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End of a long day
a short walk with man’s best friend
clearing the cobwebs
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by Scooj
Tag: UK
5462. Greenbank (93)
Occasionally, the Resting Bitch Face crew (RBF), an all-female group of painters is joined by a male, which is what happened here when Jody joined in with the Barbie paint jam at Greenbank a few weeks ago. His inclusion definitely fitted in well with all the other pieces, and he embraced the theme with gusto.
This is a beautifully crafted and mischievous take on Barbie, providing a little bit of body art and a nose ring to give this graffiti Barbie a bit of an edge over her more conventional selves. Jody has painted a photorealistic portrait of the doll, and managed to convey the plastic toy qualities of her skin and makeup, large eyes and fake hair.
I absolutely love this portrait piece, but in loving it, it is important not to overlook the technical skill and versatility of an artist at the top of his game.
5461. Weston-super-Mare
Sometimes things are just meant to be, and this outstanding piece by TEAone for Westonwallz simply couldn’t be more at home than within this framed spot on the side of a building in West Street, Weston-super-Mare. I am guessing that the frame once played host so some kind of advertising hoarding, or something along those lines.
TEAone is an exceptional artist and painted one of my favourite pieces at Upfest 2022 (below). Everything about this piece is perfect, and it captures a typical traditional beach-front scene perfectly, with colourful awning, donkeys and a boy on a bicycle. Packed full of atmosphere alongside serenity. This is a magical piece by TEAone… it would make a perfect jigsaw puzzle too.
5460. Weston-super-Mare
You wait for a Willl Cross piece to come along and then two come in quick succession, although actually, this one was painted some time ago, August 2022 to be precise, for Westonwallz, in Old Post Office Lane, Weston-super-Mare. Will Cross has an incredible knack for making contemporary scenes look like they have come from the romantic period in the 1800s.
The reality of this scene is that it is a pallet bonfire on Turbo Island, a small triangle of land in Stokes Croft in Bristol, claimed by the people for the people, which often plays host to a variety of revellers, alcoholics, drug users and casual passers-by. Bonfires are a common occurrence, even since it was concreted over this year.
This piece is painted in a narrow street, but I photographed it when the sun was playing tricks and causing a fair amount of reflection, which is a pity. I love Willl Cross’ style and would very much like to own one of his stunning paintings, but I imagine they are way beyond my budget. There is something very beautiful about the quality of light in the piece, and mystery about the figures sitting round the fire, chewing the fat. A couple of people in the background have stopped to look at the goings-on, which is beautifully observed and an accurate representation of what would happen.
Willl Cross has created a scene, which on first inspection could be a rural scene, but in actual fact is about as urban as it gets. Brilliant work and an outstanding touch from the artist.
5459. Feeder Road (3)
When he’s not busy painting them, I am busy finding them. Mote tends to paint in pulses of activity, although to be fair his ‘quiet’ periods never last very long, which means that it is almost impossible to keep on top of his work during his bust times. The end result is that it would seem that there are always pieces out there to find, and this beauty on Feeder Road is an example of that.
I love the site selection for this piece, almost as though the monster is lurking with intent to surprise passers-by. A friendly looking monster, in spite of his fierce teeth, beautifully painted with creative doodle fills, this is a really fine example of Mote’s work and a demonstration of how far he has come in a short time and how sophisticated his work is becoming.
Mossy rose gall
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Rose growth disruption
work of parasitic wasp
beguiling nature
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by Scooj
5458. M32 Cycle path (225)
Ooh! I love this recent piece from Desi, whose work just gets better and better. This time she is writing VEIL, one of her two variants, but with joined up script writing, which is a new and exciting development that works rather well.
I have often been quite critical of artists who don’t buff walls before they paint, because the underlying graffiti can often be distracting, but Desi, whether by design or luck, has managed to pull it off with this piece. The background somehow complements her writing and helps it to stand out. Beautiful curvy letter shapes are accompanied by great blue and pink fills (that B/P combo again), perfectly blended. I think that this might just be my favourite piece from Desi yet.
5457. River Avon (50)
I met Fink briefly at the Cheltenham Paint Festival recently, and he was good enough to stop for a quick chat. I mentioned to him that I had seen some of his work in Bristol from quite a while back and had been following his work on Instagram for a while. It turns out he lives now in Dubai and makes his living from his art commissions, which is pretty amazing. It seems that on his trip to the UK he dropped in to Bristol for a quick stop and painted this magnificent piece not far away from the back of Temple Meads station.
Fink’s abstract portrait pieces are special, drawn with a continuous line, a bit like sketching a face on paper in one go without lifting the pen. The golden face is made up of smaller faces painted in the same way, that give the whole piece texture and interest. This is a very fine piece from a visiting artist, who has some history with Bristol.
5456. East Street
I went on a bit of a wild goose chase last week looking for some boards in Bedminster, but was completely unable to find them. The walk, however, took me to East Street after working hours and all the shops were closed, and I was in shutter heaven.
This shutter piece by Taboo, which I think is unlikely to be a commission, but you never know, spells out Boser, the significance of which passes me by. The anti-style letters are accompanied by an anti-style cartoon Tom cat from Tom and Jerry, with four ‘echo’ faces adjacent to the first. Typically anarchic and somehow charmingly comforting, this Taboo piece ticks all the right boxes. I am not too sure about the orange figure 8, which isn’t a motif I have seen in his work before, and I believe it to be a subsequent addition by a tagger, although the orange does match the letter ‘B’ in his signature. A mystery.
5455. Cumberland Basin
I am a huge admirer of Peanutsdeli’s work, but unfortunately he does most of his painting in the Cheltenham/Gloucester/Stroud area and only occasionally comes to Bristol, which is a real pity. This is an absolute belter, painted for Werm’s recent birthday jam.
The slim characters that Peanutsdeli creates, look like they are straight from a comic book and have something of a Manga style about them. In this piece, we have a vibrant heroine, complete with red hair and blue cape. The character is outlined with a thin black line, a trademark feature of Peanutdeli’s work. Loads of movement and beautiful detail in the piece, which obeys ‘house’ colours of blue and pink selected for the collaborative paint jam wall. I would love to see much more of Peanutdeli’s work in Bristol.
Natural adventures 