Inkie, Upfest 2024, Gathorne Road, Bristol, May 2024
Inkie is probably Bristol’s best known street artist, alongside Banksy (of course) and Nick Walker, and unlike the others, he still regularly paints in Bristol. It is pretty much a given that Inkie will be invited to Upfest to paint a significant wall, and for at least the second time he has painted the side of Parson’s Bakery on North Street.
Inkie, Upfest 2024, Gathorne Road, Bristol, May 2024
‘Use your loaf” is the slogan Inkie has chosen for this classic piece with his very special writing and stylised portrait of a girl with long flowing hair. I don’t know if the colloquialism is one known outside the UK, but in this instance ‘loaf’ means brain or head… a bit like the phrase ‘use your noodle’… same thing. A clever slogan for a bakery. Wonderful stuff from Inkie.
Inkie, Gathorne Road, Bristol, July 2019Inkie, Gathorne Road, Bristol, June 2016
On the corner of Cheltenham Road and Elton Road, is a rather progressive funeral parlour (we used to call them undertakers when I was growing up) called Divine Ceremony, and recently they commissioned Farrah to paint a large mural in the car park behind their business. Farrah’s abstract work lends itself so very well to this kind of commission.
Farrah, Elton Road, Bristol, July 2024
There are a handful of artists who land a whole lot of commissions in the city, and perhaps the best known are Andy Council, Alex Lucas and Farrah, who between them have a great many intact pieces on both sides of the river. I could attempt to put my take on the wonderful mural, but I thought it would be better coming from Farrah herself, and the following was taken from her Instagram feed:
Such a pleasure to paint this mural for @divineceremony – a female owned and run business for such a beautiful and honourable service for humanity.
It was like a godsend for Dee Ryding at Divine Ceremony to find and connect with me last year. She said I was the perfect fit to paint the walls for her funeral business and now I truly understand why it was meant to be!
I love to bring joy to people through my art. And they bring joy too when it is so much needed in immensely difficult times. They celebrate a persons life and care for them and their families in such a gentle and beautiful respectful way, for the next part of the journey. What beautiful people! Wow.
I have come to realise myself recently that there is so much beauty in sadness too. And hope in the unknown. I believe life always continues in this beautiful divine universe. Hence my mural is like the flow of life, never ending, forever flowing. It may seem like the end on this planet for people that have passed on. But I think it’s only the beginning and that there is another beautiful and divine place beyond what we see. Beauty and eternal joy beyond the darkness, beyond that portal. It is always with us.
Thank you Divine Ceremony for choosing me to paint for you. It was a absolute privilege 🙏
Farrah, Elton Road, Bristol, July 2024
I had to return to the car park a second time, because there was a car parked right in front of the left hand end of the wall the first time I visited. This is probably the nearest street art to where I live, and I will see it most days, which is a great thing really. The perfect commission perfectly executed by Farrah.
Sage is an artist who emerges every once in a while in Bristol, and could never be described as prolific, indeed he has been rather quiet for some time now, so is was great to see this piece, which was part of a larger collaborative paint a week or two back.
Sage, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2024
I know that I have several of his pieces in my archives that for some inexplicable reason I have never published. He is a talented writer, and for a while dotted the streets of Bristol with his capped character mega tag. This writing has a bit of a retro-psychedelia feel to it and is accompanied by a couple of interesting characters on the right. This is a classy piece, and I rather hope it might indicate increased activity from Sage.
Face 1st and Zake, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2024
It looks like Face 1st and Zake have an insatiable appetite for painting at the moment, and they are teaming up, with or without the rest of PWA friends to get out there and decorate our walls. This time the pair have chosen the M32 roundabout to express themselves.
Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2024
Face 1st continues to work on his 3D blocky letters, which in fairness he has been tinkering with for a few years, but seems to be really concentrating on them at the moment. This is a familiar format, where he spells out FACE with the letter ‘A’ being replaced with a laughing girl.
Zake, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2024
Zake has been creating some rather zany and at times mildly disturbing cartoon portrait pieces lately, and this one fits that description quite neatly. Whenever I see a heart in street art, I read it as meaning one of two things – love, or heart break. It is possible in this instance that it is neither and might be illustrating the tussle between heart and mind. The character has been cleaved in two, which makes for not the most attractive sight. All in all a nice collaboration from the busy pair.
This is not the first time that Haka has painted characters from the series of extraordinary children’s picture books by Richard Scarry, and I can’t express how happy I was to see this. Haka has faithfully reproduced this little pastiche featuring Huckle Cat and Lowly Worm.
Haka, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2024
Haka has captured Richard Scarry’s style really well and brightened up this dark corner of Brunel Way. These books have played an important part in my childhood, and one of the books which I owned made it onto a TV commercial I was in with my sister back in the 1970s… but that is another story.
Noise and Sait Bare, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2024
I have to say that this was not a collaboration that I was expecting, but that is the joy of documenting street and graffiti art in this fine city. Noise has collaborated with several different artists in Bristol, so why not collaborate with Sait Bare? The two artists have gone for a colour coordinated theme that carries through both of their graffiti writing.
Noise and Sait Bare, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2024
Noise has painted the left hand side with his chunky NOISE letters, and Sait Bare has written BARE in his slightly unruly style – together they compliment each other perfectly. I would guess that the character in the middle was probably a combined effort, but without asking them I can’t be certain. This is a very nicely produced collaboration and great surprise.
Although she doesn’t hit the walls all that often, it is always a treat when Nips produces one of her pieces of writing. She tends to have a fairly consistent approach to her letter shapes, but like many other artists who demonstrate this consistency, it is the fills that are king.
Nips, M32 roudabout, Bristol, July 2024
Tucked away on the M32 roundabout the graffiti writing is filled with a wonderful selection of green tones that transition beautifully with a combination of shape changes and blending. Nips creates great depth to her letters by using white accents on the right hand edges them, and using this device the letters pop really well. This is a very nice, in not a little modest, piece by Nips.
This piece by Grimes once again confirms how he is establishing himself on the Bristol street/graffiti art scene and becoming part of the furniture round here. There is an incredible amount of energy that is emitted by his pieces, which is difficult to pin down, but the combination of colours and design really hit the mark.
Grimes, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2024
I don’t know where Grimes came from before he became really active in the city, but his Instagram feed which goes back to 2019 suggests he has always been here, perhaps just waiting for the moment and confidence to hit our walls big time. He painted this as part of a four-way paint jam with Sage, Zaxer One and Alker. Bright, colourful, vibrant and very welcome, I am convinced you’ll be seeing plenty more from Grimes on Natural Adventures.
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