Neddy Ned Neddy, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, January 2025
This outstanding, colourful piece by Neddy Ned Ned was painted as part of a paint session celebrating Jaksta’s birthday. Although I was present to watch him paint some of this piece, he was a little bit too preoccupied to stop for a chat, and having never met him before, I didn’t want to interrupt him.
Neddy Ned Neddy, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, January 2025
This really is a top-drawer piece of wildstyle graffiti writing. The letters spell out Wiska and are filled with a quite superb blended yellow, orange and red colour combination which has a marble effect, really clever. The contrasting blue and black drop shadow has a vanishing point in the centre of the piece. The letters burst out of the wall and bedazzle.
This is yet another piece from the very well-attended birthday RBF paint jam in honour of Desi and Even back in January. It is a fabulous portrait piece by the lovely Pekoe. It has been a relatively quiet winter for Pekoe, but I am pleased to report she has definitely become more active this side of Christmas.
Pekoe, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, January 2025
This portrait is beautifully finished, with superb tight lines, fills and borders. I am particularly struck by the white highlights that complete the piece superbly, on the lips, the eyes and most significantly adding a shine to the hair. The theme for the paint jam was Studio Ghibli, a Japanese animation outfit, and I don’t know if the spiders have anything to do with that or whether they are simply random additions. The other character to the left is part of Bbygwya’s adjacent combination piece.
Zed in the Clouds, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2025
Only a few days ago I posted a piece by Zed in the Clouds and said at the time that he was hugely underrepresented on this blog, so as part of remedying that gap, here is a recent piece by the artist in St Werburghs tunnel, which is rather larger than his usual offering.
Zed in the Clouds, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2025
This combination piece features his familiar character donning a red bucket hat and the letters ZED. Both parts of the combination are filled with a cream tone that is draped in a mass of colour streaks that look like scribbles from a child’s drawing pad. All of the lines run vertically and are augmented with some star decorations. To round off the piece, Zed has included some blood-red drips throughout that bled from the border. Overall, a very nice piece.
Doors 295 – Doors of Peterborough (Part III), April 2024
This is my second attempt at writing this post – I deleted the first by mistake…very irritating.
Regular readers of Natural Adventures will know the drill by now. When I visit towns and cities in the UK and beyond, I tend to take large numbers of door pictures for Thursday Doors posts, and indeed I have a very healthy archive of ‘pending’ doors waiting to be shared. This has both good and bad aspects. It means that I always have a steady stream of doors to post, but run the risk of being a little monotonous, presenting doors from the same place for weeks on end.
This is the third selection of doors from Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, in a series of five posts (I think), and these were all photographed in the cathedral area of the city in April last year. As ever, I hope you enjoy them:
Front elevation and entrance to Peterborough Cathedral, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, April 2024
Wrought iron gate and glass doorway with large vaulted archways to Peterborough Cathedral, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, April 2024
Large side door on Peterborough Cathedral, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, April 2024210_edited
Black door, window and downpipe, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, April 2024
Simple green arched door and stone work, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, April 2024
Black door at number 24 and be careful those flagstones can be slippery when wet, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, April 2024
Ghost door or gateway, now with nicely framed window, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, April 2024
Superb ghost door and tower, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, April 2024
Some of the old buildings in the Cathedral area of Peterborough speak of its ancient history and wealth, it feels rather at odds these days with some of the more deprived areas of the city.
That’s it for another week, with more to come next time. Until then, au revoir.
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.
I never hide the fact that I am a huge admirer of Bloem’s work, whether it is her character pieces, scenes or graffiti writing. Bloem has transitioned seamlessly between her themes, and although she has only painted a few pieces of writing, her obvious talent and technique would make you think she had been a graffiti writer for some years.
Bloem, Frome Side, Bristol, January 2025
The letters spelling BLOEM are imaginatively filled and well where the solids are blended perfectly, and the patterns are delightful. The ‘O’ is a character with horns, which adds a little spice to the piece. Stepping back, the piece appears to be bursting through a wire mesh fence, which is a creative take on smashing through a wall, which is a common idea in graffiti writing. Very nice work indeed.
Creamylines, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, January 2025
One of the most elusive artists in Bristol is Creamylines, probably due to the infrequency of his work. I haven’t yet met him, the chances of bumping in to him while he is painting is minimal, and that is a pity, because I’d love to tell him how much I admire his work.
Creamylines, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, January 2025
There is always a sense of joy and optimism in Creamylines’ creations that momentarily transports one away from the troubles of daily life. His pieces resemble stained-glass windows in the way that they are segmented, with black lines separating each of the small ‘panels’ of artwork. The landscape scene takes us from the sea through hills and mountains ending with a bright sun and birds in the sky. It is almost heavenly. People and eyes are scattered throughout the piece, perhaps demonstrating our interdependence with our surroundings. How much I would love to see more of Creamylines’ uplifting work.
Andy Council and Acer One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, January 2025
There is never a time when it isn’t a genuine pleasure to come across an Acer One/Andy Council collaboration. These two have been painting together for a long time, and although their styles couldn’t be more different, there is a harmony in their work that is probably supported by their familiarity with one another.
Andy Council, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, January 2025
This wonderful composite creature piece by Andy Council is stitched together in his unique style. Andy has said that he is aiming to paint one dinosaur piece each month to celebrate 20 years since he painted his first. If this feathered velociraptor is anything to go by, we are in for a treat in 2025. I like the way that the cloudy puffs span across to Acer One’s piece.
Acer One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, January 2025
Acer One is constantly inventing ways to dazzle us with his graphic lettering and design. Always executed to perfection, his pieces are quite different to anything else we see in Bristol. In this piece he has combined peace and heart symbols to come up with a single entity. It is beautiful and meaningful, and I expect we’ll see more of this icon from Acer One. A fine collaboration.
I have been incredibly lucky recently with the timing of my walks and have met with several artists while they are painting, even yesterday bumping in to Hemper (second time in a week) and Hypo. On this particular visit to Dean Lane, I encountered ESKA and his partner, just as he was finishing up and taking photographs of the completed piece. What is weird is that I first met him in this exact spot last October.
ESKA, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2025
There is always a lot going on in ESKA’s work, which is filled with symbolism. His anamorphic letters are heavily disguised, and form the framework for some little micro-scenes about the place. Lots of shadows and archways with light, a little reminiscent of the perspective work of the Italian artist Gerogio De Chirico.
ESKA, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2025
The colours work really well together and if you step back the whole piece looks amazing, but it is not until you get up close that you start to notice a whole other world happening, for example there are little figures dotted all over the piece, each one casting a long shadow. This is a piece that needs to be studied as well as admired.
