The work of Face F1st continues to develop and improve. Recently he has moved much more into pastel shades for much of his work, which gives his pieces an unassuming quality. They blend in more with the walls with modesty.


The work of Face F1st continues to develop and improve. Recently he has moved much more into pastel shades for much of his work, which gives his pieces an unassuming quality. They blend in more with the walls with modesty.


Anyone that reads my posts regularly will know that over the last couple of years or so I have been closely following the progress of Tom Miller. A young art student who I believe has recently graduated from UWE in Bristol. He recently held a successful exhibition entitled ‘Paracosm’ at the It’s All 2 Much gallery in Stokes Croft.

I was driving home not long ago and spotted Tom at work on one of the arches, so I pulled over, and chatted with him while he was taking a break and eating his lunch. He is genuinely such a nice guy and utterly modest about his work. It is great in Bristol that we have quite a few fine artists who cross over into street art, widening the spectrum of what we are fortunate enough to see.

I am not sure if this piece has a name, but it is characteristically effervescent with ideas and thoughts merging with the human body…where physical meets metaphysical in art form.

Nothing demonstrates this meeting of worlds better than a close up of the character’s ‘head’. Needless to say I am a huge admirer of his work, and look forward to his next piece. It is to his credit and the respect in which he is held, that this piece has remained untagged and in pristine condition for at least a fortnight…a rarity in these parts.
Still nothing from Upfest 2017 yet…be patient.
It is always great to see new work in Moon Street, it seems to have slowed a little in recent months. There seems to be a general tendency by some artists to move away from the Stokes Croft area because of the density (in all senses of the word) of bombers and taggers. A pity really.
This is a fine quick piece by Boogie, and the second of three street pieces that he left as gifts during his short visit to the city recently.
This really is one of my favourite walls in Bristol, and even though somebody tried to sabotage the artists by screwing two doors to the wall it hasn’t made the blindest bit of difference. Rather it has become part of the texture of the wall. Boogie has obvious talent and class, and I really like the way he makes a feature out of the two Os in his name. A fine piece.
How often do you get to watch two of Bristol’s best graffiti artists in action? well in my case not too often, but I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time to see Soker and Cheo at work.

I had actually been in the area to see the magnificent exhibition of work from Tom Miller at the It’s all 2 Much gallery on the other side of the road, however the whole area was buzzing with street artists spraying every available wall in the immediate vicinity.
They were in town for an event organised at the Full Moon pub by Inkie, called Boogie down Bristol. This was an event held within the courtyard of the pub and featured a blend of local and not so local artists.

I chatted for a while with Cheo, who I had not met before, who is very much contained in a world of his own work and was focussed on this piece. A classic Cheo character…I love the rather unpleasant plaster on his chin – great attention to detail.

Soker was busy chatting with chums, but both obviously really friendly, and they do so much great work together. This was only one of several collaborations that were happening on the streets, let alone the curated pieces that were being sprayed in the pub. Fortune favours the brave.
There was a recent event held in Bristol, organised by Inkie, entitled ‘Boogie down Bristol’ held at the Full Moon pub. In the days either side of the event, a whole ton of graffiti art and street art went up in the Stokes Croft area.

The PRSC outdoor gallery was one of the walls sprayed. The middle section here is another high-quality piece from one of the best writers around Voyder.

Every piece he produces, and there have been quite a few recently, is a winner. Clean lines, great colour selections and an incredible eye for shading and shadows. Brilliant as always.
This use to be one of the graffiti spots that I wrote about most frequently, but alas, the taggers have done their bit to deter a great many artists from spraying here. It is a pity, because these arches are probably the best feature walls in Bristol for street art.

This piece is a quick one from Mr Draws, that although probably not one of his best, is eye-catching nonetheless. You can make out the word ‘draw’ arising from a vanishing point to the left of the piece. I like the way that Mr Draws is fairly fearless about where he places his work, knowing that it is all ephemeral and that his own will in time be overwritten.
A few weeks ago this stunning and touching tribute piece appeared on the People’s Republic of Stokes Croft (PRSC) outdoor gallery wall. It is a wonderful collaboration between The Paintsmiths and Ryder.

The tribute is to Raphael Dufresne, a popular musician on the local scene who passed away on 14 April 2017, suffering a fatal aneurism whilst at the gym. He was only 27 years old. This piece fills me with a sadness, but what a magnificent way to celebrate his life.

I never heard his music, and feel sorry that I never had the chance of seeing him, it sounds like he had a good soul and attitude to life. He had links with PRSC, which is why this tribute is all the more poignant. Really terrific letters from Ryder and a superb portrait by The Paintsmiths. Sad.

A quick one from Jee See on the Carriageworks carrying his trademark ‘seismic’ lettering, this time with accompanying ‘Why sick?’. I’m not too sure what it all means, but it is bright and upbeat.

Since I took this picture, I have at last met Jee See, and what an utter gent he is. More about this soon. I like this picture with the sun and shadows and the skulking Silent Hobo character on the adjacent space. All good.
A couple of weeks back, we were blessed. Aspire made a trip back to Bristol, from his new home in London, and while he was here, he sprayed a couple of pieces, one of which was this magnificent pigeon in one of the Stokes Croft arches.

Although Aspire himself talked this piece down…’painted with some dregs from a recent job in Bristol this week’, I happen to think it is yet another example of his mastery of his craft.

The gold background is inspired, and actually draws the piece closer to the breakdancing Jesus by Cosmo Sarson which has gilt paint stretching high on a wall some 50 metres away.

This was not the only spraying Aspire managed on his short trip, and I will be posting about another piece soon. So glad he could make time to brighten up our streets again.
I believe this to be the very last set of my images from Tian’s tour of Britain in April 2016. It was an exciting week, discovering all the gifts and surprises he had pasted up all around the Stokes Croft area, and it was great to see his work at Upfest in July too.

My knowledge of screen actresses from the fifties onwards is rather poor, and I am not sure who this is, but I am sure she is famous. I’m sure Southampton Old Lady would know. It is a pity that the wheatpaste is tagged, but in a strange way it adds to its ‘street’ credibility (not street credibility) (does that make sense?).

I dearly hope Tian will visit Bristol again soon.