5. Street Art – Page 28 – Natural adventures

7718. M32 roundabout J3 (779)

This is an infrequently painted fence which was in need of a bit of a tidy up, and Serm has duly obliged. The combination piece features some lovely intricate lettering spelling SERM with a very deep drop shadow offering a strong three-dimensional aspect. Very much two-dimensional is the well-known cartoon character – the Pink Panther.

I incorrectly identified this as an Avem808 piece originally, but he got in touch to say it wasn’t him, and so I had a closer look and the piece was indeed by Serm. It can be easy to get these things wrong from time to time. Great to see a new piece by Serm, as he doesn’t get out to paint all that often.

7717. Dean Lane skate park (926)

Hire has been pushing all sorts of boundaries lately and varying his work considerably, including a character piece from a week or two back. In this superb piece of graffiti writing he spells out ODIAH, one of two words he tends to write.

What is really special about this piece is that it has a metallic appearance that is complete deception. The combination of blues and greys leaves the brain figuring out whether to look at those colours individually or to see what looks like a solid piece of reflecting metal. This is a technique used by many artists, perhaps the best being Fanakapan – see below to understand what I mean.

Fanakapan, Hawley Mews, Camden, September 2016

7716. Norfolk Place

Mind 49, Norfolk Place, Bristol, May 2026

There is a tiny little passageway coming off East Street that links up to Norfolk Place where this shutter piece by Mind 49 can be found. I like to explore this little alley way, because just occasionally it leads to some special art.

The light conditions when I took this photograph were a little challenging, and the picture really doesn’t do justice to the piece itself, I think I’ll have to return on an overcast day, to avoid the large and small shadows. Mind 49 has settled on this theme of a head covered with patterns and illustrations, as if on a piece of cloth, with only the subject’s eyes and nose poking through, reminiscent of a food delivery rider with a balaclava hood. There is a contrast between the detailed features and the child-like deliberately crude daisies and flowers. Nice shutter piece.

7715. Gwilliam Street

Farrah, Gwilliam Street, Bristol, May 2026

Farrah has been very busy in the Windmill Hill area of Bristol, but I only found this out when I went on a little drive there recently. She has done a job on the Windmill Hill convenience store, that I’m sure has made it a bit of a local landmark – more tyhan simply a shop.

Her impressionist style draws on influences such as Vincent van Gogh, and she uses single brush strokes in a repeating pattern to create this vibrant organic effect. Often, Farrah will have a focal point in her pieces around which her patterns swirl, but not on this occasion, where the pattern simply ripples through the walls.

Farrah has certainly upped her game and is painting some really large walls, many of them commissions, and it would seem that she manages to make a living from her art, which can be a real struggle for artists. I’m sure that the people of Windmill are rightly proud of this work.

7714. M32 roundabout J3 (778)

Regular readers will know that I love Lupa’s work and the authenticity of her pieces. This was painted alongside Desi and Bloem and bought into the predominantly red colour scheme of the collaborative wall.

Another link to Bloem’s piece is a little flash of leopard spot design on the star. Lupa’s blocky letters have a special charm, almost a personality which I think contributes to the overall uplifting appearance of her work. In addition to the star, Lupa has added a dice on the bottom left – perhaps symbolic of luck? Fun piece from Lupa.

7713. Exeter Road – Upfest 2026 (20)

Ajax Piper, Upfest 2026, Exeter Road, Bristol, May 2026

This is one of my favourite pieces from this year’s Upfest. There is something about the classical style with a contemporary twist that really appeals to me, and the artwork in soft colours is perfectly executed. This could hang with pride in any gallery in the land.

Ajax Piper is an artist I have only come across once before, and that was at the Cheltenham paint festival in 2023. The two ladies are relaxing in a woodland setting with toadstools at their feet. The piece is arresting as one of the ladies is looking straight out at the viewer, and the other glancing downwards. Another element of interest is the abstract nature of the trees, particularly the one on the right. A superb piece by Ajax Piper for Upfest. Bravo!

Ajax Piper, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023

7712. North Street Standard – Upfest 2026 (19)

Merny, Upfest 2026, North Street Standard, Bristol, May 2026

I am pleased that a great many artists at this year’s Upfest are local artists that managed to secure some important walls, and this piece by Merny on the wall outside the Bristol Standard is a good example of one of these.

Merny has a fairly provocative sense of humour that comes across in his work, and sometimes/often he is political too. In this piece, he picks up on a right wing slogan “stop the boats”, part of the illegal immigration cant, and applies it to the wealthy elites and their luxury yachts and, presumably, their tax avoidance/evasion. A clever twist, painted in his naïve art style. Cracking piece.

7711. Greenway Bush Lane – Upfest 2026 (18)

Cheba, Upfest 2026, Greenway Bush Lane, Bristol, May 2026

Cheba has been painting his cosmic pieces as long as I have been blogging, and probably considerably longer than that. This one at the back of Aldi, is a beauty and quite one of his best in my opinion.

Undaunted by a window and a couple of air vents, Chiba has created an incredible cosmic scene which lets our imaginations run wild. It is the reflection in the window that abruptly brings us back down to earth. An incredibly beautiful piece from Chiba.

7710. Stillhouse Lane – Upfest 2026 (17)

Snub 23, Upfest 26, Stillhouse Lane, Bristol, May 2026

Having just found out about this magnificent wall through Upfest, I have heard that the building is due to be demolished at some point. I don’t know whether that is true or not, but what a pity if it is, because it is a perfect wall for large high-end murals, and would lend itself very well to collaborative productions and paint jams.

This is a magnificent piece by Snub 23, who is no stranger to Upfest, and has painted in Bristol a number of times. The picture above shows the artist rounding off the character basics, but there is still so much work to do on the detailing and finishing, which you can see from looking at the final work.

The two robot characters dressed in human clothes appear to be blasting one another with sound waves coming from their “speaker” heads. Beautifully worked action piece, with plenty of movement, and some brilliant fabric folds and creases. A fine Upfest piece.

7709. Greville Smith Park – Upfest 2026 (16)

DFC1848, Upfest 2026, Greville Smyth Park, Bristol, May 2026

It was good to catch up with DFC1848 at this year’s Upfest, and before he painted this fun character piece, we had a long chat while admiring Jimmer Wilmot’s skilful alphabetti spaghetti piece.

With so much practice over the years, DFC1848 has built up a portfolio of animal characters which he is constantly adding to. When he first started, he would paint the same two characters pretty much all of the time, a bear and a spray can with wings. Now his menagerie swells and is bursting at the seams, with the addition of this rather unhinged elephant. Great work, beautifully executed.

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