Natural adventures

7883. Cumberland Basin

Solar, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2026

A quick jaunt back into my June archive revealed this beauty from Solar on the long wall at Cumberland Basin. I would offer my subjective view and say that Solar’s work this year has risen to the next level, and he is turning out some outstanding work.

Solar’s unusual and anti-style work is perversely becoming quite conventional, simply because he has established himself and made a mark. This is no bad thing, because he retains his identity and developing style. In this wonderfully fragmented piece, the outline is incomplete, and the fills drift way beyond the boundaries. A sense of order is maintained by the pink and magenta decorations that have stuck to the script and frame the piece beautifully. Cool work.

7882. New Stadium Road (63)

Mysto, New Stadium Road, Bristol, August 2026

Although I haven’t seen all that many pieces by Mysto, I have seen enough to know that he has a certain style. This piece, however, appears to break from his normal convention and presents as something quite different.

For a start, his letters in this piece are far less disguised than usual, and easily readable. The letters are reasonably uniform and the midline picked out with a dark green colour, providing a little depth, alongside the drop shadow. The piece is rounded off with some ‘lazy’ bubble shapes around the outside. Nice and unexpected piece.

Greening

With a little rain

a parched landscape gently greens

a slow recovery

by Scooj

7881. Stillhouse Lane – Upfest 2026 (55)

Kid Crayon, Upfest 2026, Stillhouse Lane, Bristol, May 2026

A tiger playing a melodica… what could be more Upfest than that? This outstanding piece by Kid Crayon is all the more remarkable for the facts that it was painted in the rain, while the artist was suffering from food poisoning.

This is an unusual piece from Kid Crayon as it doesn’t really play into his usual stylistic tropes, and had it keen unsigned, it might have been difficult to identify him from the artwork alone. There is a nice balance in the piece, with the tiger in the foreground, with a chain and hoodie, while behind home is a nighttime urban landscape and bright full moon. Pure quality and class.

7880. West Street – Upfest 2026 (54)

Afonsoul, Upfest 2026, West Street, Bristol, August 2026

At this year’s Upfest, there was a good balance between large feature walls and hoardings, to suit the needs of artists and their styles. Remarkably, the organisers managed to find a whole set of new walls around South Bristol, of which this is one.

I watched for a while as Afonsoul painted this piece, high up on the scaffolding, but could only admire the piece when I went back to visit in August when the scaffolding was down. It is a wonderful portrait piece and one in which you lose yourself in the artwork and forget that there are windows all the way through. A superb Upfest mural by the visiting Afonsoul.

7879. Greville Smyth Park – Upfest 2026 (53)

One of the most memorable moments of my wanderings over the three weeeks of Upfest was catching up with Bristol artist Conrico while he was painting this piece. He is a kind man and always up for a chat. It was a very hot day when I stopped by his piece, and he could see I was uncomfortable. He offered me his fine water spray and fan to cool myself down – a true gent. We also experienced a magnificent natural moment as one of the adjacent trees was shedding its fine and fluffy seeds, turning a hot spring day into a winter snowstorm, quite incredible.

Conrico, Upfest 2026, Greville Smyth Park, Bristol, May 2026

The colourful portrait piece features a woman clasping something bright in her hands with plasma bolts emanating from them and a cheeky moth. I’m not too sure what the story is here. I love the way Conrico has capured the pattern on the woman’s jumper – brilliant. An interesting selection for an Upfest piece, but one that shows off his ‘paint brush’ style perfectly.

7878. Greenway Bush Lane – Upfest 2026 (52)

Inzi One, Upfest 2026, Greenway Bush Lane, Bristol, May 2026

Continuing on from yesterday’s post and the aquatic theme, is this wonderful fish by Inzi One. I couldn’t find out a huge amount about the artist, but she has a Facebook page that presents her brief biography as follows: InziOne is a Freelance Artist working in Graphic Design, Custom Vehicle Graffiti, Set Design, Murals, & Video Production. From logos to one off pieces, through to entire video creations. Looking at her Instagram tells me she loves skateboards and doesn’t paint murals all that often.

Carp and other fish can have a tangible calming effect if you stop and watch them for long enough, and Inzi One has captured that tranquility perfectly in this piece and added in some nice lilypads and flowers to boot. A fine contribution to Upfest, tucked away on the long Greenway Bush Lane hoarding.

Typos

My faty fingers

foorever fluffing keystrokes

double dou8ble check

by Scooj

is it just me?

7877. West Street – Upfest 2026 (51)

Lima Lima, Upfest 2026, West Street, Bristol, August 2026

This Upfest piece by Lima Lima is so completely up my street, and one of my favourites from this year’s festival. As a child I spent many hours in the London Zoo aquarium, and any other aquarium I coulld persuade my mother to take me. I would simply gaze into the dulled tanks, transfixed on the fish and other creatures that lived beneath the water. It sowed the seed of my ambition to become a marine biologist.

Lima Lima has cleverly used this space, a filled in shop window, to make it look like a fish tank, and he has captured those tranquil dull blues perfectly, just as you’d expect in a large marine tank.

I couldn’t find out much about Lima Lima other than that he paints in France. On his Instagram he writes in French, but that is not enough to be sure that he is French. I am so pleased that he made the trip to Bristol and brought something quite different to our streets that chimes so perfectly for me personally.

7876. Elton Street (32)

Mr Penfold, Elton Street, Bristol, August 2026

I am so happy that this ‘gallery’ in Elton Street has been reactivated. It is a perfect place to showcase artists’ work without it being quickly tagged or overpainted. A classy display of Bristol and visiting artists.

This piece is by Mr Penfold and picks up on his colourful abstract designs that are well known in the city and beyond. A coming together of sharp-edged solid filled shapes and softer ‘cow-hide’ designs, creates a contrasting melee that demands to be observed and figured out. Great work from Mr Penfold.

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