Woody street art in Bristol

Bristol has a lot of interesting street art away from the Banksy pieces that many people know and the large works done for Upfest in Southville. 

Easton, in the east of the city, has a lot of stuff by less well-known artists scattered through its alleyways and corners. These two pieces have appeared on walls around Bellevue Road. 

I like them, especially as to my eye they bring together woodworking and street art!

More Bristol street art: Cycling around looking at walls

I was cycling through Nelson Street yesterday and took some photos of the street art there. This area has been the site of the 'See No Evil' street art events and there are some pretty spectacular pieces to be seen, even though some buildings have now been demolished.

The area around the demolition site has boards set up, which have also been decorated by some of Bristol's top street artists. They include Andy Council, Sepr, Feek and Inkie.

Larger artworks can be seen by looking up at what used to be the blank, boring walls of buildings nearby:

I have been asked why a woodcarver talks about street art on their blog. Some people I know have said that they just think that this kind of thing is just vandalism. I have to say that most tagging doesn't interest me and I'm not really interested in the 'Keeping it Real' stuff that some people spout about it. I just live in an urban environment and I like a lot of this colourful artwork that brightens up dull walls and has obviously taken a bit of time and thought!

Living in Bristol gives the people who live here access to some of the most interesting street art that you could hope to see. Riding a bicycle around the small city means that there is time to see a lot of it before it is inevitably painted over by another artist. Organised events such as See No Evil and Upfest bring street artists from all over the world to Bristol. There are certain areas that are basically free to paint, where established street artists can execute large, complex pieces without having to worry about being arrested. A lot of house owners will also have their walls painted to brighten them up, or maybe also to discourage tagging and throw-ups. That means it is fairly easy to see really good stuff, often tucked away in hidden corners. Just around the corner from my house is this painted wall:

It was great to wander round one day and see it being painting. I think one of the painters may be Boswell, who is quite a well-known Bristol artist. It beats a boring, plain wall any day:

Here's a couple more pieces from round the area:

Street art in Bristol by Rowdy, Cheo, Andy Council, Brave 1 and someone who is a bit confused

I haven't put up any images of things painted on walls for a while, but here's a couple of things seen today:

I'm pretty sure that this one is by Rowdy, who has been on the scene in Bristol for a long time. One of his 'trademark' motifs is a crocodile's head, which you can see on the gate. His pieces are often very colourful too. A while ago Rowdy's home burnt down in an accident, but he's a nice guy and a few well-known street artists in Bristol (including Banksy and Inkie) got together and donated artwork to be auctioned to help get him back on his feet again. 

Another piece, down the road, is evidence of someone living in a bit of a paradox it seems...

These four panels are near the harbourside and were done by Cheo, whose style is quite distinctive and usually has a bee somewhere:

Back in March, Andy Council created some work in the middle of the Cabot Circus shopping mall. If ever there was a sign of how street art in Bristol has moved into the mainstream, this has to be it. I don't mean to insult Andy in any way by that though, I like his work a lot.

A lot of street artists put work on shops here and are paid to do it. This face is by Brave 1 and is in Bedminster...

Icelandic street art...Reykjavik

Wandering around Reykjavik, I noticed some great street art about. There has even been a book, called 'Icepick', written about the Icelandic street art scene.
Here's a few of the pieces that can be seen there at the moment:

And finally, the best-placed street CCTV camera that I've ever seen..

More Bristol Street Art... in Stokes Croft

I thought I'd put another couple of images on my blog of street art that has caught my eye whilst out and about in Bristol. These were taken in Stokes Croft, which used to be a very run down part of town but has become a bit of a trendy area in recent years. Mind you, it can still bite you sometimes and you need to respect the edgier side of the place.  

Bristol street art... out and about in Bedminster

Bit different from my stuff, but I was cycling through Bedminster in Bristol at the weekend and took a couple of snaps of street art that particularly caught my eye. Bristol has some really incredible works of art painted in it's streets, partly (but by no means entirely) because of the connection with Banksy, I suppose. It's great to see some of the offbeat and interesting things that have been painted when one is wandering about town.

I think this was done by a German duo called Herakut. They may have been in Bedminster for a big street art festival held there called 'Upfest'. I like it a lot.