This is another outstanding piece of writing from Kosc in his current series of greyscale pieces. In this piece, we have a familiar element of styling in the shape of ‘rivets’ holding the ‘metal’ pieces of the letters in place. This is a technique that the artist has used quite a lot in the past.
Kosc, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, February 2023
These letters are strong, solid and uniform, and generally have a presence – some pieces just ooze style and confidence, and this is one of them. I have to say that I am very much enjoying this greyscale series… more to come I hope.
A small, quick one from Mote at the end of the long wall under Brunel Way from Mote. Mote is an artist who designs and creates a new monster character every time he paints, which could make identification of his work troublesome, but his style and colour selections are so unique that no signature is needed on his work.
Mote, Brunel Way, Bristol, January 2023
This cheeky little piece is sweet and simple, and was probably an ‘end of day’ bonus piece. Since first hitting the walls of Bristol in early spring of 2022, Mote has been tireless, come rain or shine, in his monster mania. Long may it last.
Gosia Wadada, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, January 2023
Visiting artists are always, always welcome in Bristol (although the authorities might be a little luke warm) and it is a fine compliment to the city that street artists come from far and wide to paint on our streets and in our graffiti spots. A recent visit to the city by Gosia Wadada, resulted in at least two pieces of which this is the first.
Gosia Wadada, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, January 2023
I don’t know too much about Gosia Wadada, and her Instagram account doesn’t really let on very much, but I can confidently state that she is not from round these parts. She seems to specialise in these stylised mouths, and in that respect is in good company (Pura Decadencia, Soap and Muckrock for example). This piece is neat and tidy and certainly grabs the attention. Some nice design work in the fills too. Watch this space for more from Gosia Wadada.
Ta da! This post marks something of a landmark for me and Natural Adventures… it is the 5,000th street/graffiti art post. Natural Adventures has come a long way from its origination as a place to document a journal I kept of an adventure in the South Atlantic in 1987. Haiku and street art just crept up on me, and have now become a central pillar in my life.
I cannot think of a better way to celebrate this milestone than with an outstanding and passionate piece by Rozalita AKA Rohzi.
I was fortunate enough to have a long chat with Rohzi as she was buffing the wall for this piece, and once the conversation got going, she really opened up and I was thoroughly enjoying myself until the dog decided he’d had enough and started to bark, which means he wants to go. The conversation ended a little too abruptly for my liking, but it is an occupational hazard when walking the dog and photographing street art.
Rozalita mentioned that the portrait was of people from an Amazonian tribe, and she was going to leave a hashtag on the piece to find out more, but that didn’t seem to happen. The portrait itself is exceptional and demonstrates just how far she has come over the last year or two. I do hope it isn’t too long before I get a chance to continue our chat.
This wall is a little tiresome to photograph, especially as my camera doesn’t have a wide angle setting. The wall is in a narrow space opposite the wall of a ramp on the skate park, meaning that getting decent shots of anything painted here is a challenge. Biers, AKA WD40 has set me the challenge on this occasion.
Biers, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2023
With his WD40 letters, Biers has incorporated a cartoon character, and I have to say I have drawn a blank on this one, so if you have any idea who he is, please feel free to drop his name in the comments. This is a particularly tidy piece from Biers, who can sometimes be a little rough around the edges, but not here, this is clean and on-point. A really lovely piece by Biers.
Dopes, Jaksta and Neddy Ned Ned, M32 Spot, Bristol, January 2023
Well lookee here, on one of my favourite walls we have a fabulous three-way collaboration from Dopes, Jaksta and Neddy Ned Ned. The whole thing is painted in Autumnal colours (although a winter collaboration), and provides more than a little contemporary commentary.
Dopes, M32 Spot, Bristol, January 2023
To the left is a fine piece of writing from Dopes, offering his beautifully proportioned letters in a metallic style with plenty of shading fades and highlights, neatly finished off with a tidy blue border and some arrows thrown in for good measure.
Jaksta, M32 Spot, Bristol, January 2023
The most eye-catching element of the triptych is the portrait of Prince Harry, painted by Jaksta. This mischievous send-up of the Prince directly relates to the revelations in his autobiography ‘Spare’ and is a play on the word Charlie (cocaine) and Charles (his father the King). The portrait is nicely worked, but very different from the style I would normally associate with Jaksta.
Neddy Ned Ned, M32 Spot, Bristol, January 2023
I have never (knowingly) come across Neddy Ned Ned before, although his work does look slightly familiar. It is always great to have visitors to the city, especially when they are clearly as talented as Neddy Ned Ned is. There is a nice flow and confidence to the shapes of the letters, and there is a bit of a fill-fest going on too. Altogether, this is a banging collaboration.
Here we have yet another fine piece from Mudra, in what seems to be a rapid-fire series of work from him. It is satisfying, as an onlooker, to watch as he develops and improves his style and to observe his creativity and imagination. To see his development, I have linked to his gallery, which is well worth a quick look.
Mudra, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2023
This piece, at the end of the tunnel, follows his template style of letters and character, mashed up into a single coherent work. The letters are connected through a common colour palette, but their shape, design and size are somewhat varied. The letters are quite concealed, although easy to find if you know what you are looking for. The little ‘d’ is probably the easiest. The character in the middle of the piece, on this occasion, is not a substitute letter, but instead just a bit of fun breaking up the piece. You’ve got to love the little floating had. There is a reference to recreational drugs and a bit of trippyness about the piece – but I am way too conventional to know about such things. More to come soon, I have no doubt.
I was caught very much in two minds about posting this beautiful little unsigned piece in Devon Road. Firstly, I have no idea who the artist is, which is always a little bit of a challenge for me and secondly, there are rain drops on the lens, obscuring the bottom of the picture. Ordinarily these two factors would dictate that this piece would remain in the archives, but I really like it, so I used my own veto (which I think I am allowed to do) to publish it.
Unknown, Devon Road, Bristol, January 2023
The motif is a strong one, and at a guess I would say was influenced by the tattoo world. There is a story of heartache here, burning love constrained by thorns. I love it. The piece is beautifully executed, with fabulous shading and highlights, and there is something rather simple about the design, the balance is just right, and it is not trying to do too much. Now all I need is to find the artist who painted it.
This is not the first piece I have seen by Solar on this particular wall, and it seems to be a place where he can express himself a little bit better with a bit more space than some of the more congested walls he has painted about the place.
Solar, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, January 2023
Solar’s work is improving each time I see it, with a confidence and boldness to try new things all the time, such as the character face in the O of this piece. This has a nicely worked horizontal transition from red to orange to yellow and added interest with cross hatching to break up the piece. Nice work from Solar.
Natural adventures 