This wonderful piece of graffiti writing got me doing a bit of detective work, which happens when I don’t recognise a particular piece or artist. It took me a while, but I got there in the end to find out that it is by Ahum (obvious once you see it), an artist who has featured in the pages of Natural Adventures under the name of Blimma Blamma.
Wow, It is incredible how wrong you can be sometimes. The piece is by Hire and not by Ahum. I had convinced myself otherwise. I think I might be going slightly mad.
Hire, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2025
The letters HIRE are beautifully presented, with a fine midline and a deep drop shadow, perfectly offset with an orange bubbly decoration. Something as little different and joyous from Hire.
It was an absolute delight to catch up with Face 1st while he was painting this piece at Kool Hand’s birthday celebration paint jam. We chatted for a long while about our shared common interests in nature and nature-friendly farming practices, such as regenerative farming, something he is keen to practice in his new home of Herefordshire.
Face 1st, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2025
These photographs are a little blurry… something went wrong with my iPhone camera in the darkness of the tunnel, but I wanted to share the piece nonetheless. Face 1st has been enjoying playing with his letter style and here he has crafted a script font with a deep drop shadow. Alongside is a small character laughing girl, and above it a motif by Soap. There was a good turnout for Kool Hand’s.
Wilko and Boxi, Stokes Croft, Bristol, October 2025
More wheatpaste action from Wilko and Boxi, in advance of their upcoming exhibition. I have a feeling that it was Wilko who has been busy pasting these up around Bristol on behalf of both of them.
Wilko and Boxi, Stokes Croft, Bristol, October 2025
Regular readers will know that I am rather partial to wheatpastes, as they bring a completely different aspect to the spectrum of street art that we see around us. Some people don’t like them, because they become scruffy when they decay or because they get pasted up in inappropriate places, or because they are against street art more broadly. Funny how such people appear to be totally at ease with the plethora of advertising we are subjected to on the streets, as if it is somehow more legitimate and less offensive…
These are nice representatives of their artistic styles with draw on many influences.
Birthday paint jams are an opportunity for graffiti writers to break away from their customary letters (usually their street name) and play with the letters of the artist being celebrated. In this case, the Birthday boy was Dibz as he celebrated his 50th birthday, and the artist whiting his letters if Rusk.
Rusk Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2025
Rusk is a fabulous graffiti writer and takes a lot of care with his work, leaving everything neat and tidy. The colours of the piece tie in with Halloween; purple, orange and green, and the spider webs decorating the edges clear up doubt, if there was any, that October 31 is very much front of mind. This is the first of several pieces from this paint jam.
Minto and Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2025
Not so long ago this wall was painted along its entire length at a paint jam celebrating Ulow’s birthday. Remnants of that paint jam still remain, but this section was re-painted by its original occupants Hypo and Minto, with a double-helping of the latter.
Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2025
To the left, Minto has painted one of his wonderful ‘reconstruction’ style pieces featuring his MINTO letters and a nicely worked character in the centre. The predominant blue colour selection blends well with the blue buffed background. He has created a sense of movement with the stars and lines bursting out from the sides of the letters.
Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2025
Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2025
Next to his writing, Minto has ‘pimped’ his original Ulow celebration piece, which had been dogged by a bomber. He has managed to salvage some parts of the original and added to it in a rather delightful way, incorporating some of the artwork from the bomber. Both before and after shots are above.
Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2025
To the right is yet another outstanding Hypo piece, majestically filled with a spectrum of colours and diligently decorated with little spheres. The flatness of the letters has been transformed by the skilful use of white highlight lines that create the illusion of depth and a ‘rounding’ of each letter. Superb stuff.
This puffy-faced character piece is by Zake, painted in celebration of Kool Hand’s birthday, although officially his birthday was a month earlier. It seems almost impossible to exaggerate the features in a Zake piece, but he has managed to do it here, with the result that it is all a little but disturbing, the cheeks in particular.
Zake, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2025
As I have explained many times when writing about Zake’s work, he creates so much depth in his work by playing very skilfully with light and shade, using up lighting and down lighting to cast shadows and to emphasise features. Clever work from a quiet and unassuming artist.
Doors 332 – Doors of the souks, Marrakesh, Morocco, January 2025 (Part XII)
It was inevitable that one of our days in Marrakesh would be allocated to shopping in the souks. These are open-air marketplaces in squares and in the central labyrinth of lanes in the north central part of the Medina. They are exactly as you imagine or might have seen in film or video… dusty, cramped, vibrant, smelly, chaotic and exciting. There is danger lurking in the form of mules pulling goods wagons and mopeds absolutely everywhere, weaving their way skilfully (and also recklessly) through the crowds of tourists and merchants – more on this in a couple of weeks.
The souks tend to be divided up into different areas, each specialising in different wares; textiles, jewellery, tinsmiths, spices, food and so on. The nature of the souks are such that losing your way is part of the experience. Even with mapping apps, navigation is challenging, and we went round in circles countless times, encountering places that we recognised from an earlier pass.
There is no danger of mugging or robbery, other than the ridiculous, and mandatory haggling for any and every item – something we Brits are pretty useless at. We tried to be as canny as we could, but we were dealing with professionals. We came home with some rather nice cushion covers, a couple of ceramic cups and a lamp (genie not included).
The doors in this selection are mostly in the streets of the souks. From the photographs, it doesn’t look all that busy, but I can assure you it was… I just waited for people to get out of the way to frame the doors a bit better. I hope you enjoy them:
Door within a studded door, Derb Mouassine, Marrakesh, Morocco, January 2025
Door in Le Jardin Secret, Marrakesh, Morocco, January 2025
Wooden studded door within a door, Derb Mouassine, Marrakesh, Morocco, January 2025
Souk scene, Derb Mouassine, Marrakesh, Morocco, January 2025
Gated archway and bicycles, Mouassine fountain, Derb Mouassine, Marrakesh, Morocco, January 2025
Typical shop front and door, Souk des Teinturiers, Marrakesh, Morocco, January 2025
Beautiful tiles surrounding a keyhole doorway and pair of doors, Souk des Teinturiers, Marrakesh, Morocco, January 2025
Keyhole archway and passage, Rue Dar El Bacha, Marrakesh, Morocco, January 2025
Archways and doorways, Rue Amesfah, Marrakesh, Morocco, January 2025
Shopfronts and doors, Rue Amesfah, Marrakesh, Morocco, January 2025
Sturdy archway, Rue Amesfah, Marrakesh, Morocco, January 2025
Unfortunately, I don’t think these pictures convey the bustle and chaos of the place, where one is constantly changing direction to avoid passing hazards, not least avoiding cats and kittens randomly scattered about the place. The souks aren’t simply a tourist trap, they are a way of life and deeply steeped in culture and history. To avoid them would be a big mistake if visiting Marrakesh.
Next time we take an out-of-town excursion…
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 weekly Thursday Doors post.
Boo! This is another slightly unhinged character piece by Alex Arnell in Leonard Lane. This time he has gone for a door at the north end of the narrow lane, which door lovers among you might see again some time in the distant future as part of a street art Thursday Doors selection.
Alex Arnell, Leonard Lane, Bristol, October 2025
The ghoulish creation is actually a political commentary piece which says ‘no red swastikas here’ meaning (I think) that St George crosses that have been appropriated to represent nationalism and racism are not welcome here, and he is in my view right. There is more than simply the character to admire in this piece, he is set alongside a road with a car, headlights shining, advancing towards a mini roundabout. It is these white mini roundabouts that have been painted with red crosses through them in a wave of ‘patriotism’ that has been sweeping the country. Unfortunate and rather sad that our tolerant nation resorts to this kind of posturing. Great piece from Alex Arnell. It is interesting that at the other end of the tunnel, a beacon of tolerance adorns the column of a building opposite.
Mr Klue can confuse me from time to time; his abstract pieces all have such a strong ‘brand’ feel to them, and he loves to paint the same spots in St Werburghs tunnel, that I can sometimes forget whether I have photographed or written about particular pieces. I could have sworn that I had photographed this piece some time ago, but it appears not.
Mr Klue, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2025
I spoke to somebody in the tunnel a little while back, and they were most complimentary about Mr Klue’s work, and especially about the tone and lightness of touch of his paint. I agreed, and then pointed out that you could make out the letters KLUE if you looked carefully. He thanked me and went on his way. There is indeed a lightness of touch in this piece and a couple of decent scrolls to boot. Always good work from Mr Klue.
Natural adventures 