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.
There are absolutely no signs of Bean slowing down at all. The young artist has been smashing out his character/writing pieces with incredible regularity throughout the summer, and I already have easily enough for a gallery of his work, although I have a pipeline in preparation, and his gallery might need to find a slot in the queue.
Bean, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2023
This piece combines Bean’s central character with writing that spells out BEAN. The blue-faced cartoon character fits the Bean style perfectly, with each colour block containing a light and dark tone to bring out a bit of depth. The writing is really accomplished and has excellent fills in three horizontal sections. I feel like Bean is a man in a hurry, and perhaps he should draw breath and develop some elements of his work. I think that his pieces would definitely benefit from a buffed background, to remove competing distractions, for example. If he keeps developing and learning, Bean will go far.
A gallery of graffiti writing from Ugar, a Hungarian artist who painted in Bristol between 2017 and 2019.
All photographs by Scooj
Ugar, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2019Ugar, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2019Ugar, New Stadium Road, Bristol, June 2019Ugar, M32 cycle path, Bristol, May 2019Ugar, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2019Ugar, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2018Ugar, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2018Nevergiveup and Ugar, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2018Ugar, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2018Ugar, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2018Ugar, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2018Ugar, The Bearpit, Bristol, November 2017Ugar, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2017Ugar, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2017Ugar, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2017Kid Crayon and Ugar, The Bearpit, Bristol, November 2017
Today, being a Sunday, I have a little bit more capacity to write a third post, which is rather necessary, given the vastness of my backlog. Let me introduce you to a new artist on the scene, Jevoissoul, who I met at this exact spot a couple of weeks after he painted this interesting column piece. When I first saw the piece, I wondered if an artist called Panskaribas (whose style is similar to this) had returned to Bristol, as there are many shared characteristics between the artists, such as the cartoon Picassoesque style.
Jevoissoul, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2023
What is most impressive is that Jevoissoul has jumped straight from sketchbook to walls, using this area under Brunel Way to practice his spray can control and technique. When I spoke with the artist, he told me that this was just the beginning and that he was planning to do a lot of painting, and indeed that is exactly what is happening, his work is popping up all over the place. I think I am going to enjoy watching how Jevoissoul develops as a street artist from this encouraging start.
I think that Sako is an occasional visitor to Bristol, or simply doesn’t paint all that often. This is only the second piece I have featured by Sako, and it is absolutely superb in my view, cleverly painted in subtle tints of rose and turquoise. Coincidentally, there is something about the mood and tone of the piece that is similar to my earlier post today by Andrew Burns Colwill.
Sako, M32 Spot, Bristol, August 2023
Sako has used the limited space and shape of the column to perfection. There is an interesting relationship between the character and the built environment, and although I am not too sure what the story is here, I believe there is one being told. The colours are perfect together, and I would love to see more of this combination (note to self – buy these colours) on the streets. This is a great piece by Sako from back in the summer.
Andrew Burns Colwill, Queen’s Road, Bristol, August 2023
This absolutely sensational piece by Andrew Burns Colwill, is another from the paint jam celebrating 650 years of Bristol, and is the one that probably most closely follows the brief. The idea behind the paint jam was to celebrate Bristol, to paint with brushes (no spray cans), and to paint in a Renaissance style. Andrew Burns Colwill manages to nail it with this outstanding mural.
Andrew Burns Colwill, Queen’s Road, Bristol, August 2023
These pictures somehow got stuck in my pipeline system for publication, and were prompted (rediscovered) by yesterday’s Martin D’Acy piece, which is pretty much adjacent to this one. The elephant in the room with these pictures is the rather unfortunate and prominent street furniture, in the form of scooters and bins. I thought long and hard about waiting to get some ‘clean’ pictures of the piece, but felt publishing them ‘warts and all’ was probably more authentic, and the scooters in particular are directly referenced in the work. I will return however and get a clean shot to post here in due course.
Andrew Burns Colwill, Queen’s Road, Bristol, August 2023
The piece is in two halves, split vertically down the middle, with the left-hand side being the old city and to the right the modern city. His soak stain technique creates a washed appearance and extraordinary atmosphere. The old city, painted in light optimistic hues, is prosperous and on the up, and alludes to its merchant connections and seafaring trade. There is beauty in the characters, oxen and architecture that Andrew Burns Colwill has captures perfectly.
Andrew Burns Colwill, Queen’s Road, Bristol, August 2023
Contrast this with the right-hand side of the piece, which is a little darker in shade and mood. There is an impersonal sense that prevails as individuals rush from one place to another on their scooters, emblematic transport of our time. Like so much of his work, Andrew Burns Colwill tells a story here, and it is not all good. The optimism and vibrancy of our past has not ended with the social progress and cohesion we might have expected, but with an almost dystopian present.
The story is clear, and most beautifully painted. If you happen to visit Bristol, take a moment to seek out this piece and spend time looking at it and feel the history of the place.
Although I don’t recall seeing any of his work in Bristol, I am aware of Martin D’Acy and his outstanding murals, having seen some of them in Weston-super-Mare, which to my shame, I haven’t yet published on Natural Adventures. This piece was painted as part of the Bristol 650 year celebration and paint jam, curated and coordinated by Upfest and Bristol BID.
Martin D’Acy, Queen’s Road, Bristol, August 2023
The stunning and tranquil scene, which has been painted on some extraordinarily tricky door panels, depicts manicured parkland and a beautiful stillwater. There is a sense of a designed country estate with attractive follies, something deeply entrenched in British culture. I am not too sure what happened on the bit of wall between the windows and the doors, but it looks like the piece is perhaps unfinished. Nonetheless, this is a truly excellent mural that many may ignore, perhaps assuming it is one of those stick-on plastic pictures that blight shop windows on our streets. My advice to those who don’t open their eyes… put your phone down and look around you.
I was fortunate enough to be driving by when Stivs and Vane were pretty much finishing off this piece, but couldn’t take any pictures at that time, because Vane had parked his van in front of it while they were clearing away all their gear. I didn’t go back immediately, knowing that it was a commission piece that would be respected by taggers.
Stivs and Vane, Mina Road, Bristol, August 2023
The fantasy woodland piece is a true collaboration, where it is not possible to disentangle which artist painted which bits of the extraordinary work. The piece is quite unusual in Bristol, as we don’t get to see many of this kind of collaborative mural. Each of the artists has included some letters, with Stivs writing DSC on the left and Vane writing TAF on the right.
Stivs and Vane, Mina Road, Bristol, August 2023
The almost Disneyesque style of the piece, it reminds me a little of Sleeping Beauty, is compelling to look at and beautifully executed. So absorbing is the piece that it is difficult to see that there is a garage door right in the middle. A garage door that once played host to an outstanding piece by Silent Hobo. This is something you might usually associate with Upfest and a premium wall in Bedminster, but here it is in Mina Road, thanks to an enlightened resident. Bravo gentlemen!
Kid Krishna, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, September 2023
Earlier on this year, perhaps the most productive and creative street artist in Bristol for a while was arguably Kid Krishna. He was smashing it all over the place with his writing/character mash-ups and then, all of a sudden, nothing until about three weeks ago. I know that he had some other projects on the go and perhaps he was working on those.
Kid Krishna, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, September 2023
This piece, on his return, is much softer and rounded than what I am used to seeing, but still characteristically a Kid Krishna piece. The letters spell CRIE, not that you’d be able to guess just by looking at it. I would describe this piece as more ‘mainstream’ than some of his work, but he has since painted something a little bit more ‘scratchy’ in St Werburghs. I hope that we will be seeing more of his street work over the remainder of the year.
This lovely script writing piece by Logoe was one of nine painted during a frenzied 24 hour period of activity when he visited Bristol a few weeks back. I think I only managed to find five of them, and often these blitz pieces get painted over quite quickly, depending on where they are.
Logoe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2023
It would be inconsistent of me to say I like the colours used in this piece, because I have said repeatedly on Natural Adventures that brown colour palettes are probably my least favourite. What he has done here is great to see… just a shame it is brown.
Natural adventures 