Two artists that have had a great and productive year are Asre and Zinso, and I guess that their friendship/collaboration has in part helped each to keep at it. This is a nice, gentle piece by Asre in one of his favoured spots in Dean Lane.
The large letters are forgiving in form and filled with a subtle combination of lilac and soft pink ‘bubbles’. Two further things come to the aid of the letters, the black drop shadow and the vibrant green providing contrast. An uplifting piece from Asre.
I was so pleased to find this piece by Werm, who like many other artists has struggled to paint this winter, I assume, because of the rain. Werm painted this spot some years ago with a skull piece, and I think that this is a throwback piece to the original painted in February 2023.
I guess you could call this a combination piece, although the skull and letters are discrete. On the left, the skull (from the cat family I guess) is beautifully observed, with some great shading to bring out the form and depth. The proportions work really well – skulls can be very difficult to paint. The writing on the right spells out WERM stacked, two letters on top of the other two. Overall, this is a fine work from Werm and almost like a study to practice his craft.
This is another piece from the surprise wall at Surbiton Station, this time one of three pieces by the artist Paul Don Smith. I know nothing about the artist, but from what I see, it looks like he likes to paint scenes in a collage style from television shows or films.
Paul Don Smith has chosen to feature Edward Scissorhands in this square piece, creating scenes and images from the film, including a nicely trimmed hedge and plenty of pairs of scissors. The artwork is a fusion of stencils and paintwork. It is difficult to know how much is brush work and how much is spray paint, but the overall effect seems to work and is quite unique. More to come from Paul Don Smith.
There was a time when finding a Trafficity piece was something of a rarity, but it feels like he has ever so slightly turned up the dial over the last couple of years and is in a good rhythm. Trafficity’s work is quite remarkable in that he sticks to his intricate design piece after piece, with only colour changes and minor decorations. His consistency is his trademark.
Like Cort (see previous post), Trafficity belongs to the PAD crew, which is mainly composed of Polish artists. Bristol is full of these little communities of artists, sometimes defined by nationality, sometimes by gender, sometimes by friendship or sometimes a combination of all of these. The letters spell ZIOS, which is reasonably easy to see once you know. It is always good to find pieces by Trafficity.
Cort tends to bring some lovely colours into his work, often choosing ones that both contrast with and complement each other well. This approach brings into focus just how important colour selection can be, and that it is not a random process for most artists, but a carefully considered process.
The sunlight on this piece isn’t very helpful, but I think you get the picture. The KORT letters are so typically written in his unusual style, and pairs of letters are filled in common. It looks like he was running low on some colours, or the piece has been badly rain affected, because it is possible to see the paint lines in some of the fills. Another nice piece from Cort.
Another highlight of the ‘discovery’ I made at Surbiton Station, was this absolute beauty from Aspire, formerly of Bristol, and an artist whose work I have admired for many years. The piece was painted in a narrow alleyway, and difficult to photograph head on, even with a wide angle lens.
The outstanding piece features a pixelated rose, a thrush, a stunning conker and a bird of prey – maybe a hen harrier. There is a tenderness and love for nature that comes across so strongly in all of Aspire’s work, and he loves to be true to the birds he paints. I have to say, I absolutely love the conker – not something you see all that often in street art. A great find, albeit painted some time ago.
Esme Lower (Melo) absolutely smashed it with this massive commission on the harbourside from September/October last year. The opportunity was facilitated by Upfest and supported by Bristol Bid and Redcliffe and Temple Bid.
The brief was to bring together elements of the Women’s Rugby World Cup, inspiring women of Bristol and local references to the harbour and businesses. So not too much of a challenge there then. Her upbeat cartoon scenes and characters lent themselves very well to the brief, and the outcome is hugely impressive, as the pictures below show. Well done Melo!
This was a piece from a little while ago by Kool Hand, celebrating his own birthday with some friends in the tunnel. For some reason, my iPhone was playing up that day, and my photographs a little blurry – some kind of auto-setting might have kicked in because of the low light levels.
The combination piece has the letters KOOL accompanied by a trademark orangutan head, and the whole thing is very nicely presented. Kool Hand is an artist whose work just keeps on developing gradually but consistently. A very nice birthday present to self.
This wall at Surbiton Station was the gift that keeps on giving. Although this piece by Layla’s Murals is several years old – it took me a while to find it on her Instagram page – it is still looking rather good, and hasn’t been tagged at all.
The stunning portrait of the leopard stands out alongside a large and dramatic sky. Ordinarily such a large space would be filled with bits and bobs, but Layla’s Murals clearly has the confidence and belief in her composition, and it works really well.
As a slight aside, I am learning Shakespeare’s wonderful ‘seven ages of man’ monologue, because I want to, and this picture reminds me of one of the lines…
‘Then a soldier, full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard’
The ‘pard’ is a leopard, and here you can see why a soldier might be bearded like one. Great stuff.
For quite a while now, I have been photographing Fasho’s writing, but held back on posting any pieces due to the fact that I know nothing at all about the artist. It seems that until I meet them, I’ll not find out any more, so I thought I’d go ahead with this nice green piece in the tunnel.
Fasho has a rather unique style of writing that includes exaggerated rounded ends to all the letters, giving the writing a soft appearance. This combination piece (which I am assuming is all by Fasho, although the character might be another artist’s work) contains the letters FASHO and a gun-wielding soldier on the left. There is good definition between the green fills and patterns and the white and black borders, keeping the piece tidy. A peace icon in the position of the ‘O’ indicate where this piece is coming from. Much more from Fasho to come from my archives.
Natural adventures 