.
You kept us waiting
twenty three years a couple
tied the knot at last
.
by Scooj
5817. L Dub (52)
I am so pleased that Donz is starting to get more of a presence on Natural Adventures, an unfortunate underrepresentation which is an artefact of the fact that I don’t visit L Dub all that often, and Donz rarely paints anywhere else in Bristol.
This is a fun piece in a typically wacky style from Donz made all the more fun by the inclusion of a character face replacing the ‘O’ in his letters. It is a fact of life in street art writing, that the letter ‘O’ more than any other can be fiddled around with and replaced, for example Biers and his WD40 and Boogie with his double ‘O’s. There is some nice lettering here that bleeds away at the top.
Either Donz needs to come into the centre more often, or I need to get out to L Dub, but until one or both of those things happen, Donz will most likely only make occasional appearances in these pages.
5816. St Werburghs tunnel (405)
I am very short of time today, with lots to do, having spent the whole of yesterday in London at a wonderful wedding of a cousin of mine. Still feeling a little worse for wear, and tired, as we were on the last train out of London, and then had to endure music and a party in our next door neighbour’s flat which continued until 4am. A little bit of Mr Klue magic is the perfect antidote to this.
Mr Klue has been a little quiet over the winter, but seems to be cranking things up a little. This piece is in one of his favoured spots, and is probably one of his clearest renditions of the letters KLUE in his ephemeral abstract style. A perfect piece for a Sunday morning.
5815. North Street
Sometimes you just can’t see the wood for the trees. I don’t understand how I missed this wonderful piece by Cheo, both on social media and in situ. I am guessing that it is a Halloween piece, or at least it looks that way (Fact check: it was painted around mid-October for Halloween), and got lucky, because it was painted over a few days after I took these pictures. Even though I think I have my eyes open, I still manage to miss things.
There is some real depth to this piece, which looks more like a painting than a piece of street art. I think it was painted at ground level and then placed in this elevated spot outside The North Street Standard with the help of Upfest. All the ingredients for a Halloween piece are there, a cat, a pumpkin, a cauldron, some wispy ghosts, a witch and a skull and bones, all given the special Cheo treatment. A lovely piece.
5814. New Stadium Road (54)
It feels like Raid has been really upping his game lately, both in frequency of painting and in the quality of his work. When I first saw this piece, I said “oh yes!” under my breath, knowing that I was looking at a really classy piece of writing that has come about through hard graft and honing of skills. Watching Raid’s development is a joy and a pleasure.
It is impossible to ignore the brilliant fill pattern, which although quite simple in concept is beautifully executed and really effective… it has the ‘wow’ factor. The letters RAID are in a rotationally symmetrical form, a form that Raid has used several times before. An outstanding piece of graffiti writing.
Small pleasures
.
Sweet sibilant song
a robin busting a lung
pauses for replies
.
by Scooj
5813. Dean Lane skate park (687)
Aah! what joy finding this outstanding piece by Sepr and Boaster the day before going away for a week on holiday. Finding this piece, in part, helped me to overcome any withdrawal symptoms or FOMO while I was skiing in the French Alps. If I had missed the piece, I would have been a little regretful. but thankfully that didn’t happen.
It is possible to see when artists are having fun and obviously bouncing with shared ideas and inspiration. A pair of toucans drinking Carlsberg Special Brew… who’d have thought it? The toucan on the left was painted by Sepr with all his trademark stylised cartoon painting skills on show. I cannot explain how much I like this piece, and have missed his work, which seems to be occasional these days. The toucan is holding a plastic bag containing four beer cans and he is holding another in his other hand. The piece is accompanied with the words “Two can Jackie Chan the toucan with a bag o’cans!” pretty much describes the piece. Jackie Chan is offering a can to his friend to the right.
I recently posted a piece by Boaster which I photographed in Nottingham, so it is really satisfying to see another one so soon and this time in my home town of Bristol. Boaster’s toucan is drinking a bottle of Brahma beer (a brand I am not familiar with) and uttering the words “sim voce”, which I think means ‘yeah’ sort of thing in Portuguese. Am I to infer that the toucan is Brazilian? it would make sense. The two toucans are different in style, one very sharp, the other a little fluffier, but they work perfectly together. This is easily the best collaboration of the year so far, in my opinion.
5812. M32 roundabout J3 (549)
Having not seen Werm for an eternity, it was really nice to bump into him while he was painting this piece. What made the encounter stranger still was that we had been communicating the day before about a RichT piece that I had posted. Sometimes it is difficult not to believe in coincidence, although I know there is a whole ton of evidence to dismiss it.
Werm is trying out something a little different in this piece, and has definitely edged away from his ultra-complex wildstyle pieces of the last year or two. The notable thing about this piece is the gently pastel colours softly transitioning across all of the letters in a seemingly random sequence. The strong 3D shadow, green border and trimmings and the black buffed wall help the piece to stand out nicely. A good start to the New Year from Werm.
5811. Greville Smyth Park (1)
The bunch of small buildings in the southeast corner of Greville Smyth Park have served as a canvas for the last few Upfest festivals, and this wall has recently been ‘dressed’ with this outstanding collaboration from Acer One and Andy Council. From the colours, you might pick up that this piece recognises and supports the plight of the Palestinian people, and Acer One offers a full explanation of the piece in his Instagram feed.
The letters SPEAK BIRD are beautifully presented by Acer One with his characteristic black shadow. The birds, which look like bee eaters to me, are by Andy Council. The one on the right is rather disturbingly composed of bombs and missiles. Both elements of the piece are beautifully painted and the words poignant once you know the back-story to the piece. I wish it would all just end.
5810. New Stadium Road (53)
There are a multitude of reasons why street/graffiti artists go through productive and non-productive phases, sometimes to do with friends, family and relationships, sometimes location/geography, sometimes employment, sometimes mental/physical health issues and sometimes simply falling in or out of love with it. I am pleased to report that Mr Riks seems to have found a rhythm and has been out and about a fair bit recently.
This is a spot, where Mr Riks has painted before, alongside his friend Silent Hobo. This time it is a solo piece, and a very nice one at that. Some great colours in the distinctive bubble script writing, with a couple of cheeky characters peering on. A great piece from an accomplished writer.
Natural adventures 