Tag: Writer

1832. Dean Lane skate park (173)

I got really lucky just before Halloween when I took my lunchtime constitutional down to Dean Lane. I always expect to see something new and occasionally expect to see an artist at work, but when that artist is Rusk it is a real treat and make no mistake.

Rusk, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2018
Rusk, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2018

Halloween I have observed is a time when street artists seem to enjoy hitting the streets and stretching their repertoire with a seasonal theme, which is always fun for people like me. This witty piece conflates Rusk with Count Duckula, the vegetarian duck vampire…who ever dreamed up that cartoon series?

Rusk, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2018
Rusk, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2018

Rusk always has time for a chat, and as he does so he makes fine adjustments to his work, always seeking perfection. Much of what I have learned about the Bristol street art scene and culture I have gathered from our conversations. I love the way he works so hard to get his pieces just right. It is a privilege to see him painting.

Rusk, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2018
Rusk, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2018

Unfortunately light conditions were a bit tricky – that autumnal sunshine is a real bugger, but at least I got some shots of the piece before it got tagged the following day. The day carried on being amazing with the arrival of Jee See just as Rusk was finishing off. My lunch break took a little longer than expected!

1826. The Bearpit (166)

I absolutely love this old one by Face 1st in The Bearpit, with its copper tones and trademark hair spelling out FACE. I guess that fairly soon I will need to do a gallery of his work because I have quite a large collection from the last three years.

Face 1st, The Bearpit, Bristol, January 2018
Face 1st, The Bearpit, Bristol, January 2018

What I really like about this artist is that he is relentless in pursuing his passion and will find any wall in Bristol that he can find and give it a face lift (see what I did there?). Always one of my favourites in Bristol and this particular one is a cracker.

1821. Raleigh Road (6)

OK, so I am going to take you on a bit of journey over the next few posts back to earlier in the year. Somehow these pieces got left behind (and there are many more where they came from), but now is as good a time to share them as any.

3Dom, Raleigh Road, Bristol, January 2018
3Dom, Raleigh Road, Bristol, January 2018

This is a van with a 3Dom piece on it, which I didn’t recognise at first as one of his until I saw the signature. It is always nice to see street art on vehicles, because the chance of seeing it is so much more remote than on static walls. I normally associate 3Dom with his surreal characters, but his writing is equally masterful and this is a great bit of mobile work.

1810. M32 roundabout J3 (99)

Smak has really been smashing it lately with some magnificent writing all over Bristol. His colour combinations, lettering and feature details are just getting better and better. This is a fine recent piece from the M32 Roundabout.

Smak, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2018
Smak, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2018

I love the colour progression from left to right, and the letters while slightly disguised are clearly legible. It is the temple facade in the middle of the piece that really lifts it up to another level and columns and stone too. This is a great piece.

Smak, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2018
Smak, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2018

1797. Moon Street (55)

I like surprises. Perhaps this is why I like photographing and writing about street art, because around every corner there could be another surprise. These days, when I visit Moon Street, I don’t expect to find anything new because turnover has slowed to a very gentle trickle. It was great then to see this rather lovely piece by Epok a couple of weeks back.

Epok, Moon Street, Bristol, October 2018
Epok, Moon Street, Bristol, October 2018

This piece by Epok doesn’t quite conform to his usual angular and geometric style, instead yielding to curvy legible piece of writing. It is always good to observe the range of an artist’s talent, and I think this is a marvelous tangent from his norm. Nice to see a high-quality piece on this wall which has gone slightly to the dogs.

1789. Upfest 2018 (65)

What a wonderful clean and colourful piece by Bristol-based Zase. There is rather a nice little story going on in this piece, and I love the sketch on the floor of the 3D writing of the artist’s name that appears on the right hand side of the piece.

Zase and Dekor, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Zase and Dekor, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

Zase has been painting solo for a little bit as his collaborator Dekor returned to his homeland for a while. It looks like this is by both of them, or at least it is signed by both on the bottom left-hand side of the piece, so maybe Dekor is back on the scene again. There is a serenity and maybe sadness about the piece, which is certainly one of my favourites of the festival. Oh yeah, and if you wanted evidence of the rain we had, the picture above is a little on the watery side…grrrrr.

1784. Waterloo Place (3)

Adjacent to the Sofa Project back yard is another yard that is a bit of a street art goldmine. First up from this little backwater is this gorgeous piece by Voyder, characteristically sharp and of very high quality.

Voyder, Waterloo Place, Bristol, October 2018
Voyder, Waterloo Place, Bristol, October 2018

With a vanishing point somewhere behind the lettering this piece stands out from the wall and the flash across the middle gives the impression of a reflective band of sunlight as if the piece is being tilted side to side. Now sunlight…that would make a refreshing change. Beautiful piece of writing as always.

1783. Waterloo Place (2)

I was first alerted to this Kleiner Shames piece on Instagram, but from the pictures I saw I just couldn’t get the location. In the end I had to message one of my street art buddies to find out where it was…which looking at it now with hindsight is blooming obvious. There is a charity in Bristol called the SOFA Project (Shift Old Furniture Around) which has two locations one of which, the Old Market store, has a walled yard where this piece is sprayed. The charity sells on old furniture, donated locally, to those less able to afford new furniture. A worthy venture.

Kleiner Shames, Waterloo Place, Bristol, October 2018
Kleiner Shames, Waterloo Place, Bristol, October 2018

On to this stunning piece by my favourite ex-Bristol artist, Kleiner Shames. Most of his wall work is writing, with the odd exception, and he tends to spell out the letters FOIS which spells out ‘time’ in french. The lettering here is so easy on the eye and beautifully designed. Every time I see pieces like this I feel there must be an element of art deco architectural influence going onm, or at least that is what it looks like to me. This is a very fine piece indeed.

1781. Thomas Street (2)

On the same recently erected hoarding in Thomas Street where Sled One sprayed his banana piece, is this wonderful organic piece of wildstyle writing from Ments. Normally Ments writes his name, but this piece is so cryptic that although I suspect it says his name I can’t quite make it out, other than an S at the end.

Ments, Thomas Street, Bristol, October 2018
Ments, Thomas Street, Bristol, October 2018

I have always liked the work of Ments because it is so different from pretty much all the rest of the writers in Bristol, usually adopting this mystical, swirly, other-worldly style. His colours often incorporate these purples and oranges. The note ‘Save Hamilton House’ refers to a campaign to protect a building just across the other side of the main road which is at risk of demolition and redevelopment. There are many local studios for artists and the like in Hamilton House and redevelopment would break up this very tight community in Stokes Croft.

1777. M32 roundabout J3 (98)

I am used to seeing NEVERGIVEUP’s urban (and occasionally rural) bunnies and his monsters. Less often seen are his wildstyle writings such as this one which he did together with Soge whose piece is just to the right.

NEVERGIVEUP, M32, Bristol, September 2018
NEVERGIVEUP, M32, Bristol, September 2018

The writing says EBOK, and although I don’t know what it means, I seem to recall it isn’t very savoury. It seems to me that spray painting comes so easily to this artist and that every time I have met him he has been very relaxed and calm. Hugely talented and a lot of fun too, he has just started up an Instagram account called ‘followmyrabbits’ in which he is posting rabbits he has left lying around all over the place…and not just in Bristol.