Tag: St Werburghs

2823. St Werburghs tunnel (159)

There are an increasing number of topical pieces appearing on the streets at the moment, and if nothing else, street artists are fantastic chroniclers of the social, political and economic landscape. There is plenty of material out there to inspire their work at the moment, although it is unclear whether they will be able to physically paint. I suspect that some will continue.

Face 1st, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2020
Face 1st, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2020

This piece by Face 1st in the tunnel perhaps epitomises and encapsulates our fears in graphic form of the terrible Coronavirus. Britain is in shock this morning when all that we hold sacred, our ability and desire to socialise, has been taken away. We are not yet commanded to remain in out homes, but it is only a matter of time. The death rate in the UK is disturbingly high and the next three months or so are goinng to be very testing.

Throughout, this blog will continue come what may…I have so much archive material that I can at last share with you all.

2813. Stoney Lane

I have known about this piece behind St Werburghs City Farm for quite some time, but because the wall is in a narrow lane it is virtually impossible to photograph, and the wall, hedge and trees behind it make long-distance shots pretty tricky too. Winter does have some upsides and I managed to take these pictures through the leafless trees while perching on a wall (a difficult task as I am not as young as I like to think I am).

Rowdy, Stoney Lane, Bristol, March 2020
Rowdy, Stoney Lane, Bristol, March 2020

This large piece is by Rowdy and might be a collaboration although I am not sure about that. It features some toothy animal-like characters typical of the artist, looking pretty busy, and some mischievous laundry clips. It is a bright and colourful piece which I think might have been here for some time and which probably doesn’t get the exposure and appreciation it deserves.

2812. St Werburghs tunnel (158)

Castles and spired towers decorate the letters of this medieval piece from Fiva, complete with a cartoon character knight. Thie last pece from Fiva in St Werburghs tunnel was an epic piece with massive letters, this is altogether much more the typical kind of piece we get from this brilliant Bristol artist.

Fiva, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2020
Fiva, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2020

In spraying my own letters last year, the artist I studied the most was Fiva and on one occasion I tried to copy one of his letters, but without much success. I am definitely inspired by Fiva and really enjoy finding his pieces.

Scooj, H in the style of Fiva, Bristol, June 2019
Scooj, H in the style of Fiva, Bristol, June 2019

2809. St Werburghs tunnel (157)

After a reasonably quiet winter, Sirens is out and about again which is good to see. I managed to catch up with him just as he was finishing off this piece and he seems to be enjoying himself having been through a fairly dynamic period recently.

Sirens, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2020
Sirens, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2020

I asked why he had chosen this spot for his SIRENS writing, because it had been the site of an interesting Tom Miller piece that had not been there long, and he said it was because it had been covered with a throw up (a rough and ready quick piece of writing) and so he painted over that. It’s a jungle out there. I have noticed that Sirens’ work often looks rather different from most pieces you see and this is down to the absence of hard outlines and his work is closer to fine art than street art. Looking forward to seeing more over the coming months.

2806. St Werburghs tunnel (156)

They just keep coming, don’t they? In this nice piece of graffiti writing from Decay, we see him return to some of his original colouring – famed for his black, white, grey and red colour palette – in this instance replacing white with chrome. It is amazing to see how his work has developed over the last couple of years, and a quick glance at this gallery I put together will give you a feel for that.

Decay, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2020
Decay, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2020

I have always had a soft spot for Decay. Apart from being the first street artist I had the courage to talk to while he was painting down in the Bearpit, he is genuinely a really decent bloke who always greets me with a smile whenever I see him. He has become part of the furniture of Natural Adventures, and that is a good thing.

2804. St Werburghs tunnel (155)

Another sensational piece from visiting artist Creks in St Werburghs tunnel. I believe that Creks is from Leicester, but has rather taken to coming to Bristol from time to time to avail himself of our walls, and what a good thing too. I have always said how much I love it when visiting artists come to our city adding to the diversity of street/graffiti art.

Creks, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2020
Creks, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2020

I think that this is a particularly appealing piece, very easy on the eye and, as so often happens when a script-style font is used, it stands out from the crowd. I can’t make up my mind whether the yellow flames add to or detract from the piece, on balance I think it might have looked a little better without them – just my opinion though. I really rate this piece and the artist from what I have seen so far. I hope he comes back to visit again soon.

2796. St Werburghs tunnel (154)

During the first half of February, a whole bunch of new pieces appeared in the St Werburghs tunnel, in fact the turnover there has been quite remarkable this winter, and this extraordinary piece by Deddringa was among them. He is an artist I am unfamiliar with and this is the first piece by him that I have posted.

Deddringa, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2020
Deddringa, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2020

The piece is rather unusual, and has the appearance of a dystopian future Planet of the Apes kind of thing, or at least that is how I see it. The simian features on the face are skilfully blended with the background, especially under the mouth where the silhouetted buildings come through.

I probably need to do a bit of swotting up to find out more about Deddringa and hope to see more of his work in the future.

2792. St Werburghs tunnel (153)

It is quite amazing just how vibrant the street/graffiti art scene is in Bristol. So far I have published 31 different artist galleries, but this is just scratching the surface of the talent in the city (and beyond). Every day I will find something by artists I have never heard of before (I am still learning), maybe because they don’t paint very often or maybe because they are new or sometimes our paths simply haven’t crossed. This really nicely worked collaboration is by Awkward and Benjimagnetic, neither of whom I know about.

Awkward and Benjimagnetic, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2020
Awkward and Benjimagnetic, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2020

From looking at their Instagram accounts, which I found by looking up #jointhecloaks featured at the bottom of the piece, it looks like both are well connected to the music industry. The skull on the right was by Awkward, and the writing by Benjimagnetic. I think that the latter does more graffiti work and has several pieces posted on his Instagram feed. On my first encounter with these two I woud say that their work is accomplished and this piece certainly caught my eye. I wonder if I’ll be seeing any more of it around the place.

2788. St Werburghs tunnel (152)

This unusual piece by Tom Miller is an advert for a band called Mama Jerk and the Lady Fingers. At this point I should like to thank Tom for introducing me to something wonderful and new. I am not very good at keeping up with the contemporary music scene in Bristol, I don’t go out much and when I do it is usually to visit friends or to eat out. Live or loud music I find great fun but a bit isolating, because my hearing is getting worse and I can’t hear anything people say to me and I have not yet learned the fine art of lip reading. Back to the point. In researching this piece, I checked out Mama Jerk on the interweb, and guess what… I loved their quirky fusion music. Furthermore I fully recommend that you take a look at or listen to their track ‘mountain’ you won’t regret it. This piece celebrates their second EP.

Tom Miller, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2020
Tom Miller, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2020

If I am brutally honest, this is not the best piece by this brilliant artist, but I forgive him wholeheartedly for introducing me to something I think I might enjoy for some time to come. The writing is ok, but the creatures are a little bit more what we would expect from Tom Miller and have an added element of mystery or menace about them with the white crosses over their eyes. A great outcome from following my passion for street art.

2783. St Werburghs tunnel (151)

Woah, what happened here? Thank you Paul H for pointing out that the commentary  about this piece was missing. A WordPress glitch I think, and most annoying as I had spent quite some time putting together some words to accompany this advert piece in the tunnel by Inkie. I find that I am always caught in two minds with advert pieces, because they take away the edge from street art and swerve into commercialism. There is nothing wrong with that per se and almost always they are promoting local music, so I suppose I should just get with the programme.

Inkie, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2020
Inkie, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2020

The piece itself is written in classic Inkie font and promotes the album Ease and Squeeze by Kaotik Kartel, a reggae/dancehall/dub band from Bristol/Jamaica. I don’t actually mind too much what Inkie is painting about, it is always great to see his work and this one in the tunnel was a great surprise.