Tag: Street art

3589. Dean Lane skate park (405)

It has been well worth the wait to see these two collaborating once again. Once a common sight, since last March, I think these two have only painted together a couple of times. This is back to the classic style for both artists, with their jagged spikes lettering.

Soge, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2021
Soge, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2021

On the left of the collaboration, set on a vibrant pink backwash, which if you look carefully is a tropical beach scene with ocean waves and palm trees, are the letters SOGE in an irregular formation. The letters look like the thorn forest in Disney’s Sleeping Beauty.

Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2021
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2021

To the right is writing from Hire who has taken a break from his more recent representations to revert to old style work with a great result. These two artists absolutely smashing this style of writing which seems to be pretty unique to them in Bristol – I can’t think there are any other writers who do this. Great to see them back together and I am hoping it is the first of many more.

3588. St Werburghs tunnel (231)

This is an outstanding tribute piece from Rosalita for a friend’s mother and grandmother. ‘We all carry inside us the people who came before us’ is the beautiful quote that accompanies this piece along with ‘rest in power’. It is a moving and powerful gesture and speaks volumes to the kindness and thoughtfulness of the artist.

Rosalita, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2021
Rosalita, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2021

On the entrance to St Werburghs tunnel, this piece has been respected for a while, which is quite right in the circumstances. The dark reds and floral patterning work well with the two portraits contained within the border. This was the second set of photographs I took. The piece was actually painted in February, but the shadows cast on my first visit rendered my pictures unpublishable. More to come from Rosalita, who has found her wings and is soaring.

3587. Greenbank (2)

I realise that although I have photographed quite a lot of pieces by Bnie over the years I haven’t posted all that many on Natural Adventures. In fact that could be said of a great many artists. There are only a handful of artists that I will post everything I have, and they are, in no particular order; Laic217, Inkie, Kid Crayon, Sled One and 3Dom… in fact there are others, but I just can’t remember them right now. I suppose that this places a kind of ranking in my own mind, but I don’t think that is necessarily the case.

Bnie, Greenbank, Bristol, March 2021
Bnie, Greenbank, Bristol, March 2021

This is a super piece of writing from Bnie with a really nice colour selection and 3D shadow shading. I like the way she has incorporated a little smile into the letter ‘B’ which is like a mash-up between Ryder and DFC1848. The way the colour shading works and the white accents work well together to give the whole piece a bit of a 3D lift. Note to self – post more Bnie work.

3586. Dean Lane skate park (404)

Shade One and Dibz have painted some fabulous collaborations over the last six months, but this one is probably the pick of the bunch. I was lucky enough to watch their progress for a while and have a quick chat. I’ve not met Shade One before, but he seems to be an affable guy, and I don’t seem to be able to avoid meeting Dibz at the moment, I think our biological clocks must be in sync.

Dibz and Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2021
Dibz and Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2021

This is a beautifully crafted piece and both artists are meticulous with the detail and clean lines. Dibz’s writing is as complex as ever with horizontally layered colours and shadows the offer a deep perspective. The writing serves as a foundation for the character piece by Shade One.

Dibz and Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2021
Dibz and Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2021

There is a wonderful symmetry and balance to this collaboration that makes it very easy on the eye indeed. I think the circle being referenced at the bottom in Dibz’s writing is really clever and brings a resolution to the whole composition. A brilliant piece from a couple of artists in peak form.

3585. Greenbank (1)

I don’t mind admitting that it took me a long time to find this hoarding. Variously known as the cycle path or Greenbank or the Bristol to Bath cycle path, I was just too proud to ask anyone where it was and in the end found it using Google Maps – where would we be without such miracles of the modern world? This hoarding on the periphery of a huge development is about 100m long, and it has recently become an important, albeit temporary, graffiti spot.

Face 1st, Greenbank, Bristol, March 2021
Face 1st, Greenbank, Bristol, March 2021

It was nice to be greeted with this firm favourite of mine, Face 1st along with so many other familiar artists… my archive for March overfloweth! This is a standard Face 1st design with a pretty girl’s face and hair constructed with the letters FACE. I like the addition of the gold earring and the little blue and pink accents by the eye. Lots more from this wall to come.

3584. Dean Lane skate park (403)

It may only be a small piece, but it is significant. I haven’t seen anything new from Lokey for such a long time, definitely more than a year, so finding this little gem on the side of a skate ramp was an absolute delight.

Lokey, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2021
Lokey, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2021

Lokey is well known for his clever anamorphic writing which is created by some carefully designed letter shapes and shading techniques. I think that this little piece spells out LOKI from top to bottom. It was a sunny day when I took this picture and the whole thing is a bit bleached out which is a pity, but you can still see the quality and class ooze through this small work.

3583. Purdown HAA Battery (25)

Although Purdown is a beautiful part of Bristol and has some stunning views over the city, the old HAA battery has a rather strange feel to it. It is a historical ruin that has been allowed to decay and in recent times has become a very popular spot for graffiti. Walking around the place though is moving and one’s mind drifts back to the ghosts of the past defending the city against the blitz. Some of the bunkers, like this one with this fine Slakarts piece, feel a bit dingy and creepy and to be honest I don’t like going down there much.

Slakarts, Purdown, Bristol, March 2021
Slakarts, Purdown, Bristol, March 2021

Obviously such matters don’t appear to phase Slakarts too much and this is another fine addition to his series of monochrome pieces that he has been enjoying painting over the last year or so. The simplicity of the parallel lines on the glasses is so effective and a tick he likes to use a fair bit. It is always great pleasure finding pieces by this gentleman.

3582. Stapleton Road

This is the second of four railway column pieces in Stapleton Road to be featured on Natural Adventures. Local artists were commissioned by Network Rail and Severnside Rail Partnership to smarten up the railway supports which had become rather untidy with a plethora of tags and posters. I am a little torn sometimes when this kind of commission comes along, because these spots can host some fine pieces of graffiti, but faced with the option of anti-graffiti painted columns or these gorgeous commissioned murals, I’d always opt for the latter.

Zoe Power and David Bain, Stapleton Road, Bristol, March 2021
Zoe Power and David Bain, Stapleton Road, Bristol, March 2021

This column is a joint effort from Zoe Power and David Bain and is a perfect place to showcase their work. Interestingly their other collaboration to have appeared on Natural Adventures is also a railway piece on Redland Station.

Zoe Power and David Bain, Stapleton Road, Bristol, March 2021
Zoe Power and David Bain, Stapleton Road, Bristol, March 2021

The trademark of these two artists is a highly stylised design and bright bold colours. I would label this piece as a true collaboration because they have stitched their work so closely together that it is difficult for me to be one hundred percent certain who painted what. The cheerful and skilfully painted mural is, along with its sisters, is sure to become a well known local landmark.

Zoe Power and Dave Bain, Redland Station, Bristol, November 2019
Zoe Power and Dave Bain, Redland Station, Bristol, November 2019

3581. M32 roundabout J3 (298)

UPDATE

Thank you, Paul H for correcting my assumption that this piece was by Sled One. It is in fact by 3Dom, and was painted to celebrate Sled One’s birthday paint jam. In terms of the rest of the post, everything I wrote about Sled One is applicable to 3Dom. I will leave the post as originally written, because it is important to recognise how difficult it can be sometimes to get things wrong…

This wonderful piece of writing from Sled One is actually one half of a collaboration with himself, which in retrospect I ought to have posted as one, but without thinking I have split into two. Both elements of his work were part of an ASK painting session a couple of weeks back.

3Dom, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2021
3Dom, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2021

Given that Sled One usually freestyles his work, which means he doesn’t paint from a design on a piece of paper in front of him, but with the freedom of his own mind, there is an extraordinary ease, confidence and flow that demonstrates his gift. Sled One is a truly gifted artist whose distinctive surreal creativity puts him in the highest echelons of character artists in Bristol (and beyond), and he is a great writer too. This is a fairly straightforward piece of writing, but often his writing is enhanced with character-like elements. Turning the inanimate into the animate is a speciality.

3580. M32 Spot (110)

I have only managed to capture a fraction of the Recent John D’oh stencils as he tends to spray them at spots I don’t visit too often (something better change). The last time I looked at this column there was a Pekoe sketch, so I know that this stencil isn’t very old.

John D'oh, M32 Spot, Bristol, March 2021
John D’oh, M32 Spot, Bristol, March 2021

As we are accustomed to seeing, John D’oh once again combines his political commentary with humour in this case ridiculing Rishi Sunak for his astounding 1% pay increase for nurses after all they have done and achieved for the nation in the last year. Yet another jaw-dropping moment from this ‘compassionate’ administration. At this moment I ought to say that it is not only nurses. As someone who works in the public sector, I have been on the wrong end of a pay freeze for ten years which was lifted last year and I received a 2% rise, but we are now back to a pay freeze. Meanwhile MPs and bankers (the architects of the banking crisis) have seen their salaries increase very nicely thank you. Respect to John D’oh for calling out these people.