335. St Agnes Park

I think that this is the fourth ‘Saint of St Paul’s’ piece by Michele Curtis and the Paintsmiths that I have posted, and it is one that is tucked away on the side of a house that backs on to St Agnes Park.

Michele Curtis and Paintsmiths, St Agnes Park, Bristol, July 2019

The ‘Saint’ portrayed in this piece is Clifford Drummond who was involved with the bus boycott protests which ultimately led to a change is race laws in the UK with the 1965 and 1968 Race Relations acts. He along with the other six ‘Saints’ were the founders of the St Paul’s Carnival, and this mural project is such a wonderful tribute to the hard-fought work they put in and the positive changes they made to UK law.

This mural itself, like all the others is simply beautiful and features a lovely portrait of Clifford Drummond set on a local background with the Speedy Bird Cafe, which I believe was a meeting place for the bus boycott protesters. In keeping with the other murals, this one has some beautiful flowers decorating the piece, presumably from his Clifford’s home land. Another masterpiece from Michele Curtis and the Paintsmiths.

2334. Wilder Street (35)

Painted for the St Paul’s carnival, this is a wonderful collaboration by Decay and Pekoe. Of course the colour scheme of red, gold and green is wholly commensurate with the colours of the festival, the colours of the Rastafarian movement.

Decay, Wilder Street, Bristol, July 2019

On the left is another stunning Decay piece in his full writing form, see previous post. There is such confidence now in this form which contains some regular features, such as the ‘rays’ in the top half of his letters, and of course his character, Chuck, as the letter ‘e’.

Pekoe, Wilder Street, Bristol, July 2019

On the right is a joyful collection of faces, representing the local community looking on in wonder. I do think that Pekoe’s naive style captures the expression and mood of people in a way that is uncomplicated and unpretentious. I love her work.

Altogether, this is a fabulous and time -appropriate collaboration. Great to see these two working together.

161. Albert Park Place (2)

Yesterday was a red-letter day for me. I must have gathered up some 50 or more new (to me) pieces around Bristol. Something has to give…either I stop taking pictures or I post more often. Whatever happens, my backlog is getting serious.

Sepr & Piro, Albert Park Place, Bristol, March 2015

This is an absolutely outstanding piece by Sepr and Piro. I have written on many occasions about Sepr and his wonderful work, indeed his work previously adorned this wall. Piro is a bit of a mystery to me, and I am having to do a little more digging around.

Together this collaboration is almost perfect. The colours are amazing and the balance between the characters and the burner works really well.

The piece is relatively recent, I believe it was sprayed in early march, and it retains its freshness.

I absolutely love this work and I also love the location, it has a small footfall…this is a work of love.

9/10

144. Chapter Street

I took a long walk home after a very tricky meeting yesterday, and cheered myself up with taking a new route through St Pauls. My reward was this superb mural by Silent Hobo.

Silent Hobo, Chapter Street, Bristol, March 2016

This area of St Pauls really is Silent Hobo’s heartland, and barely a street goes by without one of his pieces brightening up a wall or shop front.

This work, I think, is my favourite. Not only is it beautifully executed, but the subject material is a fabulous reflection of what Bristol is all about. Some artists portray Bristol with architectural landmarks; Silent Hobo tends to present Bristol through cultural references.

For the more observant among you, there is also a beautiful tribute to Mibsy.

8/10

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