Tag: Urban

3553. M32 roundabout J3 (288)

I love finding pieces by DFC1848 because they give me hope for my own artistic aspirations and his improvement over the last twelve months particularly has been exponential. DFC1848 has taken his character to new heights and developed so many ideas and incorporated new techniques.

DFC 1848, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2021
DFC 1848, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2021

What is obvious is that the more you practice at this game, the better you get. In this character piece, DFC1848 has switched things up a bit. Not only is the character a different animal, but it is upside down. The letters DFC are concealed within the character’s face, which is something he usually incorporates. Unfortunately, this piece only lasted a day or two, so I was rather lucky to find it.

3552. Lucky Lane (3)

There are little gifts out there, left behind by artists, all that’s left to do is get out there and find them. Part of my love of photographing and writing about street art is making little discoveries and opening my eyes and looking, not simply seeing. I have been down this lane a couple of times and it is off the beaten track a bit, but my most recent visit was well rewarded with this fabulous saxophone-playing seagull by Sean Sepr. How brilliant is that?

Sepr, Lucky Lane, Bristol, March 2021
Sepr, Lucky Lane, Bristol, March 2021

Painted on a clean wall and captured on a gorgeous day, this piece screams out happiness and a carefree feeling, something that has been difficult to find over the last year. For a few moments I was absorbed by this outstanding and humorous piece from Sepr, and allowed to forget about other matters. I have no idea how old this piece is, but it looked pretty fresh to me.

3551. The Bearpit (191)

The same place, the same artist, the same year (2017) as my last post, but a different character piece. Many readers will be familiar with Nevergiveup’s rabbits, but fewer might remember that he went through a phase of painting monsters. It is funny how he abandoned these in favour of the bunnies.

Nevergiveup, The Bearpit, Bristol, June 2017
Nevergiveup, The Bearpit, Bristol, June 2017

This one in The Bearpit (RIP) is beautifully sprayed in chrome on a red background… a rather gentle looking monster, not very menacing. These framed boards in The Bearpit were a perfect place for artists to showcase their work. Unfortunately taggers and some antisocial behaviour ultimately led to the removal of these boards and application of anti-graffiti paint. I haven’t been to The Bearpit for about two years, but nobody can take away my memories.

3550. The Bearpit (190)

Taking a trip through my archives is a bitter-sweet experience, and nothing sums that feeling up better than this wonderful old rabbit piece from Nevergiveup (Followmyrabbits). Bitter, because it was taken in The Bearpit in its prime, when artists had the freedom to paint the boards there without reproach and there was an atmosphere and creative buzz about the place. Two years ago, Bristol City Council turned this vibrant space into a sterile, utilitarian, CCTVd void… exactly what they wanted.

Nevergiveup, The Bearpit, Bristol, June 2017
Nevergiveup, The Bearpit, Bristol, June 2017

This is one of Nevergiveup’s early rabbits, and by looking at this you can see just how much his work has evolved since 2017, when he had only recently arrived in Bristol. He has certainly left his mark in the city since that time with literally hundreds of these little characters populating the city.

 

3549. King Street (3)

It doesn’t seem to matter how far back in time you go, those wheelie bins are a real nuisance. In another blast from the past, I have dug out this Mr Penfold piece from 2017, in a spot that the artist has made his home. I have at least three versions of his work in this archway and I am sure there may be others.

Mr Penfold, King Street, Bristol, May 2017

If you can ignore the bins for a moment you will see a beautifully designed piece incorporating a cocktail glass and some random abstract shapes. This is so unmistakably the work of Mr Penfold and forms a part of Bristol’s artistic DNA, along with artists like Andy Council, Alex Lucas and Tom Miller, whose murals around the city remind us of who we are. I’m so pleased to have liberated this one from my archive.

Mr Penfold, King Street, Bristol, August 2019
Mr Penfold, King Street, Bristol, August 2019
Mr Penfold, King Street, Bristol, September 2020
Mr Penfold, King Street, Bristol, September 2020

3548. Dean Lane skate park (400)

Another one from the archives and one that I am so pleased to have re-found. It is a lovely collaboration from Turoe and I think Veks, although I might have that wrong. I think I never posted it at the time because I was uncertain about the artists, and it disappeared, quite neglected.

Veks and Turow, Dean Lane, April 2017
Veks and Turow, Dean Lane, April 2017

Dating from way back in April 2017, the writing in dark brown colours is clearly by Turoe, who definitely wasn’t on my radar back then (what kind of blind was I?). The character I believe to be by Veks and is masterfully painted, so crisp and clean and vibrant. I feel I should have done more homework at the time, but I don’t think I even had an Instagram account back then and was still learning (that never ends). A fine and once forgotten, until now, collaboration.

3547. St Werburghs tunnel (230)

I was looking in my archives for something specific a few days ago and within moments was absorbed, sucked in, to folders from years ago. There are so many good and interesting pieces I have photographed over the years that have never made it into the blog. The next few posts are an attempt to adjust that imbalance, just a tiny amount.

Conrico, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2018
Conrico, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2018

Starting with this one from Conrico in the tunnel back in 2018, which I think might even pre-date the first piece of his that I posted. I’m not too sure what this character is or represents, but he seems to be enjoying his smoke. Colourful and tidy work from Conrico, whose style while being quite unconventional is most compelling.

3546. Dean Lane skate park (399)

There are some artists in Bristol whose style is recognisable from the slightest glance. It might be the shape of the letters, the colours, the form or any number of common themes or motifs. Every now and again though they let their hair down and do something quite different. This is something different from Dibz.

Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2021
Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2021

This is a fun and rather small burner from Dibz, which if it weren’t for the letters might be difficult to attribute to him. What you can always be assured of though from Dibz is outstanding clean lines and finishing and this piece is no different. I caught up with him while he was painting another more Dibzy sort of thing on an adjacent wall and asked why he had painted something so different here and he indicated that he was just having a bit of laid back fun. Great to see.

3545. Dean Lane skate park (398)

It was while he was completing this piece that I met Slakarts for the first time, and then the following week in the same place I met him again, both while he was painting collaborations with Nugmoose and Mudra. There three appear to have formed a tight group, and I look forward to many more collaborative walls from them.

Slakarts, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2021
Slakarts, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2021

Slakarts is developing and evolving this character all the time with each iteration bringing together themes he has been working on, such as the doubling of some features and the addition of glasses with reflective stripes on them. Thoroughly fun to observe and Slakarts seems to derive a lot of happiness from his work. All good.

3544. M32 Cycle path (114)

Readers of Natural Adventures will be familiar with cat pieces by Daz Cat, but I think this is the first Time I have posted anything by Sage. I actually got lucky because I met the pair for the first time when they were painting this rather nice collaboration. Such nice people… and like policemen and doctors and teachers, so young.

Daz Cat, M32 cycle path, Bristol, March 2021
Daz Cat, M32 cycle path, Bristol, March 2021

Daz Cat told me that he was using up dregs for this piece, not that you’d know it. This cat is full of colour and detail and the three-quarter profile has given Daz Cat some different perspectives to play with.

Sage, M32 cycle path, Bristol, March 2021
Sage, M32 cycle path, Bristol, March 2021

Sage, I think is responsible for some interesting mega tags that I have seen about the place without knowing who they were by. This, of course, is a bit of writing and I think he likes to do writing and characters in equal measure. I need to find and write about more pieces from Sage.