June 2024 – Page 9 – Natural adventures

6087. Cumberland Basin

Mr Underbite, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2024

Now, this is what I like. Mr Underbite is a bit of a favourite of mine, and to find his melancholic character dotted about the place is always a real pleasure. The fact that he has switched things up with this small piece in Cumberland Basin makes it all the more pleasurable.

Mr Underbite has used this small section of wall really well, presenting his character in three separate sections, each containing a part of the face, a deconstruction if you like. Anyone familiar with Mr Underbite’s work would immediately recognise this piece and attempt to reassemble it in their heads. To anybody else, this might look a little abstract and unfathomable. What a great way to play with a character. For reference, a typical Mr Underbite piece is shown below.

Mr Underbite, River Avon, Bristol, March 2024

Lifeblood – 30 Days Wild (10/30)

Urban oasis

unculverted stretch runs free

nature overflows

by Scooj

30 Days Wild is an initiative organised by the Wildlife Trusts. It is an annual challenge event, for those who choose to participate, to do one ‘wild’ thing a day throughout the month of June. I will try to write a nature haiku every day if I can, as my contribution to this celebration of wildlife and biodiversity. I did this back in 2015 and thoroughly enjoyed the challenge.

6086. Cumberland Basin

Mr Crawls and Mote, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024

I’m not sure how old this collaboration by Mr Crawls and Mote is, but it can’t be all that old, because it contains some fairly recent features incorporated into each of their work. The reason I am a bit puzzled is that the fencing in front of the wall looks like it has been there a while. All I can think is that they moved it out of the way to paint and then put it back afterwards.

Mr Crawls, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024

To the left is a a stylised cartoon bird by Mr Crawls, which is a development of his earlier birds that we used to see about the place. There is something slightly more figurative about the artwork, and it is a direction that the artist is going in that I am definitely enjoying.

Mote, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024

Like other artists, street artists appear to go through ‘periods’ and I would call this Mote’s ‘eye’ period, where he is playing with different presentations of eyes. The mouth of this one seems to almost be leaning in to Picasso territory, or maybe something a little more surreal. Lots more fun from these to to come, but I was happy with finding this collaboration which was just a little bit off the beaten track.

6085. Cumberland Basin

Acer One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024

A bit of a quick one today, because I have an early start and a very long day running another workshop, so today’s posts were (are being) written last night after a long weekend away. This is a shame, because there is quite a lot to say about this unusual and very clever piece by Acer One.

There are two words in this circle, ‘CONRAD’ in gold and ‘BUKEM’ in black. These names relate to Acer One’s love of drum and bass and are tributes to MC Conrad and LTJ Bukem. At that point my knowledge about this piece drops off a cliff. How Acer One conceived and then executed this piece is what makes him so very special. This is the work of a very talented artist.

Not content with this triumph, Acer One also had a little play with some anamorphic art just around the corner, I mean, why not? Many attempt and fail with this king of trickery, but Acer One has managed to do a good job, and if only my photography was up to scratch you’d see how well he did. Acer One is an artist who is always pushing boundaries and developing his technical skills. Great work.

Sign – 30 Days Wild (9/30)

Lugworm burrow, West Wittering, West Sussex, June 2024

Home in a ‘U’ bend

water inlet, sandy cast

low tide exposure

by Scooj

30 Days Wild is an initiative organised by the Wildlife Trusts. It is an annual challenge event, for those who choose to participate, to do one ‘wild’ thing a day throughout the month of June. I will try to write a nature haiku every day if I can, as my contribution to this celebration of wildlife and biodiversity. I did this back in 2015 and thoroughly enjoyed the challenge.

6084. M32 Cycle path (267)

Benjimagnetic, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, May 2024

It is great to see Benjimagnetic out and about again after a bit of a winter lull. He appears to have returned with a slight upgrade to his style that feels rather fresher and is exciting. The colours of this piece shout out loudly and attract the eye, with the orange splashes rounding things off so well.

The letters BEN can be seen if you know to look for them. Benjimagnetic is known for his tidy designs and styling made up of thin lines, which can be seen throughout this piece. Well finished and classy, this is a lovely piece by the artist, and a taste of things to come.

6083. M32 roundabout J3 (580)

Sometimes you come across a great piece of graffiti writing without having the faintest idea about who the artist is or where they are from, and this piece by Urge is one of those. I think I only found out who Urge was by doing some investigation using Instagram, but other than finding an Instagram account, I am not much wiser. I do know that he isn’t from Bristol.

The graffiti writing itself is really beautifully presented and from the hand of a skilled writer. The letters, in a graded series of slate grey tones, spell out URGE and are emphasised with a splash of pinks exploding out from the edge of the piece. Classy stuff from the visiting writer.

Giant hogweed – 30 Days Wild (8/30)

Giant Hogweed, River Frome, Bristol, May 2024

Giant invader

impressive harmful bully

keep a good distance

by Scooj

30 Days Wild is an initiative organised by the Wildlife Trusts. It is an annual challenge event, for those who choose to participate, to do one ‘wild’ thing a day throughout the month of June. I will try to write a nature haiku every day if I can, as my contribution to this celebration of wildlife and biodiversity. I did this back in 2015 and thoroughly enjoyed the challenge.

6082. Greenbank (121)

It is a genuine privilege to have a stand out The Hass piece here on the Greenbank hoardings, which feels like it was a warm-up piece for his outstanding Upfest combination wall. This is street art of the highest calibre painted in a graffiti spot, and as such stands out a mile. Anyone passing by, and the cycle path gets a lot of footfall, would surely have to stop and admire such a thing of beauty.

The piece falls into two distinct halves which merge in the middle. The left-hand side features a delightful floral design, so delicate and pretty and to the right The Hass has painted a representation of a stone sculpture head, which is reminiscent of the great pieces by PichiAvo.

As a whole, this combination is a true masterpiece, and we are lucky in Bristol to have artists who turn out extraordinary work like this on a reasonably regular basis. This was one of the best surprises I have had on my ’rounds’ for quite a while.

6081. Greenbank (120)

Although I have found quite a few of his pieces, Zeks, as with so many Bristol artists, is a little underrepresented on Natural Adventures. One day I will try to right these wrongs, but not until I can recover a bit more time in my rather busy life. A word that I would use to describe Zeks work is a word I very rarely use, but it somehow fits his style, ‘cute’ – but I don’t mean in the cuddly puppy sense, more in the clean and joyful and sweet way.

Here Zeks has painted his letters in shades of pink and white, with nice interlocking patterns, and accompanied the letters with a rather cool teddy bear. What really helps this piece, and it can be said for so much graffiti writing, is the buffed background, which helps the piece stand alone from the surrounding visual noise. A very nice piece by Zeks.

	paulh121 on 7403. Dean Lane skate park…
	hitandrun1964 on 7402. Stapleton Road
	paulh121 on 7402. Stapleton Road
	Loveswing on Winter afternoon
	scooj on 7400. St Werburghs tunnel…

	paulh121 on 7403. Dean Lane skate park…
	hitandrun1964 on 7402. Stapleton Road
	paulh121 on 7402. Stapleton Road
	Loveswing on Winter afternoon
	scooj on 7400. St Werburghs tunnel…

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