Sometimes I just can’t see the wood for the trees, as my grandmother would say. Missing the obvious that is right in front of me. When I first saw this piece, I couldn’t work out the artist. It was familiar, but I couldn’t pin it down. It had something of Noise about it, but that didn’t seem right. If I had bothered to look at the signature I would have seen it was by Stivs.
Stivs, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2026
It took Stivs to point this out to me when I met him at this spot a few days later painting another piece. Slightly awkward. He said it was a birthday tribute for a friend (Boezi?). Of course the calligraffiti letters should have been enough for me to realise. Anyhow it is nonetheless a lovely piece from Stivs.
The colours in this piece by j9449j are magnificent and consistent with collaborator Lupa whose piece I featured here a couple of weeks ago. I somehow feel that the letters are readable, it is just that I can’t read them.
j9449j, Montpelier Park, Bristol, August 2026
The red and blue are such strong prime colours augmented with black, making a bold statement on this wall. No piece by j9449j8s complete without a passing reference to tufts of grass and other organic symbols. A very fine and attractive piece of writing.
This is another in a very long line of collaboration pieces from Fade and Dibz, and of the high quality expected from the pair. Fade has painted a pirate and the wildstyle writing is by Dibz.
Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2026
Fade’s pirate character is full of deep perspective and armed to the hilt with a pistol, cutlass and a bomb in his right hand. There is a treasure map at his side and a chest floating in the water. A brilliant cliched scene.
Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2026
In contrast to the character, although ‘on message’ with the theme, Dibz’ writing is explosive, and appears to spell out Hoa Fader, but I can’t be sure. As you might expect the piece is near perfect, with every element superbly designed and presented. Nice work from the pair.
Posh and Zeks, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2026
Greetings from Greece. After a very long travelling day we have arrived, and I am stealing a few moments before my wife and daughter have woken up to write a couple of quick posts. This is a beautifully balanced combination collaboration by Posh and Zeks.
Posh and Zeks, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2026
The writing in the centre is by Posh. I might assume that is spells POSH, but I am more likely mistaken. His writing is so beautifully complex, with outstanding fills and connectivity, taking on a sketch-like quality. He has even included a little character face to the right. The decorative ‘towers’ around the writing are by Zeks, whose newly found zest for painting them, I imagine, might have only just begun. A lovely collaboration in modest tones. Great fun.
Doors 371 – Doors of Madeira (part II) – September 2025
For the second week running I am trying to get ahead of the game with Thursday Doors (I wrote this last week in a small pocket of time early one morning), because I am so busy at work before heading off for some September sun for a few days. I have to say that the need for sun is somewhat diminished, having had such a sunny and hot late spring and summer here in the UK this year, but the need for a break has never been so welcome. In fact, by the time you read this I will already be relaxing by a pool overlooking the Aegean Sea.
I have also had to interview for my own job (writing this in the past, although it hasn’t happened yet). I have been pooled with 16 colleagues for 10 posts. Most are good friends and we can’t all make the cut. This is unbelievably stressful, but I know too that it happens, and know I will have given it my best. It feels pretty awful that 37 years of continuous employment and loyalty will have boiled down to how I performed in a 1 hour interview last Monday. This is due to a restructure (cuts) in our Directorate, the culmination of decisions made some 8 years ago by the then Secretary of State, Liz Truss… remember her? Her legacy of destruction is long and deep. I mention this sorry tale simply because it is contributing to the stresses I am under at the moment, making it difficult to find time to do all the things I want, or like to do.
That’s quite enough of that I’m sure. On to happier things. This is the second post from our family holiday in Madeira last September and contains painted doors from a celebrated street in ther heart of Funchal, the capital of Madeira. I hope you enjoy this selection which left me like a dog with two tails while walking along this street.
Door with portrait and instrument, Travessa das Torres, Funchal, Madeira, September 2025
Door with portrait, Travessa das Torres, Funchal, Madeira, September 2025
Panelled door with fish eyes painted in each panel, Travessa das Torres, Funchal, Madeira, September 2025
Door with a bar scene, Rua de Santa Maria, Funchal, Madeira, September 2025
Door with a stunning bakery scene, Rua de Santa Maria, Funchal, Madeira, September 2025
Colourful painted door, Rua de Santa Maria, Funchal, Madeira, September 2025
Door with a painted character (le petit Prince?), Rua de Santa Maria, Funchal, Madeira, September 2025
Door with a painted cliff scene, Rua de Santa Maria, Funchal, Madeira, September 2025
So that’s it for another week. I am not sure I will be posting while I am on holiday, it just depends on how organised I am before going away. There weill be more from Madeira, that’s for sure. Have a lovely weekend.
If you have made it this far, you probably like doors, and you really ought to take a look at the No Facilities blog by Dan Anton who has taken over the hosting of Thursday Doors from Norm 2.0 blog. Links to more doorscursions can be found in the comments section of Dan Anton’s weekly Thursday Doors post and his Sunday recap.
This is the brilliant third part of the UZI collaboration featuring characters from the comic series 2000AD by SPZero76, alongside Kid Crayon and Tera. These three have been smashing it with a few production walls this summer.
SPZero76, Stapleton Road, Bristol, August 2026
SPZero76 has created a fabulous scene, with a raccoon character dressed up as Judge Dredd and accompanied by a side-kick character with blue skin and a rifle. They are riding a rather large motorcycle through a desert dystopian landscape. Utterly fabulous.
Continuing with my rapid-fire posts, this was written yesterday on a train coming back to Bristol from Dorchester, because by the time this goes live I’ll be in the air somewhere over Greece (I hope) with a very early start.
Taboo, Temple Way, Bristol, August 2026
A stunning new combination piece from Taboo just near the main entrance to Temple Meads Station, combining his anti-style lettering with a great rendition of Disney’s Pluto. He is so very good at these combination pieces, mixing the familiar with the less so.
I think that Zeks might have some time on his hands, maybe he is ‘between jobs’ or simply made a decision to paint more this summer, but is is noticeable that he has painted quite a few pieces in the city recently.
Zeks, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2026
This is a lovely piece of non-uniform writing on the roundabout. Full of beautiful soft colours and arrow patterns. Uniquely Zeksy in its design, one of the best pieces of writing I have seen from the artist to date.
A really quick couple of posts uploaded last night on a train with intermittent WiFi, because today, I am going to be at the launch of a National Nature Reserve just outside Dorchester, and will be up too early to draft any posts.
Ram One, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2026
This is a great piece of graffiti writing from a visiting artist, Ram One, who I think might have been painting alongside Neddy Ned Ned, from memory. The letters RAM are reversed in this piece and the red works so well with the black background and green plasma cloud. nice stuff.
Natural adventures 