In the last twelve months or so the board at Turbo Island has attracted some fabulous pieces by greatly talented artists and now it is the turn of Tom Miller with his debut piece on this wall. And what an amazing start.
Tom Miller, Turbo Island, Bristol, August 2020
Tom Miller has been turning out so many pieces since lock down and I have struggled to keep up with them. Some are for fun like this one, but he has also worked on a couple of commissions which is really good, because an artist’s life is a tough one and paid work can be hard to come by.
Tom Miller, Turbo Island, Bristol, August 2020
There is an abundance of colour and form in this abstract piece and typical of the artist there is a great deal of energy and activity. So much to look at and so much detail, it can be hard for the brain to decipher exactly what is going on, but this is a great strength that Tom Miller has. It is not to everyone’s taste, but I love it.
From time to time I make assumptions on Natural Adventures. Sometimes they are right and at other times they are disastrously wrong, so I am a little nervous about sticking my neck out and suggesting that this piece is by Mutatee.
Mutatee, M32 Spot, Bristol, August 2020
My doubt is that I haven’t seen anything painted by Mutatee before, only little resin models, but the blue-faced character is the same as hers. I realise that the character is from some TV show, so it is possible that another artist painted this. All part of the confusing street art landscape. I shall attribute this fun little piece to Mutatee until told otherwise.
Before I start this post, may I say just how much I dislike the new WordPress editor. It is utterly pants, and although it appears to have more functionality, writing a post takes about twice as long as commands are a little more buried in the architecture. Moan over.
This is something of a curiosity, it is a Hire piece that looks unlike any other Hire piece I have ever seen before. I don’t know what prompted this departure from his usual style, but it is a hugely accomplished piece and one that should give him the confidence to experiment further.
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2020
Set on a black background with a pink grid on the lower half and silhouetted skyline above it, Hir has written a four letter word that looks like DIAK, although I can’t be sure about that. There are very few hints that this might be by Hire other than the lower parts of the letters have his distinctive sharp edge to them. Be really interested to see where Hir goes from here.
My camera (or its operator) goofed with photographing this piece from Laic217 on the M32 cycle path. Most of my pictures were way out of focus, but I managed to retrieve a couple that were ok. This is my explanation of why I have put a close-up in the feature image, something I rarely do.
Laic217, M32 cycle path, Bristol August 2020
Laic217 has always had productive patches, but I can’t recall one quite as busy as this summer. It comes as no surprise that this piece is a skeleton, nor that the fabric of his jacket is superbly painted, Laic217 is really mastering painting clothes and materials. Nice to see a little shout out to Pl8o.
Packing for a short holiday, so this is a very rushed archive selection of Street art/graffiti doors:
Shoreditch door, November 2018
Shoreditch door, November 2018
Dr. Love, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Ione, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Vanesa Longchamp, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Kin Dose, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Kid Crayon, Upfest, Bristol, October 2018
Door, Barcelona, March 2018
Kin Dose, West Street, Bristol, October 2018
Nevergiveup, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, December 2018
Nevergiveup, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, December 2018
Hazard, Stokes Croft, Bristol, December 2018
Shoreditch Door, London, November 2018
Shoreditch Door, London, November 2018
Shoreditch Door, London, November 2018
I’ll be on my jollyberries next week, so might not be posting Thursday Doors for a week or two – have a great break.
If you have made it this far, you probably like doors and you really ought to take a look at the Norm 2.0 blog – the originator of Thursday Doors where there are links to yet more doors in the comments section at the end.
Every year, usually in May I think, there is a special event held at Dean Lane skate park called Dean Lane Hardcore. It is a skating event with live music, where the good, the bad and the ugly of Bristol gather to hang out and have a great time. DLH is also a great time for street artists to show off their talent.
Nevergiveup, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2020
This piece shows three Nevergiveup rabbits holding up score cards to judge the skaters’ performances. The craziness of these guys reflects well the craziness of the event itself. Beautifully painted and perfectly in context, this little trio is a real winning piece.
It would seem that JPS has been visiting Bristol and his home, Weston-super-Mare recently if his Instagram account is anything to go by. On a wall that has been home to a JPS piece for a long time now, this new, and rather fantastic stencil arrived about week or two ago.
JPS, Frogmore Street, Bristol, August 2020
The piece features two little boys, one of them pulling a knife out on the other, both encircled in a ‘don’t do it’ sign. The slightly taller boy is gently restraining the one with the knife. This is a poignant anti knife crime piece and conveys the message sensitively.
JPS, Frogmore Street, Bristol, August 2020
This is JPS at his absolute best. A strong message conveyed with tenderness and love but not avoiding the hard issue in hand. Using children to depict such foolishness is clever because it helps us to see how stupid violence is and how it looks utterly out of context in these youngsters – shouldn’t it be so for everyone?
This ‘ice dragons’ piece was the second painted by Tizer on his lightening visit to Bristol about a month ago. I was lucky enough to watch him for a while painting both pieces on consecutive days, and while he painted this one I had a chance to chat with him for quite a long time. Tizer likes to talk and is a really friendly guy. He also self-discloses without apology and in just a few minutes I learned a lot about his childhood and what motivated him to pick up a can.
Tizer, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2020
One of the most remarkable things about the two pieces in Bristol is that he paints freestyle, which means that the idea is in his head, but he doesn’t follow a draft drawing or plan. The way he works is to sketch out the fills in different colours before adding hard edges in black, like reverse colouring in. You should be able to make out the letters TIZER so beautifully written.
Tizer, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2020
It is interesting to note also that Tizer seems to work from left to right in a systematic way, when many other artists will approach their work from all sides at once or by colour selection. This is a man who knows what he wants to do and just goes ahead and does it. A giant of a man with a giant heart.
Yabadaba doo! John D’oh is having a little bit of fun up at Purdown Battery with these Fred Flintstone and Barbey Rubble stencils. Certainly these make a bit of a change from his more political stuff and a change is as good as a rest as they say.
John D’oh, Purdown Battery, Bristol, July 2020
Two of the stencils in full colour are of Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble, while the third is a little bit disturbing depicting a ‘caveman’ body with a Fred Flintstone head carrying a tray of fast food – it messes with my head a little.
John D’oh, Purdown Battery, Bristol, July 2020
I love it that Barney Rubble, the least rebellious person one can think of, is holding a spray can in a kind of victory salute – although I think he has too many fingers for the style of cartoon (a small matter). Great fun pieces, beautifully executed.
Natural adventures 