Tag: Street art

4014. River Avon (19)

A new name that has cropped up a lot recently is Desi, and on meeting her for the first time last week, I felt it would be fitting to start posting her work. I believe that she has only been spraying walls for about a year, but her progress has been rapid and she is producing some nice work.

Desi, River Avon, Bristol, September 2021
Desi, River Avon, Bristol, September 2021

Desi is an artist who uses the same letters in a broadly similar style, but decorates them differently, testing out different colour combinations and painting techniques. This is a fairly straightforward piece with a green fill and blue highlights bound with a black border and 3D shadow. The final touches of stars add interest. I am so full of admiration of anyone who gives it a go, and am inspired too. I wonder when I will find a moment and have the courage to spray my first wall.

The first of many Desi posts I’m sure.

4013. M32 roundabout J3 (353)

The third piece by Smut on Natural Adventures, and I couldn’t put it any better than the artist himself does… “Everybody loves Smut”. Well if not everybody, at least I do, and that’s what matters.

Smut, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2021
Smut, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2021

As with his other pieces, it is the sharpness of his lines that really catches the eye, and the script form of the whiting is rather seductive. This is a really accomplished piece, as the fills demonstrate. I’m looking forward to meeting the artist at some point in the future, if only to find out about the techniques used.

4012. Princess Street (2), Burnham-on-Sea

John D’oh is an artist whose work I have enjoyed enormously over the years, but I simply don’t see his work all that often as he tends to scatter it around the West of England and often in places I don’t visit often. Well Burnham-on-Sea is a bit of a John D’oh goldmine, so this is the first of several posts of his work from this sleepy town.

John D'oh, Princess Street, Burnham-on-Sea, September 2021
John D’oh, Princess Street, Burnham-on-Sea, September 2021

This is a typical single-layer stencil from John D’oh that is humorous with strong undertones of seriousness. His work often features political satire, and he is definitely a visual commentator, chronicler and observer of our time. Here though the simple message is illustrated with a mildly macabre scene, and one that many cat owners will be all too familiar with. It was great to find this and several other pieces on my trip to the coast.

4011. Purdown HAA Battery (36)

Pekoe has had a little bit of a quiet period, after a year in which she has created so many of her fabulous portraits. The pause is over, and she is hitting walls once again with customary frequency.

Pekoe, Purdown Battery, Bristol, October 2021
Pekoe, Purdown Battery, Bristol, October 2021

This quick one up at Purdown Battery is eye-catching in its lovely white and purple colour scheme. The reference ‘I love you to the moon and back’ links to a children’s bedtime book called ‘Guess how much I love you’ by Sam Mc Bratney and illustrated by Anita Jerram. This was one of my daughter’s favourite books, and mine too, come to think about it. A lovely piece with some lovely sentiments.

4010. Sparke Evans Park (15)

I haven’t had an awful lot of luck photographing this wall, it is not an easy one to do. The best time I guess for photography is in the middle of an overcast day, any other time it is too dark, or there are multiple shadows cast by a row of trees. These pictures were taken in the early evening, but as you can see the quality of light was poor.

Sikoh, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, October 2021
Sikoh, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, October 2021

Excuses over. This is a magnificent panther piece by Sikoh, painted as part of the Nightwayss birthday paint jam. Sikoh is a member of the PWA crew alongside Face 1st, Soap and Nightwayss, but doesn’t paint nearly as frequently as the rest of them, which is regrettable, because his work is out of the top drawer. There is so much to admire in this piece, but I think the thing I like the most is the incredibly detailed little skulls that make up the leopard’s spots. How does he do that? Simply brilliant.

4009. M32 roundabout J3 (352)

Mest is one of several artists who keep things simple. He adopts the same basic design of letters but plays around with the background, fill and shadow colours, always creating interest and variation of a form.

Mest, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2021
Mest, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2021

This is a lovely new piece on the M32 roundabout painted alongside Stivs, a good friend, and adopting the same colour scheme. I wonder if it is the influence of Stivs, but this piece is really tight and one of Mest’s best to date in my opinion. The horizontal transition of greens is nicely handled, and the thin green border is very sharp. An attractive piece of work.

4008. St Werburghs tunnel (263)

Hurrah, hurrah, hurrah! It has been such a long time since I have seen a street piece from Kid Crayon, although he has been doing a lot of studio and digital work over the last few months, it is refreshing to see something big and bold. In this collaboration, Kid Crayon has teamed up with Nightwayss, who conversely doesn’t seem to have stopped hitting walls this year, he is a machine.

Kid Crayon, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2021
Kid Crayon, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2021

To the left of this ‘Finger Trap’ piece, Kid Crayon has painted a brilliant character (is it a self-portrait?) poking his finger into the trap while tipping his red baseball cap. The character is brilliant and so uniquely Kid Crayon.

Nightwayss, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2021
Nightwayss, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2021

To the right and making up the other half of the collaboration, joined with the central trap, is an unusual piece by Nightwayss. I love this recent experimental style from Nightwayss that seems to be exploring the fragmentation and interruption of a portrait and other elements, such as a parrot in this case. The fine artist in Nightwayss is coming to the fore in exploring new ideas and forms. Pity about the tag, but hey, you snooze, you lose!

Lovely and most welcome collaboration.

4007. Brunel Way (125)

This piece under Brunel Way is something of a rarity. It is by Stiff, who doesn’t paint walls all that often, and this is only the second piece of his that I have posted on Natural Adventures, although I know I have a third somewhere (just found it labelled Unknown!).

Stiff, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2021
Stiff, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2021

I love his cartoon compositions that tell fabulous stories in his preferred format of black background and green and white artwork. The alien/quirky scientist face-off is beautifully animated and very nicely sprayed. A bit of fun and a welcome surprise. I would love to see more from Stiff.

4006. St Werburghs tunnel (262)

Although rather small and modest in scope, this little collaboration is very significant in the history of street art in Bristol. Veee, an artist from Weston-super-Mare and Stinkfish joined forces to bomb a couple of walls at the tail end of a trip that Stinkfish had made to the city. A crowd-funded project had brought the artist back to Bristol to tidy up a couple of iconic pieces he painted here some years ago.

Veee and Stinkfish, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2021
Veee and Stinkfish, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2021

I had actually met the artists very briefly as they sprayed a wall in Dean Lane – unfortunately, when I returned a day later their work had been over-painted, so I only have this WIP shot. It was great to meet Stinkfish, in particular, because of his global reputation – he is a street art rock star, no doubt about it.

Stinkfish, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2021
Stinkfish, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2021

The St Werburghs piece by Stinkfish is similar to the Dean Lane one, and it is like a mega tag. I wonder how many people know who it is by. It is interesting that Stinkfish would want to spray these little anonymous pieces about the place, but then again, I guess that is all part of the fun of spray-painting. There is another one of these that I will share soon, and of course I have to go and photograph the two renovations too.

Veee seems to be making quite a big noise at the moment, and I know that there will be plenty more pieces from him in Natural Adventures before long.

Vee and Stinkfish, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2021
Vee and Stinkfish, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2021

4005. Sparke Evans Park (14)

Although this piece would appear to have been painted at the same time as the paint jam organised for Nightwayss’ birthday, it had actually been painted a day or two before. The other artists liked it so much that they kept it and painted around it, which is high praise. The artist Tack Jucker told me this story himself, and I think that he was a bit chuffed.

Tack Jucker, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, October 2021
Tack Jucker, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, October 2021

There is something going on with Monkeys in Bristol at the moment, and I wonder if it is the influence of Nightwayss, the monkey master. This looks a little bit like a baboon with a rather threatening gesture and bared teeth. It looks like Soap, or one of the others have embellished the piece with some gems, but it has been done sensitively rather than mindless tags. Although this might be the first piece from Tack Jucker on Natural Adventures, I can guarantee it will not be the last.