A really unusual, and if I might say slightly scary, portrait piece from Rosalita Raw on the side wall of the Star and Garter in St Paul’s. Why is it that carnival imagery, which is supposed to be bright, happy and entertaining so easily drifts into the dark and edgy?
Rosalita, Star and Garter, Bristol, March 2021
Rosalita has had an exceptional six months or so, and I am loving every second of this upsurge in activity from her. This piece is really nicely worked, and shares some similarities with Pekoe’s style although a little bit more detailed in the facial features. Who is she winking at? Is it a knowing wink or an affectionate wink? Unusual and compelling.
Soker hasn’t painted many walls during the pandemic, but what he has lacked in quantity he has surely made up for in quality. This is a magnificent recent piece painted alongside Inkie and Sepr in the depths of St Paul’s.
Soker, St Pauls, Bristol, March 2021
Everything about this piece of graffiti writing is right out of the top drawer, from the colour selection to the letter design, the graded fills and dripping black spots. There is so much to enjoy here, and Soker is exceeding even his very high bar.
Soker, St Pauls, Bristol, March 2021
I genuinely think that in Inkie, Soker and Sepr, we have some of the very best graffiti writers and street artists in the world, a bold claim I know, but difficult to argue against.
Yesterday I posted a gallery of Hemper’s work, and if you’ve not stumbled across it, you can find it here. This is yet another beauty in a disaggregated style, a little bit like Benjimagnetic perhaps, up at the M32 roundabout. I would like to say it is his most recent piece, but I know of at least two more since this one was painted.
Hemper, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2021
At first glance, and to the untrained eye, this might look like a bit of a chaotic mess. It is however a beautifully crafted HEMS in several colours, without a solid fill, but instead a hint at fills and outlines. I think that this is the kind of piece that a novice simply couldn’t create. Appearances can be deceptive.
I was fortunate enough to catch up with Pekoe as she was painting this pink face in Dean Lane a couple of weeks back. This was one of several portraits she painted over the space of a few days and which left her skint… spray paint is not cheap.
Pekoe, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2021
It was interesting watching her work on this portrait, and her ‘trial and error’ approach to some elements of it. She was working on the nose and nostrils when I took this picture. Seeing the piece in draft like this, gives you a feel for how important the finishing is in street art and just how much work goes into these works.
Pekoe, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2021
I have always liked Pekoe’s work, from the very first piece I saw… there is a kind of authenticity and honesty about it and it is calmly unpretentious. Finding each new piece brings me a little moment of joy.
This is a rather unusual piece from Laic217 in so much as it looks rather more like a commission than a graffiti art work. I think that the texture of the breeze block wall has also contributed to the unusual look of the piece.
Laic217, River Avon, Bristol, March 2021
Carrying the words ‘cans ‘n roses’, this is an obvious nod to the hard rock band and the piece has a hard rock feel to it. Is this where Laic217 gets some of his inspiration from? I guess it is less important where it comes from, instead it is what he does as a result of inspiration, and this is an absolute gem of a piece.
Laic217, River Avon, Bristol, March 2021
As I already mentioned the surface of the wall gives the piece a kind of matt finish which is so unusual. The can and roses motif is beautifully conceived and executed, Laic217 is an artist who just seems to go from strength to strength.
Laic217, River Avon, Bristol, March 2021
Of course, a little bit like Nightwayss and his monkeys, no Laic217 piece is complete without a skull or skeletal character and here he doesn’t disappoint. Another triumph from an artist who is having another busy patch.
Life is full of surprises, which on balance is a fantastic thing, and finding this piece by SPZero76, which had been so totally off my radar, was a joyful moment. This is a part of town I rarely visit and I was passing through between two spots that I more regularly visit. This piece has a ‘sister’ which I will post in due course.
SPZero76, Thomas Lane, Bristol, March 2021
This pirate scene is on the wall of the Seven Stars Inn, adjacent to the music venue The Fleece. I think SPZero76 probably has an arrangement with the landlord, because on Google maps, there is a different piece by him here. These pirates follow a sort of convention that the artist likes to paint, with a combination of human characters and part-mechanised characters. It is a theme he returns to again and again. The execution as ever is spectacular. A good find.
Anyone over a certain age will probably remember the cartoon series Hong Kong Phooey, I certainly do, but what is incredible is that there were only 16 episodes made. How is that possible, at one point in my life, I would have been about 10 years old, this cartoon seemed to be on all the time? Inkie has breathed new life into this hapless undercover crime solver in this breathtaking new piece in St Paul’s.
Inkie, St Paul’s, Bristol, March 2021
Painted on a new hoarding, this piece is in the very good company of Soker and Sepr (to follow). This is a beautifully finished high-quality piece from Inkie set on a blue star background with bright orange and red lettering to match the skin tones and costume worn by our hero. Great to see Spot the cat making an appearance too.
Street art in Bristol seems to have undergone a renaissance over the last few months, something that I suspect will calm down a little as artists return to their day jobs and a form of normality resumes. If not, then I am in big trouble because I simply can’t cope with the amount of new art being produced each and every day.
A weekend or two back Pekoe had a pulse of painting activity that would make your eyes water. It seemed that she has left one of her beautiful portraits at every spot in town. This one, alongside some graffiti writing from Mena was at the M32 roundabout.
Pekoe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2021
I love the way that Pekoe has used the space to turn her usual portrait orientation into a landscape one by trailing the woman’s hair off to the right. I also love the colour selections, which although not my favourite colours seem to work so incredibly well in this instance. The spot on the eyes and lips lift these features and the shading around the face add real depth to the piece. I absolutely love this one. Bravo!
Here we have another absolute scorcher from the fantastically productive Hemper. This artist’s trademark is his extraordinary creativity; how many different ways can he present the letters HEMS? Combined with his enormous skill and talent.
Hemper, M32 cycle path, Bristol, March 2021
In this piece, Hemper has created a snakes and ladders board decked out in the garish colour squares that are so familiar to many of us from our childhoods. What an amazing thing to be able to do from a few old tins of spray paint. This is a magnificent, bright, happy piece. Thank you Hemper.
“Work to live, don’t live to work” – can’t argue with that.
Natural adventures 