Dott Rotten strikes again with this magnificent art rather large Spoilt piece on the M32 roundabout. He has been enjoying these rather large-scale pieces recently and definitely makes the most of the available wall space.
Dott Rotten, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2021
There is an autumnal/winter feel to this piece, with muted colours, and the overall superb skill in bringing all the elements together is masterful. The fills, the lines and the design are all really tight. This is a very accomplished piece and to top it all off Dott Rotten has added an Orko character from 1980s cartoon series He Man.
I cannot begin to explain how much joy this collaboration, on two of the arches (part of a larger four arch spread) on the front of The Carriageworks, gives me. This once popular spot was fenced off for development in 2018, and I feared that we would never see any street art on these arches again. Two weeks ago, the covers came off the building site and the facade of this building has been retained along with the four arches, and it took the Pirate Wall Art (PWA) crew no time at all to repossess these ‘canvasses’.
Face 1st, Chill and Soap, The Carriageworks, Bristol, December 2021
On the left is a three way mash up with Face 1st at the top, Soap on the right and possible new recruit into the crew, Chill. Everything about this is very PWA and how appropriate it is that they should be the first to recolonise this spot. I wonder how long it will be before anti-graffiti paint is applied by some killjoy who understands nothing about the area. We will wait and see, but in the meantime we can enjoy stuff like this.
Face 1st, Nightwayss and Soap, The Carriageworks, Bristol, December 2021
On the right hand arch is a classic Soap/Face1st mash up piece, the likes of which often made an appearance on this very wall in years gone by. This is a fabulous nod to those great times and maybe, just maybe, we’ll get to enjoy plenty more in the future. I’ll be posting the other two arches soon.
Face F1st and Soap, Stokes Croft, Bristol, December 2017
One of the most enjoyable thing about chronicling street art and graffiti is that every day has the potential to bring with it surprises. Those surprises are like gifts, presents from the artists to anyone who cares to enjoy their work. This lovely collaboration from Ros(z)alita and 3F fino was part of a larger collaboration that included Tao.create, but I am reserving her piece for a later date.
Rosalita and 3F fino, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2021
This is as special as it is unexpected, and although these two have collaborated before, I think that this is so nicely done and combines their styles and preferred subject matter really well.
Rosalita, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2021
On the left is another carnival face from Rosalita (who now spells it Rozalita, hence the discrepancy in the body of this text), where the makeup this time is much more in the style of a Venetian masquerade mask. The frilled collar adds to the clown element of the piece. Beautiful.
3F fino, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2021
To the right, a slightly more edgy character by 3F fino is apparently spraying the clown. I often wonder with pieces like this whether they are self-portraits, or at least based on self. There are some nice elements to this cartoon-style character and his cans, and the clothes and face mask all add to the ensemble.
All in all a nice, large and vibrant collaboration from these two.
I tend to prepare posts in advance for my street art blogs, perhaps as many as twenty pieces lined up and prepped for written content to be added. It is sorting and sizing the images that takes the most time. Downloading a stream of conscious thought can be surprisingly quick, largely because most of it is conversational nonsense, like this, and comes naturally.
I say all of this because it is quite coincidental that this lovely piece by Benjimagnetic, which has been lined up for some time, is ready for posting just two days after I met the artist for the first time.
Benjimagnetic, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2021
I have noticed that Benjimagnetic seems to be toying with some different design ideas lately and moving away from his quite scratchy abstract writing and transitioning into more solid and colourful pieces, while keeping the essence of his style. It is a difficult transition to describe, but it is definitely happening. For me, I have to say that I am definitely liking his new work a lot, and hope this is more than just a passing phase. A superb tunnel piece.
On the fabulous curved wall at Dean Lane skate park is this nice LRS collaboration featuring Veee and Werm (formerly known as Eman). The centrepiece is the main attraction here, or at least it is the most eye catching and is by Veee.
Veee, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2021
Veee, from Weston-super-Mare is painting ever more frequently in Bristol, and his trademark characters, of which there are a couple, are appearing across the city. This ‘lion’ character, with symbols for eyes, is rather fun and compelling and impossible not to like.
Werm (Eman), Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2021
Werm’s contribution to the collaboration is this quick LRS crew throw up, adopting the block letters that he has been enjoying of late. Two things I don’t understand about Werm… how on Earth does he afford all the paint and how does he have so much time to paint. I don’t expect answers and I don’t really care too much, the key is that he keeps going and keeps improving.
I like the work of Mind Control very much, although the theme of his pieces often carry an underlying threat of violence, which I am not so keen on, and this piece in the gloom of St Werburghs tunnel is one of those pieces.
Mind Control, St Weburghs, Bristol, Novemmber 2021
It turns out though, that it is a tribute piece to a young man called Josh Schoolar who died last year, in Manchester. Josh was an activist who had been out to Syria (joining the International Freedom Battalion) to fight against Isis, and this piece is painted from a photograph of Josh from that time.
In his memory, Josh Schoolar’s family set up an annual fund of £300 for an up and coming young street artist, and Mind Control was the first recipient of this award, and painted this tribute piece as a thank you.
I have learned that it is important to understand what lies behind a piece of artwork as well as simply seeing what is in front of you. This is not a violent piece at all, but a fond and heartfelt recognition of a young life lost.
Doors 172 – Holiday doors, Umbria and Tuscany, Italy 2018
I have decided to join in with Dan’s suggestion for this week’s door theme and bring you some of my favourite doors from a holiday we had in Italy in August 2021. You might well have seen these doors before, but I don’t think that matters too much. In these pandemic days we can only dream of future overseas holidays or reflect on holidays past.
I hope you enjoy this selection:
Double door, Citta di Castello, Umbria, Italy, August 2018Graffiti door, Citta di Castello, Umbria, Italy, August 2018Door of the dead, Corso Cavour, Citta di Castello, Umbria, Italy, August 2018Grand door, Citta di Castello, Umbria, ItalyAnother green double door, Citta di Castello, Umbria, ItalyGreen double door, Citta di Castello, Umbria, ItalyDouble door, Citta di Castello, Umbria, ItalyDoor, Citta di Castello, Umbria, Italy, August 2018Brick wall, Citta di Castello, Umbria, Italy – HaikuDoor in Cortona, Tuscany, ItalyInteresting door, Via Dardano, Cortona, Tuscany, ItalyDoor in Cortona, Tuscany, Italy
It is actually rather nice to unearth these doors for you and this post inspires me to keep hoping that our trip to Italy in 2018 will not be our last.
If you have made it this far, you probably like doors, and you really ought to take a look at the No Facilities blog by Dan Anton who has taken over the hosting of Thursday Doors from Norm 2.0 blog. Links to more doorscursions can be found in the comments section of Dan Anton’s Thursday Doors post.
A few weeks ago Pl8o told me that he had a whole bunch of new designs ready to go, and since then I have figured that each new piece I have seen would have been part of this roll-out, including this beauty on the long wall at Greenbank.
Pl8o, Greenbank, Bristol, November 2021
If I am honest, I think that brown and orange are my least favourite street art colours, although if used to highlight or fill pieces they are not so bad. I suspect that this relates to a rather horrible pair of nylon pyjamas I had in the 1970s that were brown with an orange trim. Yuk.
I absolutely love the stylised letters that Pl8o has drawn up and the character is a very welcome addition, which I assume is by him too. All in all a very nice addition to his portfolio, just a pity about the colours (in my opinion).
I met Logoe for the first time a couple of weeks ago at this spot while he was painting a collaboration with Silent Hobo, one of his old mates. Their collaboration, I don’t think even lasted a day, and I only have one WIP photograph of it, such is the ephemeral nature of street art in popular spots. Logoe comes across as a lovely bloke and was more than happy to talk about his work and his trips to Bristol.
Logoe, New Stadium Road, Bristl, October 2021
Unlike his collaboration piece, this one has lasted well and I believe is still there, or at least it was last time I visited this spot. The delicate colours work really well on this script LOGOE entering. With many of his pieces Logoe likes to add a little quote or phrase and here he gives us:
“They say (she) dodged a bullet… but it put her in the ground”
This sounds like a lyric, but I am not too sure what from. Anyhow, it works well with this lovely piece. Logoe also told me that he had missed out a word. I am guessing it was the word ‘she’ that I inserted in brackets.
This magnificent beast was created by Ryder as part of a magnificent paint jam marking the opening of Stoked Food in Stokes Croft. The whole delivery and car parking Bay Area was decorated by several local artists, but this shutter skull was the centrepiece.
Ryder, City Road, Bristol, October 2021
Ryder is better known for his outstanding writing, but this is a great character piece, and extra clever as the mouth opens up when the garage door is raised. Very nicely painted and full of cartoon ‘over-the-top’ character, this piece demands to be looked at and enjoyed by passers by on City Road.
