7981. Dean Lane skate park (948)

Neens and Effe, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2026
Neens and Effe, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2026

An unusual collaboration recently appeared on the curved wall in Dean Lane. While I am familiar with one of the artists, EFFE, I have not come across Neens before. I have a feeling that these pieces might have been part of a Bristol Mural Collective paint jam, because there were a few other pieces nearby by artists I couldn’t recognise. Neens has painted a banana and an orange – not something I have seen as main subject of street art before. It feels like a piece by an artist more at home in the studio, but is a great idea and lots of fun.

Effe, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2026
Effe, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2026

The piece on the right by Effe is one that has all the hallmarks of a tattoo artist – clean clear design, with each element defined and separate. The eagle figure is nicely presented on the black background and the artist’s letters EFFE appear in the orange shapes at the bottom of the feathers. A lovely illustration.

7980. St Werburghs tunnel (602)

ARSA, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2026
ARSA, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2026

ARSA is known for his uniform bilaterally symmetrical pieces, which are often quite ‘blocky’ in appearance. This recent one in the tunnel, however, is rather softer than much of his work. Gone are the hard and regular straight line letter outlines, and in come some more gentle lines and a few curves. It is amazing what a difference it can make to the appearance of a graffiti writing through the introductoion of some curves.

ARSA, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2026
ARSA, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2026

The colour scheme, which was used by a couple of other artists who painted alongside ARSA, is attractive, although slightly lost in the gloom of the tunnel. The cream border and drop shadow certainly helps to define the letters from the purple background. This is a nice development from ARSA.

All change

.

Glidepath disrupted

motivation troublesome

keep professional

.

by Scooj

  • Having been unsuccessful in securing a job in my new work structure. I am having to work hard to keep motivated. Fortunately I love my job, so that bit is easy, but working for people who see me as surplus to requirements after a very long, loyal and unblemished career is rather more difficult. I need to remain steady and give it 100% until they ask me to stop, which might be a few months yet. Every day feels just that little bit more of a challenge to my positive stance and goodwill.

7979. M32 roundabout J3 (800)

Hemper, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2026
Hemper, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2026

I think that the biggest compliment I can pay Hemper is that he is the most versatile graffiti writer in Bristol. He has turned his hand to so many different styles for his letters, some more conventional than others, but no two pieces are ever the same, and if he didn’t write his letters, it could be quite difficult to identify some of his pieces – quality would be the only measure.

Hemper, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2026
Hemper, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2026

This is a big bold piece on the roundabout, his brown-grey letters perfectly decorated with spots and bars. Outside the black border, here are hints of a thin yellow border, the sign of a great writer. The green striped drop shadow has a vanishing point somewhere between the ‘E’ and ‘M’ of HEMS. A quality piece which sits beneath a cheeky appearance by Corupt, who ‘owns’ the higher level of this wall.

7978. Purdown (108)

Kool Hand, Purdown, Bristol, October 2026
Kool Hand, Purdown, Bristol, October 2026

I think it would be fair to say that I have slightly neglected Kool Hand’s excellent work this year, and I still have several of his pieces in my archive to post at some point by way of remedying the situation. This is a recent one from up at Purdown which was painted alongside the Daz Cat piece that I posted yesterday.

Kool Hand, Purdown, Bristol, October 2026
Kool Hand, Purdown, Bristol, October 2026

I don’t think that I’ll ever tire of Kool Hand’s animals, in particular his orangutans and leopards, which are painted in a style that incorporates strong black outlines and solid fills. Simplicity that delivers, like the work of Roo. This leopard, I imagine is wearing a red bucket hat, but the top is cut off, so I’ll never know for sure. I like the way he has incorporated the Purdown telecommunications tower in the piece. More to come when I get my act together.

7977. Peel Street Green (72)

Pura Decadencia, Peel Street Green, Bristol, October 2026
Pura Decadencia, Peel Street Green, Bristol, October 2026

It feels like quite a while since I posted a piece by Pura Decadencia, but this one takes me right back to when I first became aware of her work. It is the vampire fangs, helping themselves to a piece of her work that does it for me.

Pura Decadencia, Peel Street Green, Bristol, October 2026
Pura Decadencia, Peel Street Green, Bristol, October 2026

Her letters in yellow and grey are very nicely presented with a well-worked red drop shadow and a green plasma bolt running through the piece for good measure. What makes this piece stand out for me though is those fangs, lips and tongue – such a signature item and so original. Lovely work. More please.

7976. Purdown (107)

Daz Cat, Purdown, Bristol, October 2026
Daz Cat, Purdown, Bristol, October 2026

The turnover up at Purdown has been on the slow side this year, I know this, because I quite regularly walk the dog up there – one of his favourite walks. Fortunately it is a place that Daz Cat is rather fond of and so I live in hope that I’ll find one of his pieces, and got lucky on this occasion.

Daz Cat, Purdown, Bristol, October 2026
Daz Cat, Purdown, Bristol, October 2026

Daz Cat has used the square space well, fillinng every inch of it with his composition. A cat appears to be having a hot cup of tea, but, probably because of the colours, I keep seeing bangers and beans throughout the piece, and once seen can’t easily be unseen. I am not sure iof this is intentional by Daz Cat, or simply my interpretation. Still a wonderful piece either way.

7975. M32 roundabout J3 (799)

Hire, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2026
Hire, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2026

What a lovely fishy piece this is from Hire. It was painted alongside a ‘monster from the deep’ piece by Zake, and these two artists have collaborated as number of times over the last couple of years, with some great results.

Hire, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2026
Hire, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2026

This piece of writing spells HIRE, although it can be difficult to make out. The colours are carefully chosen and the green outline brings it all together nicely. I am, naturally, attracted to the fish, and I can see clearly that these are freshwater species – pike, zander and carp. Hire’s Polish heritage is expressed here, as these are three species that can be taken and eaten, which in Polish society is a norm, but in the UK, we rarely remove coarse fish for the pot. An English artist would have probably presented a different assemblage of fish, and almost certainly not zander. Lovely piece and collaboration.

7974. Cumberland Basin

Taboo, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, September 2026
Taboo, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, September 2026

This is a vast piece by Taboo on a long wall alongside the tobacco warehouses on the north side of Cumberland basin. I don’t venture down this track all that often, so it is possible that this piece might have been here for some time.

Taboo, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, September 2026
Taboo, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, September 2026

Just to confuse things, Taboo has written his letters in reverse, including the crew name PLB. His anti-style lettering is given some uniformity, governed by the height of the wall, but still the shapes and nature of the lettering is unconventional. A ‘normal’ sized burner spelling Dorn interrupts the flow of the piece a little, but pretty much gets absorbed into it. Fine work from Taboo.

7973. St Werburghs tunnel (601)

210, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2026
210, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2026

I still need to dig out some older pieces by 210 from my archives, because it is only recently that I figured out his name, and I know I have several pictures of his work dating back some time. His work is usually found adjacent to ARSA, and they both often paint together with Corupt and RBN One.

210, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2026
210, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2026

This bilaterally symmetrical piece is beautifully designed and executed. The colour palette of blues and purples set on the maroon buffed wall are so easy on the eye, and perfectly complemented by the cream drop shadow, drifting off to the right. This is a very pleasing piece by 210. (PS I used to catch the 210 bus to my piano lessons as a kid in North London – so there).