February 2025 – Page 8 – Natural adventures

6704. Cumberland Basin

Andy Council and Acer One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, January 2025

There is never a time when it isn’t a genuine pleasure to come across an Acer One/Andy Council collaboration. These two have been painting together for a long time, and although their styles couldn’t be more different, there is a harmony in their work that is probably supported by their familiarity with one another.

Andy Council, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, January 2025

This wonderful composite creature piece by Andy Council is stitched together in his unique style. Andy has said that he is aiming to paint one dinosaur piece each month to celebrate 20 years since he painted his first. If this feathered velociraptor is anything to go by, we are in for a treat in 2025. I like the way that the cloudy puffs span across to Acer One’s piece.

Acer One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, January 2025

Acer One is constantly inventing ways to dazzle us with his graphic lettering and design. Always executed to perfection, his pieces are quite different to anything else we see in Bristol. In this piece he has combined peace and heart symbols to come up with a single entity. It is beautiful and meaningful, and I expect we’ll see more of this icon from Acer One. A fine collaboration.

6703. Dean Lane skate park (803)

I have been incredibly lucky recently with the timing of my walks and have met with several artists while they are painting, even yesterday bumping in to Hemper (second time in a week) and Hypo. On this particular visit to Dean Lane, I encountered ESKA and his partner, just as he was finishing up and taking photographs of the completed piece. What is weird is that I first met him in this exact spot last October.

There is always a lot going on in ESKA’s work, which is filled with symbolism. His anamorphic letters are heavily disguised, and form the framework for some little micro-scenes about the place. Lots of shadows and archways with light, a little reminiscent of the perspective work of the Italian artist Gerogio De Chirico.

The colours work really well together and if you step back the whole piece looks amazing, but it is not until you get up close that you start to notice a whole other world happening, for example there are little figures dotted all over the piece, each one casting a long shadow. This is a piece that needs to be studied as well as admired.

6702. Frome Side (50)

It is really important to give credit where credit is due and to recognise the determined efforts of artists looking to practice and improve. One such artist is Sub, whose giant letters are to be spotted all over Bristol. I think it is fair to say that his pieces are impressive but not quite exceptional, and with more work refining his style, we could be witnessing something quite special developing.

This combination piece includes a pink anime cat, which I think might be a Pokemon character called Mew. The big bold letters have a characteristically deep drop shadow, making them look very chunky indeed. It is great to see Sub experimenting with bubbles and some mesh work on the background. Sub is definitely one to watch.

91st year

Mama turned ninety

taking a dip in the sea

in celebration

by Scooj

Happy birthday (yesterday) mum

6701. Sparke Evans Park (120)

Unity, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, January 2025

This is another wonderful piece from the RBF crew paint jam celebrating the birthdays of Desi and Even. It is, of course, by Unity, an artist whose work I just don’t get to see enough. I believe Unity lives in Wales, and comes over to Bristol occasionally, but always smashes it when she does.

The irregular letters spell out UNITY and are superbly filled with a perfect blend of complimentary colours on the red/purple/blue spectrum. There is a strong Japanese influence going on here as part of the Studio Ghibli theme for the paint jam. The cherry blossoms are a wonderful touch, and probably worth recreating in the spring. Great work from a superb graffiti writer.

6700. M32 Cycle path (278)

Ryder and Jaksta, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, January 2025

Turnover on the M32 Cycle path has been fairly slow this winter, and I have reduced the frequency of my visits to the spot accordingly. On my last visit, however, I got really lucky and met Ryder and Jaksta, along with some of their friends, who were all painting together to celebrate Jaksta’s birthday. It appears that January is a big month for street art birthday paint jams.

Ryder, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, January 2025

In this combination collaboration, Ryder has painted the letters RAKE and Jaksta the character. Painted on a good old-fashioned brick wall, this piece looks like a throwback to the 1980s. The graffiti writing by Ryder is superb, spelling out RAKE, and not only celebrates Jaksta’s birthday, but also 25 years of painting together.

Jaksta, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, January 2025

Jaksta is the cartoon character king, who manages to create incredible caricatures of people both famous and unknown. This is an absolute peach, and one of two pieces painted by the artist during this session. The exaggerated features and overized head are key components of Jaksta’s style, and would not look out of place in Montmatre’s (Paris) crazy art markets. A fabulous collaboration by the RAW duo.

Stay humble, eh

Manchester City

soundly thrashed by the Gunners

stay humble Haaland

by Scooj

Last night was a sweet moment for Arsenal fans, with the team beating the premiership champions 5-1. It was extra sweet, because the last meeting was a fiery affair, with an Arsenal player sent off in the first half with Arsenal leading 2-1. Manchester City grabbed an equaliser in the last minute of the game, and Erling Haaland (a Manchester City player and most prolific goalscorer in the world) was recorded saying ‘stay humble eh’ to Mikel Arteta, the Arsenal Manager at the end of the game. These are words that will follow and haunt Haaland for the rest of his career. Stupid boy.

6699. Purdown (83)

The derelict gun emplacement at Purdown is located within a fenced-off area which is home to a small herd of goats. I think that they are ‘employed’ to help the vegetation down. The presence of the goats makes my trips with the dog something of a challenge, because their smell and very existence drives him crazy, and I have to keep him on a very tight lead. This of course makes taking photographs all the more difficult, with many images blurry of at jaunty angles, when the dog pulls just as I take the shot. I did manage to get a couple of decent pictures of this fabulous goat character piece by Daz Cat.

Daz Cat continues to develop his style and his pieces are so much richer in content and style and offer a great deal of depth and context that was absent from his early ‘flat’ pieces. He is a great example of an artist who learns and improves all the time. There are other artists who tend to remain quite static and comfortable doing what they do. Both approaches are legitimate, although as an observer, watching the development is an added bonus. I hope the goats of Purdown appreciate this homage.

6698. Dean Lane skate park (802)

One of the best Christmas presents I received this year was a signed Inkie print from my wife, who managed to get down to the ‘Pipe and Slippers’ pub, while I was away, and catch up with the artist and some mutual friends. I don’t think that my wife made the link back to me, which is a pity because it all might have made a little more sense to him at the time. The print is a good one, and awaiting framing, along with dozens of other pieces of artwork I have accumulated.

This lovely piece by Inkie is a tribute to an old friend of his Paul ‘Peewee’ Miller, who’d recently died. Inkie mentions on his Instagram that he painted this exact wall, presumably with Peewee, 36 years ago. That is going some.

6697. Frome Side (49)

Regular readers will know that I have a special liking for the work of Nips. It is difficult to pin down exactly what it is about her writing that I like, but it just somehow appeals to me. This chrome piece was painted under the M32, on the far bank of the River Frome, which involves crossing the river on a slender concrete beam, not one for the feint-hearted.

In this piece, Nips’ usual creative fills have given way to something much simpler (which is often the way with chrome writing). I like the double border, which creates just enough separation between the letters and the graffiti wall. The lasting thought though is I really want to know who ‘Evil David’ is.

	scooj on Revel Puck Circus
	M. on Revel Puck Circus
	paulh121 on 7352. Cumberland Basin
	Sheree on 7352. Cumberland Basin
	paulh121 on 7350. Hillgrove Street (9…

	scooj on Revel Puck Circus
	M. on Revel Puck Circus
	paulh121 on 7352. Cumberland Basin
	Sheree on 7352. Cumberland Basin
	paulh121 on 7350. Hillgrove Street (9…

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: