Rory Paints, Nine Tree Hill, Bristol, November 2024
I have a feeling I should have clocked this wonderful stencil piece by Rory Paints some time ago, and maybe I had, but I never got round to posting it. It is obvious that it has been around for a while, because rather unfortunately a bench has been attached to the wall in front of it.
Rory Paints, Nine Tree Hill, Bristol, November 2024
The charming black and white stencil features a little boy in a stripy top holding his hand up, perhaps holding something, but it is a little obscured. I love this kind of street art that just gets absorbed into its environment and becomes part of the furniture. I don’t know the artist, and don’t believe I have seen any of his work before, although I may be mistaken. Great piece.
Beaver enclosure, Willington Wetlands, Derbyshire, November 2024
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Serene symmetry
reflecting autumn colours
the home of beavers
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by Scooj
With many thanks to Katy from the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust who was kind enough to take my team at work on a tour of this magnificent reserve. Alas, we saw no beavers, but plenty of evidence of their activities.
I find myself sitting on a Great Western train on my way to London to get to a football match between the mighty Arsenal and Nottingham Forest. The journey has provided me with the gift of time that I don’t get too much of these days, and I am enjoying every second. I am even pushing the boat out with the third street art post of the day, something I am finding increasingly difficult to do.
Werm, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2024
This wonderfully symmetrical piece by Werm is typical of his style at the moment, and one in which I think he is hitting his best form. The letters in a script-like pattern spell WERM and are filled with two shades of orange. The drop shadow is dark blue and the border green. I feel instinctively that these colours shouldn’t really work well together, but somehow they do. In true graffiti writing style, Werm has included plenty of shout outs around the perimeter of the piece.
In the short time that I have been aware of the artist, Omie’s work simply gets better and better. Omie is one of those artists who uses completely different styles for each piece, with only the letters OMIE remaining constant, so you never quite know what you are going to get next, and I love that versatility and element of surprise.
Omie, Frome side, Bristol, November 2024
This piece was painted in a large collaboration as part of Chapter 17 of the World Wall Stylers challenge, with a ‘Ninja Scroll’ theme, a 1990s Japanese animation. Omie has stuck to the theme colours really well and created something quite beautiful in pink and grey shades, bordered with a blood-red line and drips. The background is a subtly worked bamboo forest, which on its own is worthy of great praise. A fine piece from Omie.
I was aware that Abbie Laura Smith had pasted up some new artwork recently because she told me via Instagram messenger, so of course, I had to get out and try and find them. I managed to find three, of which this is the first. I expect there are more that I didn’t locate.
Abbie Laura Smith, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, November 2024
This wheatpaste was looking a little forlorn as the top half had become unstuck in the damp weather and folded over itself. I had to try and replace it and quickly photograph it before it peeled down… it took me several attempts. The style and content of the piece fits snugly into Abbie Laura Smith’s repertoire with a black and white portrait of a woman with words woven into her hair.
If I spent a little longer, I could probably pick out all the words, but I think it is a sorrowful piece, as I can see the words ‘grief’ and ‘the loss’. More to come from our resident paste up specialist soon.
Regular readers will know that I have a bit of a thing for Nips’ work. Her letters are uncomplicated and unpretentious and what sets her apart from other letter writers is her constantly evolving and creative fills.
Nips, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, November 2024
Whether intentional or not, Nips has created a perfect autumnal piece. The blue background speaks of those wonderful high-pressure blue sky days (we have had a few of those lately) and the gold of the letter fills picks up the autumn leaves scattered at the base of the wall. The fills are a beautifully blended palette of four brown and yellow shades, and are further augmented with some complementary squiggles and dots. The tittle (dot on the i) is a little character face, something Nips does with most of her pieces. The whole thing is nicely finished with white highlights to help the letters pop. This is a fine piece of work from Nips.
This is something a little different from Jest Soubriquet up at Purdown. Obviously this was a Halloween piece featuring Frankenstein’s monster, accompanied by some creepy landscapes, including a church, crows and a pumpkin hanging from a tree.
Jest Soubriquet, Purdown, Bristol, November 2024
If this piece hadn’t been signed (Likes) I don’t think that I would have had a chance of identifying the artist as it is so different from his regular style. By chance, the telecommunications tower behind this wall looks a little bit like an extra bolt emerging from the monster’s head. A nice festival piece.
At first glance I was fooled into thinking that this piece was by Conrico, mainly based on the subject matter, but also a little o the style, but it didn’t quite feel right. It turns out it is by visiting artist Quale, as part of a chapter 17 World Wall Stylers paint jam challenge with the theme Ninja Scroll. Ninja Scroll is a 1993 Japanese animated jidaigeki–chanbara film written and directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri – who knew?
Quale, Frome side, Bristol, November 2024
This piece (sorry about the glare, this wall is difficult to photograph) is stunning. It is so full of movement, and little pastiches from the film. I don’t know anything about Quale, but hope to see more in Bristol in the future.
Zaki Dee, Nicer, Fade and BG183, Ikea wall of fame, Bristol, October 2024
Something big happened in Bristol over 17-20 October in the Ikea car park, just off junction 2 of the M32. Goldie, a British music producer and DJ who is also an accomplished graffiti writer and whose work has appeared in Natural Adventures several times, organised an international paint jam to celebrate the 30th anniversary of his record label Metalheadz. In doing so, he invited artists from the New York-based Tats Cru to join a selection of Bristol artists, and some others from the UK and beyond.
The challenge was to paint a themed collaboration – the yellow brick road from The Wizard of Oz (more on this another time) on this enormous wall. In doing so a new wall of fame was created, and one which I hope will host further such productions. This is the first in a series of photographs from the wall, starting at the left-hand end.
Zaki Dee, Nicer, Fade and BG183, Ikea wall of fame, Bristol, October 2024
In this first section, The writing is from Fade, who is no stranger to Natural Adventures, and he is accompanied by the rather gory witch character by Nicer, some floral decoration, running through the entire production, by Zaki Dee and a section of New York skyline by BG183.
I will be posting more from this incredible paint jam in due course, and hope to provide some sense of scale of the production.
Doors 287 – Doors from Exeter, Devon – Part IV, October 2023
My doorscursion in Exeter from October 2023 continues with this selection of doors primarily from the Exeter Cathedral area of the city. Of course, I have focussed my attention on some of the older and more characterful doors of the city, but unlike other places, there is quite a high proportion of these special doors. I am a little busy this morning, so my introduction is brief, but I hope you enjoy today’s offering. I think there are one or two very special doors here:
Exeter Cathedral doors, Exeter, Devon, October 2024
Exeter Cathedral central door surrounded by dozens of stone statues, Exeter, Devon, October 2024
Exeter Cathedral side door (North side), Exeter, Devon, October 2024
White door and black frame, Number 1, Exeter, Devon, October 2024
Blue doors, Exeter, Devon, October 2024
Arched double doors, Exeter, Devon, October 2024
Cathedral Close door, Exeter, Devon, October 2024
10 Cathedral Close door, Exeter, Devon, October 2024
This last door at number 10 Cathedral Close is a carved oak door from the 16th or 17th century. The studded door has a small postern door to allow pedestrian access, without having to swing the heavy weight of the main door open. This is special.
Well, that’s it for another week. Still more doors to come from the wonderful city of Exeter next time. Have a great 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 Thursday Doors post.
Natural adventures 