5. Street Art – Page 63 – Natural adventures

Thursday Doors – 26 June 2025 – Doors of Leicester

Doors 313 – Leicester, Leicestershire (part III) – May 2024

This is the final selection of doors from a visit I made to Leicester with work in May 2024. I did however return in June 2024 and captured a whole load more doors, but I will save these for another day. While Leicester is the sort of city that you drive past or have to have a good reason to go there, it has an interesting history and special culture all of its own, and the surrounding countryside is quite beautiful.

I hope you enjoy the final selection in this series:

Arrivals gateway at Leicester Station, Leicester, Leicestershire, May 2024

Ornate Indian restaurant door, Leicester, Leicestershire, May 2024

Gate and black door, Leicester, Leicestershire, May 2024

Ordinary door to the thinnest of buildings, Leicester, Leicestershire, May 2024

Fancy doorway with as utilitarian door, Leicester, Leicestershire, May 2024

Grey door to the disused Carron Buildings, Rutland Street, Leicester, Leicestershire, May 2024

Three doors into the Secular Society secular hall, Leicester, Leicestershire, May 2024

Ghost door on the weighbridge toll collector's house, Leicester, Leicestershire, May 2024 — Ghost door on the weighbridge toll collector’s house, Leicester, Leicestershire, May 2024

Large arched door with ornate balcony, Leicester, Leicestershire, May 2024

Well that’s it for another week and the end of this visit to Leicester. Something different to come 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 Thursday Doors post.

6993. M32 roundabout J3 (691)

Hypo, Cheo and Hemper, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2025

Birthday paint jams have definitely become more of a thing since I started writing about street art (about ten years now). This was a well attended birthday celebration for Hypo, which turned out some superb pieces. This is a triptych from the birthday boy, Cheo and Hemper.

I’ve pretty much said all there is to say about Hypo’s work in so many posts over the last couple of years, and this is another fine example of his wildstyle writing, perhaps more cryptic than some of his pieces. What an accolade that so many great artists came out to celebrate with him.

Cheo is one of the ‘godfathers’ of character work in Bristol, and this is a superb cartoon-style piece featuring an artist (is it Hypo?) pondering whether he should be using red or yellow paint. The animation is so full of humour and movement, it almost feels like watching a film clip. Of course, a signature bee is in attendance.

Hemper, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2025

Hemper always, always turns out outstanding pieces. This one is as creative as ever, and spells out Hems in blue and white dappled letters set on a red splash. Everything in on point, and it is easy to see that this is the work of a graffiti writing genius. Three great pieces coming together in this birthday collaboration.

6992. St Werburghs tunnel (509)

I am enjoying the discovery of Zinso pieces, and this was the second of three that I have come across recently. There is something rather attractive about the letters and the way they are worked, along with two wonderful blue arrows book ending the writing.

The colourful cartoony letters are filled with nicely blended greens, browns and blues with the exception of the ‘i’ which is a bright contrasting orange. The letters are set on a ping background and finished off with a sprinkling of lovely drips. Although Zinso is new to Bristol, the artist is clearly experienced and accomplished.

6991. Brunel Way (318)

Kool Hand, Mr Crawls and Bean, Brunel Way, Bristol, May 2025

Well this is an unusual trio, but nonetheless a very welcome collaboration from Kool Hand, Mr Crawls and Bean. On closer inspection, I am guessing that it is actually two distinct pieces, a collaboration from Kool Hand and Mr Crawls and an independent piece by Bean, which is perhaps why it looks like an unusual coming together.

Kool Hand, Brunel Way, Bristol, May 2025

Kool Hand has been painting a lot this year, spreading his time between writing and characters. This piece is a profile of his famous orangutan character, which is synonymous with the artist. Constantly improving, Kool Hand has added more detail with shading and complexion.

Mr Crawls, Brunel Way, Bristol, May 2025

Mr Crawls just keeps on going with his gulls, and I just keep on going with photographing them when I see them. This is a nice one painted in his stylised cartoon format – nice and sharp. Difficult to read the expression on this one.

Finally, Bean, who has made a quiet comeback in recent weeks, has painted this exquisite piece with two characters in blue tones spraying the wall. The larger character looks like he is ‘high’ floating on the fumes from the paint can. They have been busy painting the letters BEAN. This is beautifully presented, and it is a great pity that some wally has plastered mud on the piece – what is wrong with some people? A refreshing wall, that didn’t last to long.

6990. River Avon (85)

Not every piece that appears on Natural Adventures is necessarily of the highest calibre, but that isn’t really the point. I like to include a representative spread of pieces from low end to high end, from spray paint to wheatpastes and from graffiti writing to portraits. I like to feature it all here, rather than creating something exclusive. The risk, of course, is that not everybody is going to like everything, although there will, I hope, be a broad enough spectrum of artwork here that most people will see something that they like eventually.

I have included this piece from Pl8o, mainly because it has been a very long while since I last saw something from him. This piece isn’t going to set the world on fire, but it has a certain attractiveness to it. The letters are nice and uniform, and painted on a particularly challenging wall surface. I hope it signals a return to more frequent pieces from a graffiti writer I like a lot.

6989. St Werburghs tunnel (508)

Wispa’s birthday paint jam in the tunnel is a gift that keeps on giving. The turnout for her birthday was excellent, and about half the wall space in the tunnel was re-decorated, which is a good thing as it needed a bit of freshening up.

This is a wonderful piece by the very talented Unity who is a well-established and important member of the of the all-female RBF (Resting Bitch Face) crew. Although she doesn’t paint nearly as much in Bristol as I would like, it is always a pleasure when she does. I don’t think the photographs do this piece justice, as it was taken in the gloomiest part of the tunnel. Her writing is sublime, with superb blended fills and intricate patterning. A deep, double drop shadow in cream colours rounds the writing off perfectly. Great graffiti writing.

6988. Sparke Evans Park (130)

Zake, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, June 2025

I don’t really need to dwell too much on haw Zake has been smashing it lately, his skill is matched by his creativity, and in this piece he has really gone to town. I also like the fact that Zake has returned us to the wonderful colour combination of pink and blue.

Zake has combined three faces into one, to create something that looks like a primitive deity or something like that. The expressions on the faces, running left to right are contentment via uncertainty to some kind of evil rage. An interesting piece with lots to enjoy about it.

6987. St Michael’s Hill (7)

Rowdy, St Michael's Hill, Bristol, June 2025 — Rowdy, St Michael’s Hill, Bristol, June 2025

When I think about Bristol street art, one of the first images that springs to mind is a Rowdy crocodile. Somehow what he does and how he does it embodies a sense of mischief and humour, edge and naive art, and is at the very heart of the Bristol scene.

I love this little spot at the bottom of St Michael’s hill, which has played host to a few different artworks over the years. I love also that is obviously used to be a butcher’s shop and still has the old tiles. Some crocodiles and a radiant cat decorate the walls and window perfectly and ooze everything that Rowdy is all about. I love this.

6986. Peel Street Green (44)

Serm, Peel Street Green, Bristol, June 2025

Serm is an artist who doesn’t paint all that often, but his distinctive pieces are always a welcome addition. This time, he has gone for something a little different and cryptic, hiding his letters in the design.

The green fills and yellow drop shadows work well together, although I’m not sure about the white background that makes the whole piece look a little washed-out, and doesn’t create enough contrast with the letters. The green fills is a subtle blend of at least three tones which come together perfectly. I hope the wait for the next one isn’t too long.

6985. St Werburghs tunnel (507)

It speaks volumes to the popularity of Wispa that there was such an enormous turnout for her birthday paint jam in St Werburghs tunnel, especially as she isn’t even a resident of the city. I know that she is admired by her RBF friends and that she is super-talented.

This is a wonderful birthday piece, spelling out her name. The letter fills are spectacular and so full of ideas, neatly enclosed in as light blue border and accompanied by a black and red drop shadow. I believe the clock character is by Wispa too, as it contains the same lilac paint that surrounds her letters. This is yet another very nice piece of work by Wispa.

	Sheree on Shock
	Sheree on Thursday Doors – 16 Apri…
	Suzette Benjamin on Thursday Doors – 16 Apri…
	Dan Antion on Thursday Doors – 16 Apri…
	wrookieschu on Thursday Doors – 16 Apri…

	Sheree on Shock
	Sheree on Thursday Doors – 16 Apri…
	Suzette Benjamin on Thursday Doors – 16 Apri…
	Dan Antion on Thursday Doors – 16 Apri…
	wrookieschu on Thursday Doors – 16 Apri…

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: