Bonzai is yet another artist I am unfamiliar with, but what a pleasure it was to discover him for the first time. This was one of two recent pieces, as described by the brilliant London Calling blog.
The effect of molten chrome is simply outstanding, and yet if you look at the piece carefully is reasonably simply constructed with colours that trick your eyes. I absolutely love this kind of work and will definitely be on the look out for more from this artist on future London trips.
I have seen so much of his work on the Interweb, but I think this is the first piece by C215 that I have seen in the flesh. I don’t think it is a particularly new piece, but being only an occasional visitor to Shoreditch, it is new to me.
There is so much to like about his work, with the simple lines and scatter of colours combining to give an astonishingly clear portrait. The style has some similarities with the work of Dzia, where the constituent elements combine magnificently to create a perfect whole. Love this piece.
This is the first of several more Shoreditch pieces from my visit there back in November to see the old year out and the new one in. What joy to spot this trio of Madonna stencils by the flamboyant and vibrant Pegasus, whose work has appeared in Natural Adventures a few times over the last four years.
These images capture Madonna beautifully, in what looks like her Desperately Seeking Susan period, sporting crosses on her ears and large quantities of bangles. It is interesting to note that in the two right hand side stencils, there are extra squares obscuring part of the piece, this in addition to the colour changes leaves us with three different stencils together. Lovely piece.
In my view, Sled One is the most inventive and creative artist working on the streets of Bristol at the moment, and this piece is an absolute master class. Sandwiched between writing from SMAK and Ments, this character piece acts as a focal point for this curated wall.
Sled One, Wilder Street, Bristol, December 2018Many of Sled One’s pieces feature cat and mouse antics, and this one is a great example. The cat, a Samurai cat, is wearing a most glorious helmet onto which a mouse is clinging for dear life. I don’t know what it all means, but it is a visual marvel and so beautifully painted.
Smak, Sled One and Ments, Wilder Street, Bristol, December 2018I love seeing Sled One’s work, but sadly it seems to be quite a rare occurrence these days. So, so good.
Another stunner from the re-vitalised Mr Klue, who is on a real roll at the moment. This one was at the farm end of the tunnel, which, from a photographic point of view is preferable to pieces in the middle.
The colours of this piece work nicely with the smoky texture of the patterns. If I work really hard I can see the letters KLUE, but this might be wishful thinking in overdrive. Yet another eye-catching and lovely piece from Klue Wone.
This is a wall on the M32 roundabout that I rarely look at properly as it is something of a practice wall and most of the stuff there isn’t up to much. Something about this piece made me do a double-take though and I decided to take a closer look.
I’m not familiar with the artist, and can’t read the signature (Pegeau?), but I really like it. It is quite unconventional and has three abstract/cartoon faces on an interesting and well thought out background. I need to find out the who the artist is and see if I can find more of their work.
These three, Tasha Bee, Soap and Stupid Stupid Meathole, seem to be getting on famously at the moment. This is a fine collaboration in Dean Lane with all three painting typical trademark work.
On the left is a serene figure by Tasha Bee, whose work seems to go from strength to strength and gain in confidence. The hair on this one is breathtaking. In the middle and on the right of the work are faces by Soap looking rather cheerful.
Sandwiched between the two Soap contributions are two rather weird looking faces by Stupid Stupid Meathole. On first inspection of these pink delights, I hadn’t noticed the teeth, but once I had spotted them, I couldn’t keep my eyes off them.
All in all a thoroughly delightful and light-hearted December collaboration from three very busy artists.
When Kid Crayon and SPZero76 get together as ‘EAT’ crew, there is almost always a creative explosion that follows. This brilliant piece, which is a kind of quasi commission, they get paid in paint, is on a wall favoured by these two.
The theme for the piece highlights plastic in our seas, something that thankfully is front of mind for so many of us at the moment. In Kid Crayon’s side of the piece, the king and queen of the sea look less than impressed with the amount of plastic in their domain, and the fish look pretty troubled too.
Although the styles of these two artists are strikingly different, they seem to work well together. SPZero76 gives us a couple of characters, a robot and swimmer in highly protective gear venturing out into the polluted sea for a surf. What is really clever about this piece is that they have incorporated bits of their previous work on this wall, such as the yellow VW Beetle, by leaving them partially exposed, thus becoming part of the pollution in this piece. Really clever work.
I always love a piece with a big story.
Update – I have since found out that the ‘special effect’ was not intentional but rather rain damage. The piece has been replaced already by the EAT crew.
Even when it seems like there is nothing much going on, mainly because of the damp weather, I find that I am rarely disappointed when I go to check a wall to see if there is anything new.
My reward for nipping down to the M32 roundabout a week or so back was this magnificent, and rare, collaboration by Silent Hobo and Logoe. I met this pair painting together about a year ago, and they clearly enjoy each other’s company.
Judging from the ‘Rad Dads’ slogan, I am guessing that this is a message about the status of the artists. I wonder if the depiction in the Silent Hobo half of this piece is a self-portrait (almost certainly) and whether he actually painted this piece with a child strapped to his chest.
Logoe’s writing is distinctive, from the little I have seen, having a sort of joined-up hand writing look to it. Overall I love this collaboration and the sentiments of pride in, and love for their children. Great stuff for the Christmas holidays.
Smak is an artist who just keeps on giving. This is yet another perfect example of wildstyle writing at its best. Using the same colour palette chosen by Ments, he spells out SMAK in grey and embellished it with reds, pinks and blues.
Smak, unlike Ments, always keeps his pieces perfectly proportioned and they are easy on the eye. He has also included a little mouse making a rather rude gesture to the right. The gesture is aimed at the central piece of this triptych by Sled One, which will make since when you see it in a couple of days.
Natural adventures 