It is great to see Benjimagnetic out and about again after a bit of a winter lull. He appears to have returned with a slight upgrade to his style that feels rather fresher and is exciting. The colours of this piece shout out loudly and attract the eye, with the orange splashes rounding things off so well.
Benjimagnetic, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, May 2024
The letters BEN can be seen if you know to look for them. Benjimagnetic is known for his tidy designs and styling made up of thin lines, which can be seen throughout this piece. Well finished and classy, this is a lovely piece by the artist, and a taste of things to come.
Sometimes you come across a great piece of graffiti writing without having the faintest idea about who the artist is or where they are from, and this piece by Urge is one of those. I think I only found out who Urge was by doing some investigation using Instagram, but other than finding an Instagram account, I am not much wiser. I do know that he isn’t from Bristol.
Urge, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2024
The graffiti writing itself is really beautifully presented and from the hand of a skilled writer. The letters, in a graded series of slate grey tones, spell out URGE and are emphasised with a splash of pinks exploding out from the edge of the piece. Classy stuff from the visiting writer.
30 Days Wild is an initiative organised by the Wildlife Trusts. It is an annual challenge event, for those who choose to participate, to do one ‘wild’ thing a day throughout the month of June. I will try to write a nature haiku every day if I can, as my contribution to this celebration of wildlife and biodiversity. I did this back in 2015 and thoroughly enjoyed the challenge.
It is a genuine privilege to have a stand out The Hass piece here on the Greenbank hoardings, which feels like it was a warm-up piece for his outstanding Upfest combination wall. This is street art of the highest calibre painted in a graffiti spot, and as such stands out a mile. Anyone passing by, and the cycle path gets a lot of footfall, would surely have to stop and admire such a thing of beauty.
The Hass, Greenbank, Bristol, May 2024
The piece falls into two distinct halves which merge in the middle. The left-hand side features a delightful floral design, so delicate and pretty and to the right The Hass has painted a representation of a stone sculpture head, which is reminiscent of the great pieces by PichiAvo.
The Hass, Greenbank, Bristol, May 2024
As a whole, this combination is a true masterpiece, and we are lucky in Bristol to have artists who turn out extraordinary work like this on a reasonably regular basis. This was one of the best surprises I have had on my ’rounds’ for quite a while.
Although I have found quite a few of his pieces, Zeks, as with so many Bristol artists, is a little underrepresented on Natural Adventures. One day I will try to right these wrongs, but not until I can recover a bit more time in my rather busy life. A word that I would use to describe Zeks work is a word I very rarely use, but it somehow fits his style, ‘cute’ – but I don’t mean in the cuddly puppy sense, more in the clean and joyful and sweet way.
Zeks, Greenbank, Bristol, May 2024
Here Zeks has painted his letters in shades of pink and white, with nice interlocking patterns, and accompanied the letters with a rather cool teddy bear. What really helps this piece, and it can be said for so much graffiti writing, is the buffed background, which helps the piece stand alone from the surrounding visual noise. A very nice piece by Zeks.
30 Days Wild is an initiative organised by the Wildlife Trusts. It is an annual challenge event, for those who choose to participate, to do one ‘wild’ thing a day throughout the month of June. I will try to write a nature haiku every day if I can, as my contribution to this celebration of wildlife and biodiversity. I did this back in 2015 and thoroughly enjoyed the challenge.
There is an artist in Bristol whose steady progress over the last year or two has elevated him to a high status, and deservedly so. Mind 49 has been painting from an early age, and his development has been a joy to witness, and now he is turning out outstanding pieces on a regular basis. He seems to have found his style and his work reflects a greater confidence.
Mind 49, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024
This is one of a few recent pieces that showcase Mind 49’s portrait style, in which he practically always obscures part or most of the face either by its orientation or the use of clothing or accessories, like these sunglasses. Because of this his portraits feel more grounded, and less posed than some portrait pieces that we see. Brilliant zip by the way. This one is so much better in ‘the flesh’ because my photographs are a little washed out, which can happen on this wall in the afternoon/early evening light. Keep watching this space for a whole lot more from Mind 49.
Just because I have been paying quite a lot of attention to Upfest 2024 recently, id doesn’t mean that the world of Bristol street/graffiti art has stood still, on the contrary, it continues at the same ridiculous pace as usual. At the vanguard of high quality high productivity are the machine that is Dibz and Fade, and in this instance Jody too.
Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2024
This ET tribute triptych is typical of the classy collaborations these artists have been churning out for well over a year now, since Fade returned to Bristol. On the left is a beautiful and perfectly presented piece of graffiti writing from Fade, that is notable for the drop shadow lifting upwards, which makes it feel like the letter block is moving downwards, if that makes sense – clever stuff.
Jody, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2024
The filling of the sandwich has been created by Jodi and portrays the most iconic scenes of the movie and possibly one of the most iconic images of the early 1980s. Not only has Jodi recreated Elliott and ET, but also the amazing landscape and moon shot. I like the way that the artists have put their signatures onto the box which ET is sitting in, as if they were written in felt-tip.
Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2024
Rounding off the collaboration is a perfect piece of writing from Dibz which mirrors Fade’s writing on the other side. The drop shadow that Dibz uses is more conventional and acts as a counterbalance to Fade’s. This is an awesome ET collaboration, worthy of great praise.
Fyonafinn, North Street, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024
One of the interesting aspects of this year’s Upfest has been the large number of typographic writers/sign writers that have been invited, which is really quite unusual for a street art festival. Because of the format changes, and virtually no temporary hoardings being available, the other major change has been a massive reduction in the number of graffiti writers, so there is a very different ambience to the festival this time round.
This is a wonderful piece of stylised writing from Fyona Finn, a Bristol-based artist who has painted a few walls in the city in the past, but most of whose work is design. She describes herself as a lettering activist, which I think defines her style really well.
Fyonafinn, North Street, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024
There are two elements to this piece, the design of the letters, and the message. The letters are carefully arranged, and created using masking tape to generate the straight lines, and the fills drift from one letter to another in a considered way. The message “Take care of each other” is a warm and compassionate sentiment delivered at a time when compassion from an outgoing Tory government is at an all time low. This is a nice piece from Fyona Finn, and I hope to see more of her work on Bristol walls.
30 Days Wild is an initiative organised by the Wildlife Trusts. It is an annual challenge event, for those who choose to participate, to do one ‘wild’ thing a day throughout the month of June. I will try to write a nature haiku every day if I can, as my contribution to this celebration of wildlife and biodiversity. I did this back in 2015 and thoroughly enjoyed the challenge.
Natural adventures 