Tag: St Werburghs

2427. St Werburghs tunnel (97)

Just when you thought the Rezwonk/Decay partnership couldn’t possibly get any better, they pull this one out of the hat (see what I did there?). This is a remarkable and thoroughly enjoyable collaboration painted brilliantly in the style of Dr Seuss’ Cat in the Hat.

Rezwonk, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019
Rezwonk, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019

The left hand side of the collaboration is by Rezwonk where the writing almost takes second place to The Cat, Thing 1, the kite and flower pot and the general setting of the piece. I believe this piece to be utterly outstanding and is right up there with my favourite pieces of the year.

Rezwonk, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019
Rezwonk, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019

The Cat in particular is so well painted, like he has stepped straight off the page of a book, Thing 1 also is incredibly faithful to the book. Surely this can’t have been painted with spray cans alone?

Decay and Rezwonk, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019
Decay and Rezwonk, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019

The right hand side of the collaboration is by Decay who has introduced the character Sam I am from the book Green Eggs and Ham. He also included the goldfish in his bowl from Cat in the Hat.

Decay and Rezwonk, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019
Decay and Rezwonk, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019

Decay has gone for a simple piece of writing in his usual (2019) style which acts as a fabulous backdrop to everything else that is going on with the piece. Fortunately the colour schemes used are not polluted by the horrible light conditions in the tunnel, and the photographs of the piece have come out OK.

Thoroughly brilliant by this pairing – Bravo! Bravo!

2420. St Werburghs tunnel (96)

Here are two artists we don’t get to see nearly enough of. Both are established artists on the Bristol scene, but neither of them is out painting walls every week so what a pleasant surprise to come across this collaboration from Hemper and Hypo in the tunnel last week.

Hemper, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019
Hemper, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019

Hemper has been painting walls in Bristol for a long time and is highly regarded by his peers, and it is easy to understand why. Here he writes HEMP in shades of blue set on a painted brick wall from which the render has broken off. There are so many things to admire asbout this piece of work, and as if that weren’t enough he also adds in a message about the roll-out of 5G in Bristol “I never asked for 5G”.

Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019
Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019

Hypo, on the left, continues with the blue theme and spells out his name with 3D block lettering emanating from two vanishing points. I have noticed that in most of his work Hypo is very keen on using vanishing points and it is a common thread that appears to be the basis of much of his work. The piece is beautifully presented and the accessories work really well, such as the stars, drips and the spotty background. Overall a very pleasing collaborative piece.

2416. St Werburghs tunnel (95)

In the depths of St Werburghs tunnel is this fine piece of writing by Nevergiveup (NGU) which I think, but am not certain, spells out ZBOK. The colours set on a contrasting dark background work rather well in the difficult artificial light of the tunnel.

Nevergiveup, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019
Nevergiveup, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019

NGU has created horizontal layers in his letters which blend seamlessly from top to bottom. Those of you who recognise the name will know this artist as the creator of #followmyrabbits which have made dozens of appearances on Natural Adventures.

2409. St Werburghs tunnel (94)

Things have been hotting up again in St Werburghs Tunnel recently, and although there hasn’t been a formal paintjam to my knowledge, there have been a steady trickle of new piece, including this rather nice 1960s retro piece from Corupt. It rather reminds me of cartoons I watched as a young child.

Corupt, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019
Corupt, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019

The colours are a little washed out because of the artificial light in the tunnel, but the design of the letters, the shading and accents and the face painted on to the ‘C’ come together nicely to creat a really pleasing work. We probably don’t get to see enough of Corupt’s work, but this is a real beauty.

2398. St Werburghs tunnel (93)

I love it when you start to see the work of an artist who has previously been off the radar, and recently I have become aware of a couple of stencils by Yoshi of which this owl at St Werburghs is one. Actually it is a cat owl, and if you look carefully at the face you’ll see why.

Yoshi, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019
Yoshi, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019

It would seem that Yoshi is reasonably new to the street art scene and is very much in a discovery phase of his work with sencils, trying out different materials and ideas. Yoshi has a good Instagram feed that offers a little bit of narrative and insight into his work, which is great, I also have noticed that there a couple more stencils I need to go out and find. Looking forward to seeing more work from Yoshi.

2392. Brunel Way Bridge (16)

Wowzer… this is quite the best piece I have seen by Pekoe yet. It is beautiful and I truly believe that in this piece we are witnessing an artist reaching a new level, I see it as a really significant piece. The blue-faced portrait has something very special about it, the expression, the tone, the confidence and of course that amazing hair.

Pekoe, Brunel Way bridge, Bristol, August 2019
Pekoe, Brunel Way bridge, Bristol, August 2019

In this piece I feel that Pekoe’s naive style has transformed into something altogether more sophisticated and mature, and I love it. I would like to think that a lot of thought, care and effort went into this piece, it certainly looks really tight.

Pekoe, Brunel Way bridge, Bristol, August 2019
Pekoe, Brunel Way bridge, Bristol, August 2019

The patterns in the hair are so typically Pekoe, but the addition of three layers of base colour add an extra dimension. The eyes too work well with several dots in each creating a glassy effect, very clever. There is so much to like about this work. Bravo Pekoe!

2390. St Werburghs tunnel (92)

It is good to see that Mr Draws is getting out a bit more again after a comparatively quiet period. This rather low-key piece in St Werburghs tunnel is a nice take on his DRAW lettering, with a reversal of the letter D. This is quite a common effect used by writers but is always fun and effective.

Mr Draws, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019
Mr Draws, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2019

Rather strangely, the subtle colours used here by Mr Draws come out better in my photographs than some of the other more vibrant adjacent pieces. Usually the poor lighting in the tunnel brings out a lot of amber and orange colours, but this piece is mercifully spared from that fate. Mr Draws would seem to be enjoying his wobbly white outline, which he has used in several of his more recent pieces and is rather effective. I guess that getting a good wobbly line is probably as difficult as getting a good straight line.

2382. St Werburghs tunnel (92)

Fiver or Fiva, consistently turns out highly distinctive burners, each with its own twist or story. Most of his work features the word FIVA or FIVER, often accompanied by a character, or given an interesting fill or sometimes both. In this piece Fiva has chosen to go for a silhouetted cityscape skyline running through his letters.

Fiva, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2019
Fiva, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2019

I have tried to write one of my own letters (teaching myself to spraypaint (with limited success)), the letter H in his style and it really isn’t as easy as it looks once it is up on a wall. Of course practice makes perfect, and Fiva has been doing these for some years. In addition to creating these fine pieces, I love the way that he has a little shout out to people, nothing over the top, just a simple ‘Yo xxxxxx’ in this case Desmond was feeling the love.

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

2378. St Werburghs tunnel (91)

I really do wish that Kleiner Shames had never left Bristol for the lure of London, but I suppose that is where the work and opportunities are. However, it is so good that roughly two or three times a year he returns to Bristol and leaves one of his distinctive pieces as a gift to all of us that admire his work.

Kleiner Shames, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2019
Kleiner Shames, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2019

Although taking pictures in St Werburghs tunnel is a nightmare, some pieces transcend the quality of the picture, and this in my view is one of those. The letters spell out FOIS (time in French), and for a long time I thought that was the name of the artist. I don’t remember how I met him, or discovered his name, but I do remember buying a couple of pieces of art from him when he was clearing out his studio to move to London, and they are treasured possessions indeed. Come back soon.

2371. St Werburghs tunnel (90)

This was a quick one from Mr Klue in St Werburghs, and on his Instagram feed he said he was using up old paints… certainly this piece is much more explosively colourful than many of his pieces which tend to be colour-themed.

Mr Klue, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2019
Mr Klue, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2019

Already the piece has gone, painted over by a viting artist from Liverpool (to follow), and was only on view for a week or so. I haven’t seen much of his work for a month or more, so it was nice to see this one, and I missed photographing his other recent piece at Turbo Island before it got horribly tagged.