Month: July 2021

3795. Upfest 2021 75×75 (12)

This little gateway at the back of The Malago was until recently home to a lovely mural by Alex Lucas featuring two white rabbits hares on the phone. Now it has been re-painted as one of Upfest’s 75 new walls in 75 days by Natasha Kirby.

Natasha Kirby, Greville Road, Bristol, June 2021, Upfest 21
Natasha Kirby, Greville Road, Bristol, June 2021, Upfest 21

The new mural is very beautiful indeed, bursting with colourful flowers on a deep blue background and creating a little bit of summertime in this otherwise sunless summer. Natasha is a self-confessed flower obsessive and flowers are at the heart of her design and print work which can be seen on her website. You can see that the mural has a very strong design element and has such balance making it very easy on the eye. This spot is a devil to photograph, because there is nearly always a car parked in front of it. 

This is another Upfest classic.

Alex Lucas, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Alex Lucas, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

3794. Greenbank (9)

It would seem that since joining PWA, Nightwayss has been painting more frequently and seems to be enjoying his collaborations. This wonderful piece is in the middle of a Face 1st, Nightwayss and Soap triptych, and incorporates the recently devised PWA wobbly line border.

Nightwayss, Greenbank, Bristol, June 2021
Nightwayss, Greenbank, Bristol, June 2021

Nightwayss’ pieces are well known for featuring monkeys and apes and in this piece he doesn’t disappoint. A ghoulish giant ape is consuming a train (I think), and behind is a fabulously written ‘NIGHT’. With all the dots in the background, there is a feel of comic book print about the piece, and the theme adds to that feel. A great piece.

Ellipsis

.

Much underrated

item of punctuation

what it does is this …

.

by Scooj

3793. St Werburghs tunnel (245)

I have taken many photographs of the work of Alos, but not so many of them have made it onto the pages of Natural Adventures. It is a pity really, because his work really does shine a light on the spectrum of graffiti writers we see in Bristol. Normally his work is rather organic and irregular, but this piece is much more conventional and structured than we are used to seeing.

Alos, St Werburghs, Bristol, June 2021
Alos, St Werburghs, Bristol, June 2021

On the entrance to St Werburghs tunnel, this rather nice rhapsody in purple greets passers-by. It is a very nice piece that demonstrates the range of talents that Alos clearly has.

3792. Cumberland Basin

Another piece in Turoe’s ‘shyte’ series, this time in yellows and oranges, and a slight variation in spelling. As a reminder, this series began during the first lock down with the sentiment of it’s been a ‘shyte year’, and since then Turoe has stuck with the winning formula.

Turoe, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2021
Turoe, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2021

The letters are in a clear lower case font, beautifully finished with nice red 3D shadows and a blue and a white border. This is another tight piece from the prolific writer.

Mr Penfold

A gallery of wonderful murals from Bristol designer and street artist Mr Penfold

All photographs by Scooj

Mr Penfold, Church Road, Bristol, June 2021, Upfest 2021
Mr Penfold, Church Road, Bristol, June 2021, Upfest 2021

Mr Penfold, Church Road, Bristol, June 2021, Upfest 2021
Mr Penfold, Church Road, Bristol, June 2021, Upfest 2021

Mr Penfold, King Street, Bristol, May 2017
Mr Penfold, King Street, Bristol, May 2017

Mr Penfold door, St Phillips, Bristol, February 2021
Mr Penfold door, St Phillips, Bristol, February 2021

Mr Penfold and Zoe Power, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2021
Mr Penfold and Zoe Power, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2021

Mr Penfold and RichT, Nelson Street, Bristol, September 2020
Mr Penfold and RichT, Nelson Street, Bristol, September 2020

Mr Penfold, King Street, Bristol, September 2020
Mr Penfold, King Street, Bristol, September 2020

Mr Penfold, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2020
Mr Penfold, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2020

Mr Penfold, Merrywood Road, Bristol, July 2020
Mr Penfold, Merrywood Road, Bristol, July 2020

Mr Penfold, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2020
Mr Penfold, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2020

Mr Penfold, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2019
Mr Penfold, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2019

Mr Penfold, Gloucester Road, Bristol, February 2020
Mr Penfold, Gloucester Road, Bristol, February 2020

Mr Penfold, Midland Road, Bristol, March 2018
Mr Penfold, Midland Road, Bristol, March 2018

Mr Penfold, King Street, Bristol, August 2019
Mr Penfold, King Street, Bristol, August 2019

Mr Penfold, Nelson Street, Bristol, March 2019
Mr Penfold, Nelson Street, Bristol, March 2019

Mr Penfold, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Mr Penfold, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

Mr Penfold, Small Street, Bristol, January 2018
Mr Penfold, Small Street, Bristol, January 2018

Mr Penfold, Stokes Croft, Bristol, April 2017
Mr Penfold, Stokes Croft, Bristol, April 2017

Mr Penfold, Old Bread Street, Bristol, September 2016
Mr Penfold, Old Bread Street, Bristol, September 2016

Mr Penfold, Old Bread Street, Bristol, September 2016
Mr Penfold, Old Bread Street, Bristol, September 2016

3791. Upfest 2021 75×75 (11)

We, the citizens of Bristol, have been spoilt by Steve, Emma and the whole Upfest team. In the most trying of circumstances they have pulled off a most remarkable event, or show, lasting 75 days and the painting of 75 walls. As if that wasn’t enough, the legacy of this monumental effort will bring joy to the hearts of many for months and years to come.

Hixxy, North Street, Bristol, June 2021, Upfest 21
Hixxy, North Street, Bristol, June 2021, Upfest 21

This wonderful facade mural is by Hixxy, an artist I have not come across before. As far as I can make out, she is based in London and Liverpool and she describes her work as ‘pop botanical murals’ which looking at this piece makes total sense. This modernist painting features pear blossom and a face that Hixxy dug out from a 1950s archive. It is amazing how much information you can get from Instagram!

The whole piece works really well over the shop front of Kask wine, and Hixxy has very cleverly incorporated the windows into the darker parts of the design so that you hardly notice them. A fine Upfest piece.

3790. M32 roundabout J3 (336)

I was so pleased to see yet another lovely piece from Maesyhook, especially as it was painted alongside Bristol legends Ryder and T-Rex. Although Maesyhook is, I think, a relatively new resident of the city, she has certainly made herself very much at home, which is good news for all of us.

Maesyhook, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2021
Maesyhook, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2021

The piece she has painted here adopts her customary pink and turquoise colour scheme but the dear little kawaii character has been replaced with a rather less cuddly skull and the tag-line ‘scorchio’. This is another in a series of enjoyable pieces from Maesyhook and I look forward to many more.

Silver lining

.

Dark clouds lingering

England put under the sword

Saka my hero

.

by Scooj

3789. Bristol County Ground (1)

A few weeks ago, a friend organised a group (socially distanced by family) visit to a T20 cricket match at the Bristol County Cricket Ground, where Gloucestershire play their home games (Bristol was at one time in the county of Gloucestershire). This was the first match at the ground for 18 months and the sparse crowd created a great atmosphere. We had a really good time. My experience was, of course enhanced by the opportunity to find some Silent Hobo commissions that are within the ground. This is the first I am sharing on Natural Adbentures.

Silent Hobo, Bristol County Ground, Bristol, June 2021
Silent Hobo, Bristol County Ground, Bristol, June 2021

Silent Hobo is a brilliant artist and one of his many qualities is that he is able to work to a brief. In this piece he has faithfully recreated the cricket ground, with a match in progress, and the cricket ball bursting out of the wall. It is a quintessential English scene given the Silent Hobo treatment. So good to see it at last. More to come from this trip.