Forever mindful
I am in the here and now
it is good for me.
by Scooj
Tag: UK
1269. Camden Town van (1)
On a trip to Camden Town in November 2017 I took a very long stroll around the area part of which took in this backstreet where market sellers parked up their vans. This being Camden Town I guess it should have come as no surprise that the vans would have been finely decorated by London street artists.
This van played host to Himbad and Dotmaster whose collaboration works beautifully as Dotmaster’s stencilled children pull back covers to reveal a cutely frightening Himbad monster and host of monster eyes. I really love this piece and would love to see both of these artists make a trip to Bristol. One day maybe.
1268. M32 roundabout J3 (62)
This is a really unusual piece, especially for the M32 roundabout, but it has managed to stand the test of time very well. It is by an artist called Artezes (Cesar perales). I cannot find out much about the artist except that he visited Bristol in August 2017 and left a couple of lovely pieces of which this is one.
I would describe this piece as fine art street art – it feels as though the artist has had a classical training and then taken to the streets…only a feeling. Another artist who has done this is Bristol’s very own Tom Miller.
The subject for this piece is really interesting, and the hot cup of coffee has something magical about it, drawing the eye up towards the purple steam. This is a wonderful work by an irritatingly obscure artist.
1267. Hepburn Road (5)
I walk past this alley way most days, but it was not until recently that I learned that it was the centre of the Bristol drugs trade and after dark a dangerous and depraved place. I have been walking the alley for a couple of years, taking pictures, and although it was rather grubby, I never realised the extent of the drug dealing that was happening there.
Thankfully it has been cleaned up a bit, but the wonderful graffiti continues. This piece is by DNT who actually runs the Matchbox Gallery on the other side of Stokes Croft. It is an interesting piece because I have seen it replicated in other spots. I don’t know the background to it, but it is a bright and colourful piece that actually reminds me of the 1980s – I don’t expect to be thanked for that. Nice work from DNT.
Urban sprawl
.
Monolithic crane
stoops over ant workers;
new development.
.
by Scooj
1266. Dean Lane skate park (104)
Still delving back into my archives, I have dug this piece out, because I met the artist a couple of weeks back, and now what I’m looking for and looking at. The artist is called Howl and often works in tandem with his collaborator Gumbo.
I met them at the M32 east side of the roundabout and enjoyed a long chat while they were waiting for paint to dry. I said at the time that I didn’t know who they were, but that I probably had unidentified photographs of their work, and I was right.
Both artists belong to the What crew, which includes 45RPM, but they said that the crew was fairly dispersed these days. This piece is in my view beautifully executed. It spells out Howl and incorporates some clever shading and filling. The colour selection works really well with the contrasts bringing the piece to life. I am guessing the ‘O’ is a dog howling, it would rather make sense. All good, and nice to publish this one at last.
1265. Dean Lane skate park (103)
Another one from back in July last year, this time from Hire, who seems very much at home in Dean Lane. With a contrasting yellow background, this fabulous piece of gothic wildstyle writing stands out brilliantly.
Hire is a highly talented graffiti writer, who I can’t help feeling is slightly overlooked in the Bristol scene, so I am certainly playing my part in ‘bigging him up’. I cannot be sure, but I think this piece says HIRE. I think it is classy.
Sunday morning
I’m up with the larks
or should I say with the barks?
dog needs letting out.
by Scooj
1264. Ashley Road (17)
You might have noticed that I am posting quite a few old pieces at the moment. I tend to do this from time to time when I look through my files and see some wonderful stuff that I never got round to sharing. Sometimes I have been holding onto pictures where I didn’t know who the artist was, but that was not the case here. Somehow this wonderful Laic217 piece just got through the net.
A spider with a skull and an Adidas logo (disguising the word Laic) – it is all here and a bit weird, but brilliant and such a striking combination of colours. The biologist in me feels I should point out that spiders have eight legs, but that is probably splitting hairs. A Fine piece from July 2017.
1263. Dean Lane skate park (103)
Biers is a really friendly artist who I have met on several occasions now. This was a piece from back in July 2017 which has been in my archive because Upfest posts tend to dominate my July/August time, and other street art snapped up around Upfest tend to get a little overlooked. But enough is enough, I am liberating a few images taken during last July since they are too good to ignore.
Biers, I think, is connected with the No Frills crew, although my understanding of crews is patchy at best. He often writes No Frills on his pieces or NFS. I managed to find him working on this piece, and was lucky enough to return a few days later and see it in its finished state. Sometimes work on these walls can last only a day or two, especially in the summer.
This is a nice clean piece that spells out Biers which once you get your graff goggles on you can easily read. I still find it interesting the way the layers go on in these pieces, with the fill going up first and the borders and finer lines last. Great skill required.
Natural adventures 