Wahey! Another sensational Soap piece, and it seems like there is absolutely no stopping him at the moment… he’s on a roll. This is a crazy and eclectic piece that draws on a whole bunch of styles, patterns and colours to spell out SOAP.
Soap, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2019
I just get the feeling every time I see his work that there is a lot of joy going on at the moment and it really comes across in his work. With some artists you can spot angst or pain or sadness or perfectionism and so on, but Soap’s work simply screams out happiness.
Great to see Soap and Tasha Bee teaming up to paint this collaboration in Dean Lane skate park. What is interesting about this piece is that both artists are doing something a little different from what we normally see.
Soap, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2019
I’m not too sure why, but Soap has been doing a few chickens recently. I think it might be a bit of a legacy from a mini paint jam he took part in at St Werburghs City Farm. I think I have some pictures somewhere. I rather like the way that he has done a speech bubble with his tag in it. A fun piece.
Tasha Bee, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2019
Tasha Bee has been doing a bit of writing recently to accompany her beautiful styalized portraits and her choice of letters is LUNA. I think that she rather likes the symbolism of the moon and skies, of nature and love. Luna is a really great word and will lend itself to all sorts of writing variations. I totally adore her colour selections here and I have been using similar colours in my ‘teach yourself spray painting’ activities. Note to self, ‘get hold of some of that gold’. Very nice collaboration.
Haka has been incredibly prolific this year, something that has been a little under-represented in Natural Adventures and that I intend to address starting here and now. This fun piece is in Mina Road and features Macaulay Culkin from the Home Alone series of films.
Haka, Mina Road, Bristol, May 2019
Haka has a style that is all his own. He creates what I would call representative art, rather than the other end of the spectrum which is photorealism. His lines are not sharp and clean like some of the writers in Bristol, but there is a warmth and comfort there. He often paints political or humorous pieces, like this one entitled ‘Chrome Alone’.
Haka, Mina Road, Bristol, May 2019
Haka is well established on the Bristol street art scene painting both characters and graffiti writing. I have several other pieces by him in my archive and will try to dig them out.
A view of St Werburghs tunnel that I haven’t shared before, seen from the city farm end. The entrance to the tunnel is guarded by a pair of ‘monolithic’ gurning faces by Atchue, one on either side.
Atchue, St Werburghs, Bristol, June 2019
I haven’t seen much from Atchue lately, so to be presented with these two-for-the-price-of-one faces is definitely a bit of a bonus. On the left is one of his more familiar pink pieces, but the one on the right is in magnificent chrome.
Atchue, St Werburghs, Bristol, June 2019
The chrome face appears to be in mid gurn and you can almost hear him making a groaning noise. A lovely idea executed brilliantly by Atchue.
It would seem that artists from Cardiff like to swing by Bristol every now and again, and when they do come they tend to paint together, I suppose a bit of a paint jam on tour really. This is a really lovely piece by Unity, a graffiti writer I met at Upfest last year whose work I don’t get to see too often so it was nice to find this one down at the M32 roundabout.
Unity, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2019
Her work is quite organic in appearance, and this piece looks almost edible, like icing on a cake or something. Unity blends her colours very nicely and this piece drops from yellow to brown to pink without any harsh lines. Great work. It is a pity we have to wait so long between visits.
This piece has been lurking in my archives for quite a long time now, but what better time to dig it out than right now? It is of course by the brilliant political commentator John D’oh and was created back in July 2016, and who’d have thought after all this time we’d still be caught up in a Boris Johnson circus?
John D’oh, North Street, Bristol, July 2016
The Michael referred to in this witty Forrest Gump pastiche would of course be Gove, and surprise, surprise here they both are making headlines in the contest for leadership of the Conservative Party. What a dismal mess this country is in, and what a sad indictment that the leader of our country will be chosen not by the electorate, but by a small number of fee-paying conservatives. There is no hope other than that the appointment of a clown for PM might just bury the Tories for the next 15 years.
It is galling that the mess we are in was not created in the aspiration to make life in the UK better for all, but simply to shore up the division in the Conservative party, and guess what, they F*cked that up good and proper as well.
Back to one of my trusty favourites with this beautiful piece at the M32 roundabout by Face 1st. Here he returns to his winning format of a sweet face covered with sumptuously decorated hair which spells out FACE if you look carefully.
Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2019
I like the way that Face 1st has diversified over the last few months, but kept these great face pieces in his locker. I hope to come across Face 1st again this summer and tell him that he has inspired me to give it a go myself. I tried copying one of his simple faces, but it didn’t work out too well. More to come from this Bristol stalwart.
Ok, so another debut on Natural Adventures, this time a piece by Bnie. I have been aware of her work for quite a while and have several of her pieces in my archive (I’ll have to dig them out now, having broken the ice), but have just never posted any of them until now.
Bnie, M32 cycle path, Bristol, June 2019
I believe she might have a Welsh connection, as I have seen her work alongside Smak before and also when Welsh crews come over to paint in Bristol her work is sometimes among them. She has a lovely touch and style to her work and this piece is beautifully filled. I wish I could do what these guys do, it just looks so good. I look forward to sharing more of her pieces and trying to find out a little bit more about her.
I think that the first piece of street art by Copyright that I became conscious of was a wheatpaste somewhere in the Stokes Croft area a few years ago, I have since seen so much more of his work, and like it very much. It was nice to find this paste up, in Dean Lane skatepark recently, still pretty much in mint condition.
Copyright, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2019
Things have slowed a little on the street art scene in Bristol over the past ten days or so because of the dismal weather we have been having, but it has allowed me to catch up (the tiniest amount) on my posts.
There is something a little sinister in this piece, and I think it might be the lack of pupils in the eyes, and this edgy nature cuts slightly across the grain with the title ‘Love’. The spots read-across really well from the dress and onto the background providing a continuity to the whole. Fabulous to see another Copyright wheatpaste (or anything for that matter… it has been a while).
A few more striking wheatpastes from Frenchman Tian on the streets of Stokes Croft. Unfortunately with all the rain we’ve been having, several of these have started to peel off and disapppear, but I guess that is the ephemeral nature of street art.
Tian, Stokes Croft, Bristol, May 2019
There appear to be two colour variants of this stencil piece of an oriental woman looking so beautiful with flowers in her hair, this blue one, and a slightly less colourful sepia one.
Tian, Stokes Croft, Bristol, May 2019
I am so full of admiration for the way Tian works his art – first sourcing a great photograph, then creating a stencil from it, then printing off and cutting out paste ups and finally finding the precise and thought-out locations for each of them. He is a true master of his craft and I am an enormous fan.
