I am Stephen. I live in Bristol, UK. I decided to shorten my profile...to this: Wildlife, haiku, travel, streetart, psychogeography and my family. Not necessarily in that order.
Upfest brings with it all sorts of additional benefits, including what I like to call ‘extras’ where artists who have been invited to paint official Upfest walls, also leave behind a piece or two on Unofficial walls.
Nol and Mul, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2026
Here, Nol from the Netherlands and Mul from London? Or Newcastle? Have combined their talents to decorate the curved wall in Dean Lane skate park. The cheeky sticker on the left is by Nol, and the running heart by Mul. These two have collaborated before in Bristol, possibly during s previous Upfest festival.
Another revelation while wandering about in East Street during Upfest 2026, was this lovely shutter piece by Inkie. Being a Sunday, the shutter was down on the front of this National Health Service pharmacy.
Inkie, East Street, Bristol, May 2026
Some lovely words ‘Love NHS Community’ written in superb chunky Inkie style, sit on top of a subtlely patterned background. This is a lovely commission, offering community art in a shared community space. Bravo Bedminster NHS and Inkie.
Mind 49, as I mentioned in a recent post of his work, has moved into a new groove, in which he is presenting portraits, where only the eyes and nose are visible, while the rest of the face is obscured behind a cover of colour/patterns/designs, as if wearing a balaclava.
Mind 49, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2026
There is a clever and deliberate juxtaposition between the photorealism of the exposed parts of the face, and the rather childish and scruffy elements around it. The daisies seem to be a particular favourite theme for Mind 49 at the moment, and here he has included a couple of small captions: “Cut and run” and “Sometimes don’t do it”.
I may be way off the mark here, but I can’t help feeling that this presentation style demonstrates a touch of modesty or even a lack of confidence. Mind 49 is more than capable of painting excellent portraits, but it feels like this ‘self-harming’ of his work is masking something else, almost coming across as imposter syndrome. It is, having said all of this, very unusual, challenging and creates a great talking point.
Time for another jaunt back to John D’oh’s personal outdoor gallery underneath the M32. This time he presents us with a catchphrase or ‘wisdom’ that he has used before, but with a different accompanying scene.
John D’oh, M32 roundabout J2, Bristol, May 2026
The stencil piece shows a young boy with a backpack, kneeling down in front of a cat with a dead rat hanging from its mouth. A scene not unfamiliar to anyone who knows or has owned cats. The caption says “Enjoy life, it has an expiration date”. In terms of the artwork, although it is a single-colour stencil, I love the intricate patterning of the cat fur, and the creases in the boy’s trousers. A nicely worked and presented piece.
Awkward and Benjimagnetic, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2026
I’m not sure I have seen Benjimagnetic and Awkward collaborate since last year, but here they are in fine fettle, on the side wall of the swimming pool, tucked behind a bushy fence, well out of sight of most passers by.
Awkward and Benjimagnetic, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2026
The letters in this collaborative piece are by Benjimagnetic, and I can’t for the life of me read them. He normally writes 3 letters, so this is quite different. The cheeky, creepy red and yellow characters are by Awkward and augment the letters really well. A nicely integrated collaboration from the pair.
Another strong and reliable piece from ARSA. His symmetrical blocky letters present as very solid and confident both structurally and also in the manner of their impact. You can spot an ARSA piece from a mile away, due to the distinctive style.
ARSA, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2026
The colour fills in the ARSA letters follow a regime, but are not uniform, which is quite unusual for the artist – perhaps he is loosening up? The piece is set on a silhouetted urban landscape and was part of a larger paint jam.
I have had a very challenging day. Super-busy at work. Laptop overheating and running extremely slowly, I’m overheating and running extremely slowly, and I have had to squeeze this post into a compressed lunch break. At least this post features a top combination collaboration by Veks and Bandito.
Veks, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2026
Veks has painted a classic b-boy character wearing the uniform of hoodie and baseball cap, and clutching a spray can. Beautifully presented is a timeless retro style. Perfect.
Bandito, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2026
I haven’t seen anything by Bandito for years, so it was a very pleasant surprise indeed to see this piece in a tickz memorial wall paint jam. His slim letters are so characteristic of his work. The letters spell TICKZ and filled with horizontal colour bands that are beautifully blended. The slim yellow border finishes it of nicely.
There was a rather nice little birthday paint jam for Donz in the tunnel a few weeks back, and this is the contribution from Hypo. This was good to see, as he has dropped his frequency of painting lately.
Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, June 2026
The HYPO letters are replaced with DONZ, proving Hypo can apply his magical style to any letters. The fresh piece is immaculately presented, with some superb colour matching, and great definition of letters provided by the slim white border. The piece is decorated with triplets of small spheres dotted bout the place and adding movement and interest to the whole. Nice work from Hypo.
Those of you who know this blog well will know that when I post street art Thursday Doors, it indicates that I am under time pressure, and that is exactly the case this week. So this is a quick presentation of some repurposed graffiti/street art pictures that have appeared on Natural adventures in the past as street art posts. This is the first time I have presented them as Thursday Doors pictures. I hope you enjoy them:
Hannah Adamaszek, High Street, Rochester, January 2025Nomad Clan, Hackins Hey, Liverpool, March 2025
(Do car doors count?)
Dave Bonsai, Greenland Street, Liverpool, March 2025Liam Bononi, St James Street, Liverpool, March 2025Kid Krishna, The Carriageworks, Bristol, March 2025
So just a short one this week – resumption of Shrewsbury doors next time.
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 and his Sunday recap.
This is an interesting fantasy creature piece by Dun Sum that cleverly makes use of a recent feature on this wall. The layers of paint on popular walls builds up over time and every once in a while a chunk of paint, up to an inch thick will peel away, as has happened here.
Dun Sum, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2026
Dun Sum has painted a bird’s head holding a long nail in its beak. I don’t know what this means or if there is a story here, but the creature is nicely framed in the gap left behind by the peeling paint. Always good to see artists incorporating their surroundings into their work.
Natural adventures 