the corn poppy

Tuesday, 4 March 2014

Freedom is a heady wine

The last post featured some of the big pieces that look down on Bristol from Nelson Street. They are mighty, they are BIG, they are right there. You can't miss them. There is some great art - the piece by El Mac is obviously in the style of the great Reformation painters. But. And it's a big butt . . . in the same way that I'd rather find that lone early purple orchid in the woods than see all the glory of Kew Gardens they don't make my heart soar like finding some great piece in a car park or under a bridge. So here's some less big art, also from Bristol. mostly from the Bearpit and surrounding area

Look back in love (not in anger)

I can't stay long

Hypnotising Lies

Then and now

Heads will turn

Easy to please

Suffice to say you love me

(can't say that I blame you)

I'll be leaving you

Tantamount to bribery

Monday, 3 March 2014

What at all have you been dreaming about that long?

Bristol See No Evil

Nelson Street

Stik

I can never see Stik people without smiling

MCity (Poland), Nick Walker and She-One (both UK)

Big results require big ambition

Heraclitus

El Mac

Big's my first name

Big Sean

Aryz

Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference

Winston Churchill

Pixel Pancho

Dream only big dreams!

Israelmore Avivor

Sunday, 2 March 2014

We Make Our Own Future

I'm shopping around for something to do that no one will like

Jerry Garcia

Street art from Bristol. Some from the Bearpit, some from Stokes Croft, some from Nelson Street. There'll be quite a lot of this over the next few posts, from the big commissioned street art festival pieces to some less obvious but equally entertaining art. Like this one found on a lampost :

Your sacred space is where you can find yourself again and again

Joseph Campbell

Friendship is the breathing rose

with sweets in every fold

Oliver Wendell Holmes

The criminal justice system, like any system designed by human beings, clearly has its flaws

Ben Wishaw

After one look at this planet any visitor from outer space would say 'I want to see the manager'

William S Burroughs

Music is beautiful. All I have to do is play

you ask if I have fallen in love with you?

well, yes it is true

Not that dress, it makes your ankles look like a drayhorses fetlocks

'I want to see the manager'

Wednesday, 26 February 2014

the city is an illusion

Love Life, Stephanie Lindley

Artwork by students from Southampton Solent University in Old Northam Road, Southampton.

This part of Southampton has been undergoing restoration for as long as anyone can remember. It is an area that suffered serious bombing during WWII and has been sliced up by road developments ever since. Back in the 1960s there was a Doll's Hospital where you could take your poorly or injured doll, leave it while you visted nearby Kingsland Market and pick it up later, all well again. For years it has been the centre of the antique trade in Southampton. Being close to Southampton docks it was home to many of the crew of RMS Titanic. Cobwebs antique shop was just about the only place you could buy Titanic memorabilia before Leonardo de Caprio set sail from Hollywood and the Titanic industry was reborn. The only independent record shop in Southampton - BooHoos - is in Old Northam Road.

curated by Solent Creatives

These works are currently displayed on hoardings in Old Northam Road where work is being carried out to restore some very ropey buildings. The pieces are by students from Southampton Solent University and the display has been put together by Solent Creatives, which, as its website tells you, is "a creative agency like no other. Established in early 2011, Solent Creatives provides a unique opportunity for businesses and private individuals to tap into the diverse talent pool of students studying at Southampton Solent University for creative freelance assignments."

solentcreatives.co.uk

illustration by Sophie Reynard

illustration by Max Ruddock

illustration by Sam Goodchild

illustration by Sarah Silverstein

illustration by Julia Soboleva

illustration by . . . inconnu . . .

illustration by Jessica Baulcomb (top)

and Camilla Daniel (bottom)

illustration by Max Ruddock

illustration by Jair Graham

Tuesday, 25 February 2014

greener, fresher, better

stokescroftmurals.co.uk

Community is important; knowing your neighbours, popping to the shops, nattering over the garden wall. But what do you do when the shops have almost all closed down? Call stokescroftmurals.co.uk to paint new shop fronts on the shutters of the closed down shops. Works a treat!

These pictures were all taken around Princes Street, Northam, Southampton. Still looking good, even if Northam hasn't yet won Britain in Bloom.