Tag: Street art

2863. Easton

Some more archive material. There can only be one reason why this outstanding piece by Dan Kitchner never made it into Natural Adventures, and that is that I can’t remember exactly where in Easton this wall is. No matter, I have overcome this problem with giving it a general ‘Easton’ label.

Dan Kitchener, Easton, Bristol, May 2019
Dan Kitchener, Easton, Bristol, May 2019

The wall is split into a long landscape part with cars in a wet street scene, and a portrait section filling an old bricked-up window space featuring one of his trademark pedestrians with an open umbrella.

Dan Kitchener, Easton, Bristol, May 2019
Dan Kitchener, Easton, Bristol, May 2019

There is something so incredibly atmospheric about these pieces, and living in such a wet country they really resonate with me. They also remind me a little of the original Bladerunner film with its oriental element.

I first saw this a few years back, but never stopped to photograph it. I found it again last year and decided not to make the same mistake. If only I’d written down the road name too!

2862. Cheltenham 2019 (33)

Aah, this is a real beauty from T-Rex at the Cheltenham Paint Festival 2019. Three mischievous dinosaurs on the rampage in the Honeybourne Line tunnel, simply perfect. I said a short while ago that I don’t feature T-Rex nearly enou* in Natural Adventures and that this is another opportunity to put that right.

T-Rex, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
T-Rex, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019

T-Rex is so adept at painting these characters that I expect she could do it in her sleep. For good measure she has complemented the rascals with a couple of fanged snakes for good measure. A lovely piece from the RAW (Read and Weep) artist.

2861. Cheltenham 2019 (32)

I posted this collaboration by Turoe One and Rusk yesterday without any words by mistake, so here it is today with some words. Not surprisingly the post received as many views/likes as it might have done without any description which is a little disheartening, but it is still nice that people apreciate the pitures. Thank you Paul for pointing out my error.

Turoe One and Rusk, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
Turoe One and Rusk, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019

The piece itself was painted at the Cheltenham Paint Festival last September and I was lucky enough to bump ito the artists while they were grabbing some sandwiches midway through their session. The photograph above is the only one I have with the whole piece, including  the bookend characters.

Turoe One and Rusk, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
Turoe One and Rusk, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019

Both artists should be familiar to regular readers of Natural Adventures, and didn’t have to travel far from their native Bristol to get to Cheltenham. My poor knowledge of popular culture prohibits me from telling youn too much about the characters in the piece but it is certainly spectacular and a true collaboration where both artists have contributed to all aspects of the work.

Turoe One and Rusk, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
Turoe One and Rusk, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019

The end characters are beautifully painted, and I would guess the one on the left was by Turoe One and the other by Rusk (I’ve got a 50/50 chance of getting that one right).

A most impressive piece from these two graffiti writers.

 

2860. Cheltenham 2019 (31)

At last I have a space to unlock this amazing piece by Sophie Long at the Cheltenham Paint Festival featuring a family of polar bears taking a walk. The piece is one of the larger ones that I have seen by the Bristol-based artist and was one of the highlights of the festival. Unfortunately, although I went to the festival on two days, I didn’t get to meet Sophie on this occasion.

Sophie Long, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
Sophie Long, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019

The painting carries all the hallmarks I would associate with Sophie Longs work. The bears are beautifully laid out in differing poses and touched with some colourful paintwork that complements the overall composition. Imagine how different this piece would look if it were just plain white bears.

Sophie Long, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
Sophie Long, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019

Of course, no Sophie Long piece would be complete without drips, and this piece has lots of them. This is a fine wildlife work from an artist who specialises in this kind of subject.

2859. Cheltenham 2019 (30)

My Dog Sighs, a hugely popular and talented artist from Portsmouth was extremely busy at the Cheltenham Paint Festival last September. His main project, painting a small lorry (yet to be posted) was accompanied by a number of smaller pieces dotted around town. This ceramic tile was one of those ‘extras’.

My Dog Sighs, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
My Dog Sighs, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019

The little everyman character was hiding near the entrance to a car park. The shattered and fragmented tile has the word ‘broken’ across the top and everyman is looking a bit sad. This is an imaginative piece and characterises the influx of art that festivals bring in addition to the sanctioned and legitimate works.

2858. Cheltenham 2019 (29)

One of the upsides to the Covid-19 lock down is that I get to catch up a bit on my inexhaustible archive material, and the next five posts are all from the Cheltenham Paint Festival that I visited in September of last year. This wonderful Disney influenced genie from Aladdin is by Nol.

Nol, Painnt Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
Nol, Painnt Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019

Nol is a real festival favourite and I have had the pleasure of meeting him on a couple of occasions at Upfest. His cartoon monsters in bold colours with solid fills are real crowd-pleasers and he is capable of producing small pieces to entire building walls with his characters. A gentle giant of a man whose work is greatly admired and who is popular in the street art community.

2857. St Werburghs tunnel (165)

This beautifully proportioned REZER from Rezwonk was painted alongside frequent painting buddy Nightwayss in St Werburghs tunnel about two or three weeks ago. Crikey, so much has happened since then, it is unimaginable.

Rezwonk, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2020
Rezwonk, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2020

Like so many of the talented street artists in Bristol, Rezwonk’s work is always on point, and even his throw ups have a touch of class to them. The overall design is great and looking closely at the letters it looks like the ER at the end might have been switched to RE or even something else. I expect there will be a creative outburst when all this is finally over.

2856. Dean Lane skate park (301)

This is what can happen when two outstanding writers combine their efforts. This supreme collaboration is by Dibz and Shade One, painted in Dean Lane on the same day that Rusk, Soker, Inkie and Hemper painted on the other long wall back in March. A red letter day indeed. The whole collaboration is set on a clean blue background with a magnificent silhouetted cityscape running horizontally through the piece.

Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2020
Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2020

On the left is an absolutely faultless piece from Dibz as we have become accustomed to expect. The fills are really subtle, dradig from a lighter blue at the top to a slightly darker one at the bottom, and the letters have just the right amount of accents in red to set the piece off nicely. This is what great graffiti writinng looks like.

Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2020
Shade One, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2020

On the right we have some equally high-class writing from Shade One, an artist I know relatively little about. In this piece I particularly like the tiny ‘cracks’ in red through the letters and the stellar accents on the first and last letters. Magnificent. I am not too sure what the letters say, nor their significance, it looks like JOBE or TOBE. The only other post I have made from this artist was an Upfest piece from 2018.

Shade One, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Shade One, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

 

2855. St Werburghs tunnel (164)

This is the second piece recently painted by Rapt in St Werburghs tunnel of at least three I know about from March. The Newport artist paits alongside Elvs and his style is characterised by the upside down T and the very clear lettering.

Rapt, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2020
Rapt, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2020

All the basic elements of a developing writer are here, a nice design, imaginative background, nice fills with some creativity. I look forward to seeing the artist develop all of these skills. I believe alcohol might have been involved in the general concept of the piece.

2854. York Street (2)

This is a wonderful old piece (2014 I think) from Zase, that I have only just photographed. Due to thee Covid-19 lock down, this wall is clear of any parked cars in front of it and this is the first time when I have been passing on foot that I have been able to get a clean shot.

Zase, York Street, Bristol, March 2020
Zase, York Street, Bristol, March 2020

The whole thing is unmistakably by Zase and the 3D writing in the middle, which you’d normally expect to spell ZASE actually spells A&M, which is the name of the garage A&M Motor Services in York Street.

Zase, York Street, Bristol, March 2020
Zase, York Street, Bristol, March 2020

On the right of the piece is a pretty graphic crash-crumpled car, slightly on the macabre side, and on the left a rather snazzy Mercedes and dashboard. I think that this is an absolutely stunning piece and has weathered really well over the years with only a little bit of tagging.

Zase, York Street, Bristol, March 2020
Zase, York Street, Bristol, March 2020

This area is crammed with amazing work from Zase who lives nearby. We are very lucky to have him in Bristol. I think it is high time I produced a gallery of his work… watch this space.