So many of my recent posts of archived work from 2022 begin with a disbelief or confusion about how I managed to not post/publish the piece in question. However, that opening is becoming a little clichéd and although it is tempting, I will not begin this post that way.
I love this piece from Elvs – Beautiful writing and a Garfield… my life is complete. There are some pieces that speak loudly enough for themselves, and this is definitely one of those. I’ll leave you to enjoy it.
As with other prolific artists, I have had to group a bunch of pieces by Klashwhensober together to make sure that they get to see the light of day. This selection of pieces were all photographed in May 2022, although some may have been painted some time before then. It looks like I photographed the first ‘Sober’ piece before it was completed, and then again once finished (see Feature image). This was entirely accidental, and I only noticed they were different when I was putting this post together.
This red Klash writing, with squishy green bubbles, lasted rather a log time in this tunnel of the M32 roundabout as I recall.
Another Klash piece, this time in the tunnel, with some nice blue transitions and decorations in the fills. I think that I would like to see Klashwhensober start to buff his walls first, because it would give his talent more of an opportunity to shine through, but this is kind of hard core writing and that is OK.
This piece presents us with a feast of colour and explosive elements, something that Klashwhensober excels at.
Another Sober piece, again with a blue fill, but rather less frenetic than some of his work. Calm and concentrated.
Finally, another burst of energy in the tunnel, this time with the added bonus of a curious red figure peeping over the SOBER letters. I don’t know how Klashwhensober finds the energy or affords the paint for his work, but I am only glad that he does.
I think that it is probably safe to say that Klashwhensober has had a great year and that he is likely to have been Bristol’s most productive graffiti writer in 2023. I have been doing a bit of a trawl through my archives, and will shortly be sharing a host of pieces by Klashwhensober that never made it into this blog.
This recent piece in the tunnel, spelling SOBER, is a stunner in which Klashwhensober has gone for a vertical split with the colouring (that faithful combo of pink and blue), and a smoking ‘volcanic’ rift between the two halves of the piece. This is beautifully painted and presented and offers real depth and movement. Fine work indeed. Look out for a Klashwhensober post in a few days.
There was a little bit of an RBF crew party in the tunnel just before Christmas, with a great turnout, and one of the artists, whose work I have not seen much of, is Wispa. Her writing and character might have been the pick of the bunch on account of the snowman, I mean who can resist this guy at Christmas?
Wispa is clearly an accomplished writer who typically writes WISP and occasionally adds a character, and with this piece she has smashed both. The letters are nice ones to play with, and give plenty of scope for fills, curves and straight lines. The triple border works really well, picking out the letters and helping them to stand out from the wall.
Raymond Briggs, may he rest in peace, would have loved this faithful rendition of his loveable character, right down to the cross-hatching on his hat and scarf. This is a fabulous Christmas piece from Wispa. I hope she comes back to Bristol soon with more great work.
I sincerely hope that we will be treated to a whole load more EVEN pieces by Evey this year, as I think she is one of the most improved artists during 2022. The more she paints the better she will get, and we are already seeing signs of more adventure in her work.
This is a lovely piece from a recent RBF paint jam (there were two in quick succession) which has been finished very tidily. The five horizontal fills work nicely, and the borders and highlights are neat and tidy, bar a few yellow drips, which are rather nice. All in all a very pleasing piece of graffiti writing from Evey.
Happy New Year! I am in good shape this morning, as my boozing days are largely over and I had a quiet night in last night with just me and Mrs Scooj and the dog. We had been planning a small party, but Mrs Scooj was hit with a rather nasty bug, so that put an end to that.
It was a very cold day indeed when I met Acer One prepping this piece so I was able to stop for a chat and ask him about the piece, as he was using letters I was not familiar with. Acer One explained that it was a tribute piece for a recently deceased friend to many artists in the Bristol community, Dring.
The colours used in this piece are sober and the design gentle, without quite so many straight lines and angles that we are used to seeing from Acer One. A fitting tribute to a man who obviously had a profound impact on the artist. RIP Dring.
The Pirate Wall Art (PWA) crew have had a fantastic year, as individuals and as collaborators, creating some of the most memorable pieces in Bristol, and this one at the entrance of St Werburghs tunnel is as memorable as any.
The trio of Face 1st, Soap and Zake have created this fun piece, with Face 1st and Soap propping up a frog by Zake. Everything you’d want to see from these three is here, and I can’t wait to see what they come up with next year.
I think that I have posted more Hypo pieces in the last couple of months than I had for the last few years before. He seems to be going through a very productive phase, finding time to paint with his friends. I imagine that there has been a change in life circumstances that has led to this liberation.
This modest piece in gentle colours was painted alongside Benjimagnetic, and perhaps reflects the winter weather, with its blues and greys and drips. This is another piece to add to the collection, which is pretty much big enough for a gallery – watch this space.
In the tunnel, alongside some of his LRS crew mates, is another wonderful MILK piece from Wxttsart. The more I see of his work, the more I want to categorise it as calligraffiti, because of the uniformity of letter style and the central line running down each letter, and it has a heraldic look to it.
Every time I see the word MILK on a wall, it just makes me laugh. The word is so incongruous in the settings wher we find it and with the graffiti art form. It is a word I would more readily associate with wholesome activities, such as having a cup of tea or a bowl of cereal. Well done to Wxttsart for breaking the mould on this one.
Artists like Mr Klue are the bedrock upon which this blog is built. I have been writing about his wonderful abstract work for several years, and over that time he has gone through productive periods and quiet periods, and right now he is out there painting pretty regularly.
This mesmerising abstract writing piece contains several of the characteristics we would expect from Mr Klue. The wispy and smokey letters, some floating steps on the left and a coil to the right of the piece. You might need to use your imagination a little, but the letters most likely spell out KLUE. This is a pleasing piece with a great colour palette that combines really well in this fine piece from Mr Klue.
Natural adventures 