Aah! the familiar large letters with deep 3D shading of Bristol’s mighty Soker. It doesn’t seem to matter what design, shapes or colours Soker uses, his supreme qulaity always shines through. I cant’t fully identify what it is that makes a piece stand out from the crowd, but it might have something to do with the assured skill and confidence that the artist embeds into the work at the time of spraying.
Soker, M32 cycle path, Bristol, February 2020
I aven’t seen too much from Soker over the winter months – perhaps he is more of a fair-weather artist or maybe he has been busy with other projects, either way, it is always a pleasure to see anything by him.
Do you know what? I think this piece is in Leonard Lane, or at least I think I thought it was, but now I am not so sure. No matter, it is somewhere in Bristol. It is of course by the very original #DFTE whose philosophical musings are scattered around the city.
#DFTE, Leonard Lane, Bristol, Jnuary 2020
In this wheatpaste, #DFTE seems to have abandones his framed picture approach in favour of a slightly less labour intensive regular paste up. So here he says:
Never underestimate the healing power of listening to your favourite music on full blast while jumping around the house like an idiot.
This is a sentiment I can absolutely identify with as my rather ashamed kids might testify. Nice paste up and nice words frrom #DFTE.
I have a feeling that this is the work of an artist who will be appearing with some regularity on Natural Adventures. I met Creks at the back end of last year when he was down from Leicester with some friends painting at the M32 roundabout (to follow). It seems that since then he has painted a few walls around Bristol and I am wonderinng if he has moved down here.
Creks, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2020
Creks is a graffiti writer who seems to play with a number of different styles and this small quick one in Dean Lane is just a little sample of his obvious talent. Watch this space for more from Creks.
Doors 96 – A selection of doors from the Orchard Street/Lane area of Bristol
Just a quick one this week. A few doors that I photographed back in December just round the back of the Bristol Hippodrome. The houses around here survived the Blitz, unlike many others in the centre of town.
Green door with a boot scraper, Bristol, December 2019Door with a boot scraper, Bristol, December 2019Arched garden door with a boot scraper, Bristol, December 2019Fine door with a gorgeous awning, Bristol, December 2019Door, Bristol, December 2019Unusual panelled door, Bristol, December 2019
So, a set of period doors all of which I rather like in one of the older bits of the centre of Bristol.
If you have made it this far, you probably like doors and you ought to take a look at the Norm 2.0 blog – the originator of Thursday Doors where there are links to yet more doors in the comments section at the end.
The unofficial king of L Dub, Dun Sum has created this magnificent and rather weird long fantasy seascape, making excellent use of a wall that is otherwise difficult to paint. He has skilfully written his name – somewhat disguised – to the left of his main character. In the feature picture you might be able to make out SUM, the DUN is a little too far away.
Dun Sum, L Dub, Bristol, January 2020
The character is a wonderful imagined creature of the sea, part hermit crab, part jelly fish, part squid wearing a fine pair of what look like ski-goggles. the character is accompanied by a couple of other creatures including a six-armed starfish (not as uncommon as you might think in the natural world. A fun and unusual piece.
This piece by Decay on the M32 roundabout is from a short while ago, but my first atempt at photographing it was foiled by the sun casting the shadow of a tree across the whole wall and utterly confusing my camera. I had to wait for a dull day!
Decay, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2020
In keeping with Decay’s ‘new look’ for 2020 he has painted his customary moniker over another word in a full caps, the other word in this instance being DECAY, so we have here a double Decay. I am liking this new concept a lot and am looking forward to where it takes us for the rest of the year.
The year is yet young, but already I have seen a feast of outstanding individual works and collaborations in Bristol – I am beginning to think this might be a great year for street art switching up a level. This amazing collaboration between Dasco and Oseque is a great example of the quality of work on display.
Dasco, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2020
On the left, the writing from Dasco is simply sublime. I can’t believe that I have only recently registered his work, and must go through my archives to see if I can unearth some of his older stuff. Everything here is sheer perfection from the rectangular frame to the design, carefully considered shades and tones to the sensational execution. This is as good a piece of writing that I have seen so far this year, and probably a lot longer.
Oseque, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2020
I am not familiar with the work of Oseque, and I am not sure, but I think he might be visiting. I know that there is a new collaboration from these two in Dean Lane, but I just haven’t had time to go and take a gander. Maybe tomorrow. In the meantime just feast your eyes on this beauty – it is amazinng how a piece like this on a grubby wall in St Werburghs tunnel can look like the very best of canvasses in a studio or gallery. Even the graffiti beneath the protrait seeping through seems to add to the quality of the piece overall. Magnificent work.
I don’t get to see nearly enough of 3Dom’s work. In the five or so years I have been doing this, his pieces have consistently been of the highest quality. Crazy and quirly at times, he seems to be constantly evolving his style and keeping things interesting.
3Dom, Picton Mews, Bristol, February 2020
This very recent piece in Picton Mews combines two of his fascinations, a skull and his abstract flowers. The dark skull contrasting with the vibrant colours of the flowers kind of gives me a sense of hope, beauty emerging from despair type of thing. As always immaculately executed and beautifully set on a dark blue background – an unusual colour in street art. More of this would be a great thing.
There is no doubt about it, the ever-prolific Face 1st is absolutely on fire at the moment, being very creative with his ideas, collaborating and doing his usual stuff. I don’t know how he has the energy and can only guess that he has access to a cheap supply of paint.
Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2020
Hidden away in one of the M32 tunnels is this absolute gem, understated as is so often the way with this artist, which is a kind of fusion of a rebirth concept and a Cadbury’s cream egg – or at least that is how I see it. It is this quirky kind of idea that keeps Face 1st right up there with the top artists in Bristol. I still have to hunt down several recent pieces he has done… I just can’t keep up.
Although Feek and 3Dom like to collaborate, it is not too common these days to find a new piece by these two. What a lovlely surprise then to find this one down at the M32 Spot. This particular board is becoming a bit of a goldmine, especially during this very damp winter we have been having.
Feek and 3Dom, M32 Spot, Bristol, February 2020
On the left is a beautiful pencil character by Feek which appears to have drawn the stunning piece of graffiti writing next to it. 3Dom is an alolrounder who seems to be equally comfortable with graffiti writing as he is with character pieces and abstract pieces, he seems to have it all in his armoury. There is some writing on the piece which reads:
The weight of it was killing me… the warmth of it was keeping me alive.
I’m not too sure if this is a quote or to what it refers, but it feels fairly profound. I like the little shout out to Ryder and Decay, whose collaboration was the previous occupant on this board.
Natural adventures 