A yellow man in swimming trunks and a rubber duck’s head. This could only be the work of one man, and just in case you were in any doubt, he has rather helpfully signed the piece over the top. It is of course Face the Strange.
Face the Strange, Melville Terrace, Bristol, June 2018
I’m not entirely sure when he pasted thie piece up, it looks quite old, but I don’t recall seeing it at Upfest 2017, so maybe he visited Bristol after that and put it up, or maybe I just hadn’t registered it before. It is a fine wheatpaste and appeals to my surreal tastes.
A whole bunch of artists from PWA and some others had a bit of a paint jam in St Werburghs tunnel a couple of weekends ago. This amazing piece of writing is from an artist I featured for the first time only a few weeks ago, jon Sikoh.
Sikoh, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2018
I think this is a stunning piece of 3D writing, thin and angular, with beautiful and subtle shadings. The decorations surrounding the piece help to fill in the surrounding sea of blue. Sikoh is a very tallented artist and I look forward to seeing more from him.
At the far end of the Tobacco Factory staff car park is this modest and ephemeral piece by Annika Pixie. It was painted during an annual weekend paint jam organised by Stephen Quick.
Annika Pixie, Raleigh Road, Bristol, June 2018
This wispish and haunting portrait is very much in the style that is associated with Annika. There are two things I particularly like about thuis piece…the veil-like see through curtain that sits between the subject and the viewer, and the nicely arranged stencils that surround the whole piece.
Once you recognise an artist’s work and know who they are, it feels like you suddenly see their stuff everywhere. Certainly that is the case with Slip Pickings. I think I have seen his work for several years, but never posted any of it until recently. This particular piece I think is a real gem.
Slim Pickings, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2018
The forgiving shape of his letters combined with the blue cloud background and green bubble design and graded filler makes for a piece that is very easy on the eye. Even if you are not a fan of writing, it is easy to appreciate how nicely done this piece is. More to come, new and old from this No Frills artist.
I am taking a bit of a punt here, because I want to start posting pieces by this artist (of which I have many) and guessing that from the signature their name is BTW…of course initials on street art can mean a plethora of things, including a crew name or respected fellow artist or tribute, for example. So for now and until I know better I will refer to the artist as BTW.
BTW? The Bearpit, Bristol, June 2018
This is one of the larger pieces that I have seen from the artist and is consistent with the predominantly monotone style, although there is a dash of pink in this one. The character in the Nike hat is a half person which has been chomped below the waiste and I’m not too sure what the other little characters are, but it is a fun piece. I rather like this cartoon style and look forward to posting a few more pieces by BTW.
Some of you might be familiar with the cosmic work of Cheba, but I have never seen any of his pieces as dazzlingly colourful and ‘in your face’ as this one. This wall previously played host to another slightly unusual pink cosmic piece by Cheba, but this one completely trumps it.
Cheba, Jamaica Street, Bristol, June 2018
You might notice from the feature image ast the top, a tiny little ceramic ‘my little pony’ which was sited there a couple of years ago by Chinagirl Tile. It is brilliant that it has survived intact. Perhaps people just don’t notice it.
Cheba, Jamaica Street, Bristol, June 2018
The detail in this Cheba pieceshows you why he is one of the best at these stellar murals in the business – it is a bit of a niche thing, but he does it better that any of the others (in my view). Great to see something new and challenging from this Bristol artist.
I first saw this magnificent piece on Silent Hobo’s Instagram feed just after he had started it and I knew straight away that it was an epic mural. This commission from Bristol food connections (a city-wide, week long food festival) is on the perfect wall on Hotwell Road and rises to three stories.
Silent Hobo, Hotwell Road, Bristol, June 2018
It is unusual to see such a large mural in Bristol, especially outside the Upfest or See No Evil areas, so this is something pretty special. Silent Hobo is an artist who captures a mood, especially among youngsters, and translates it into his often highly detailed works.
Silent Hobo, Hotwell Road, Bristol, June 2018
I like the extra things he has worked into the piece – a reference to Clifton suspension bridge and some pizza deliveries being made by drones. The whole thing has a real crossover between rural and urban, modern and vintage and quaint and edgy. A master work.
Silent Hobo, Hotwell Road, Bristol, June 2018
We are lucky in Bristol to have so many talented artists. What Silent Hobo gives us is real soul and relevance. I love this huge piece.
Always, always take a walk down that back street, you never know what you might see. I recently did just that in a small road that leads into Dean Lane and was rewarded with this wonderful wheatpaste by qWeRT.
qWeRT, Dean Street, Bristol, June 2018
This paste up is framed so expertly it is as if the space was created for it. I think this was put up on a reasonably recent trip to Bristol by qWeRT and is one of several characters dotted about the place. You will know that I love qWeRT’s work and that I am very partial to wheatpaste work generally. Chuffed to bits with stumbling across it.
Oh, will this gorgeous weather never end? It is causing havoc with my photographs!
No prizes for guessing who this glorious piece is by, it is of course Deamze, the master of wildstyle writing accompanied by a cartoon character.
Deamze, Norfolk Place, Bristol, June 2018
The Character in this piece is a rather worse-for-wear looking Batman with the obligatory spray can. Even though the work is on a textured surface, the piece is crisp and clean.
Deamze, Norfolk Place, Bristol, June 2018
Deamze uses several writing styles in his work, and this one incorporates his zig-zaggy shapes that make up the letters D E A M Z. A lovely fresh piece for the summer.
Getting to know an artist and to become familiar with their style and content is all part of the fun of hunting street art. I have only seen three pieces by KiKi? and so far haven’t been able to find anything on digital media about them. In a way, knowing nothing is a great place to start because you can come to your own conclusions about the work without external influences creating any bias .
KiKi, St Werburghs, Bristol, June 2018
I can honestly say from my limited exposure to KiKi that I am very struck by their work. It all feels pretty organic and centered around animals and beasts of one sort or another. This piece looks like some kind of Chinese dragon breathing fire and has an archaic feel to it…something you might see on the side of a temple for example.
KiKi, St Werburghs, Bristol, June 2018
The light at the ends of the St Werburghs tunnel make it very difficult to get an evenly lit picture, but even with the poor quality of photograph, I think you can see that this is a fine piece of work. I need to try and find out more about KiKi.
Natural adventures 