5456. East Street

Taboo, East Street, Bristol, August 2023
Taboo, East Street, Bristol, August 2023

I went on a bit of a wild goose chase last week looking for some boards in Bedminster, but was completely unable to find them. The walk, however, took me to East Street after working hours and all the shops were closed, and I was in shutter heaven.

Taboo, East Street, Bristol, August 2023
Taboo, East Street, Bristol, August 2023

This shutter piece by Taboo, which I think is unlikely to be a commission, but you never know, spells out Boser, the significance of which passes me by. The anti-style letters are accompanied by an anti-style cartoon Tom cat from Tom and Jerry, with four ‘echo’ faces adjacent to the first. Typically anarchic and somehow charmingly comforting, this Taboo piece ticks all the right boxes. I am not too sure about the orange figure 8, which isn’t a motif I have seen in his work before, and I believe it to be a subsequent addition by a tagger, although the orange does match the letter ‘B’ in his signature. A mystery.

5455. Cumberland Basin

Peanutsdeli, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2023
Peanutsdeli, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2023

I am a huge admirer of Peanutsdeli’s work, but unfortunately he does most of his painting in the Cheltenham/Gloucester/Stroud area and only occasionally comes to Bristol, which is a real pity. This is an absolute belter, painted for Werm’s recent birthday jam.

Peanutsdeli, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2023
Peanutsdeli, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2023

The slim characters that Peanutsdeli creates, look like they are straight from a comic book and have something of a Manga style about them. In this piece, we have a vibrant heroine, complete with red hair and blue cape. The character is outlined with a thin black line, a trademark feature of Peanutdeli’s work. Loads of movement and beautiful detail in the piece, which obeys ‘house’ colours of blue and pink selected for the collaborative paint jam wall. I would love to see much more of Peanutdeli’s work in Bristol.

Cloudburst

.

Heaviest downpour

overflowing guttering

urban river roads

.

by Scooj

5454. Greenbank (92)

Evey, Greenbank, Bristol, August 2023
Evey, Greenbank, Bristol, August 2023

What fun it has been to follow Evey’s progress as a graffiti writer over the last few years. She has come a long way, and this recent RBF paint jam Barbie piece, I suspect, may have stretched her somewhat, and she has carried it off brilliantly.

Evey, Greenbank, Bristol, August 2023
Evey, Greenbank, Bristol, August 2023

The font is Barbieish, without conceding too much to the Mattel brand, but also works very well as an Evey piece. Some nice clean lines and solid fills, although some colours are a little bit thin in places. I only recently discovered (a tip from I bee W) that spray cans often have a little graphic on the can describing how thick or thin the paint is – good to know and explains why sometimes you can use twice as much of one colour than another. This is a fine piece from Evey on what looked like it was a super-fun day.

5453. Queen’s Road (3)

Willl Crosss, Queen's Road, Bristol, August 2023
Willl Crosss, Queen’s Road, Bristol, August 2023

This is the third piece I have posted from the 650 years of Bristol celebration pant jam, and it is by the magnificent artist Willl Cross. For most of the artists, there was a major challenge in switching their spray cans for brushes, not so for Willl Cross who uses brushes for all his street art pieces, and is more familiar with studio art work.

Willl Crosss, Queen's Road, Bristol, August 2023
Willl Crosss, Queen’s Road, Bristol, August 2023

Willl Cross tends to use a crossover method which incorporates modern scenes painted in a romantic style, and often his subject is wearing traditional Bulgarian costume. This outstanding piece presents a stunning view which many Bristolians will be familiar with, showing the Avon Gorge and Clifton suspension bridge viewed from the Downs. The woman in the portrait, with her eyes closed, appears to be enjoying the moment and is gently holding a wildflower.

Willl Crosss, Queen's Road, Bristol, August 2023
Willl Crosss, Queen’s Road, Bristol, August 2023

There is more mystery to the piece though, with some menacing winged beasts or demons floating around the woman’s head. I would like to believe that the demons are being expelled by the peace of the moment.

The patterns on the dress are wonderfully painted, and the dramatic skies overhead indicate turmoil. I would so much love to speak with Willl Cross to understand more about the painting.

We are privileged in Bristol to have free access to stunning artwork like this for citizens and visitors to enjoy. Next time you are passing, stop for a moment and drink in this awesome painting.

Making friends

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Two boys overheard

a cyclist and a scooter

“you are really good”

one boy says to the other

“I’m not really, but thank you”

.

by Scooj

  • This is how young boys make friends, it was heart-warming to see. I wanted to stay and listen a little longer, but of course, that begins to look a little bit peculiar, so the dog and I went on our way.

5452. St Werburghs tunnel (379)

Fiva, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2023
Fiva, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2023

What a treat! Two Fiva pieces in the space of three weeks, both in the tunnel, and both reminding us of what we have missed over the last couple of years. I am not too sure why he has been absent for so long, perhaps he moved away or there were other real life events that made painting difficult, but he is back and that is what matters. At the end of the last post I wrote “I hope this isn’t a flash in the pan”. The appearance of this piece puts that worry to bed.

Fiva, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2023
Fiva, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2023

Fiva has used this overlay technique to great effect before, and it is such a clever way to tell two stories in one go. There are large block capital letters in Grey spelling out ‘FIVA’ and overlaid is a lower case, script written ‘fiver’ in pink and blue (that winning combo again). The clever part is how these interact, for example, the bevelled edge of the capital letters runs through the lower case letters, but in different shades. No self-respecting Fiva piece is fully complete without a cheeky cartoon character, and this grey chappie with a purple cap rounds off the piece magnificently. Looking forward to more from an artist who has been much missed.

5451. Sparke Evans Park (79)

Trafficity, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, August 2023
Trafficity, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, August 2023

Trafficity, one of several Polish artists working his magic on the streets of Bristol, paints only occasionally, but when he does you know you are in for a treat of consistency, style and great technique. His works are based around the same template of the word ZIOM, and the main differences between his pieces is the colour scheme.

Trafficity, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, August 2023
Trafficity, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, August 2023

The unique letter style is faithfully replicated from piece to piece, and therein lies a great skill, because it is a complex arrangement of letters. The colour palette of this one in Sparke Evans Park is particularly pleasing, with the three tones of green in the letters contrasting nicely with the red border and background. Great, consistent work from Trafficity.

Trafficity

A gallery of outstandingly consistent graffiti writing from Bristol-Polish graffiti writer Trafficity.

ZIOM

Instagram: @trafficity

All photographs by Scooj

Trafficity, River Avon, Bristol, November 2025
Trafficity, River Avon, Bristol, November 2025

Trafficity, River Avon, Bristol, July 2025
Trafficity, River Avon, Bristol, July 2025

Trafficity, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2025
Trafficity, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2025

Trafficity, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2025
Trafficity, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2025

Trafficity, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2025
Trafficity, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2025

Trafficity, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2020
Trafficity, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2020

Trafficity, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2024
Trafficity, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2024

Trafficity, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2024
Trafficity, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2024

Trafficity, Peel Street Green, Bristol, June 2024
Trafficity, Peel Street Green, Bristol, June 2024

Trafficity, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2023
Trafficity, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2023

Trafficity, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, August 2023
Trafficity, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, August 2023

Trafficity, Peel Street Green, Bristol, July 2023
Trafficity, Peel Street Green, Bristol, July 2023

Trafficity, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2023
Trafficity, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2023

Trafficity, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2022
Trafficity, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2022

Trafficity, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, August 2022
Trafficity, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, August 2022

Trafficity, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, May 2022
Trafficity, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, May 2022

Trafficity, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2022
Trafficity, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2022

Trafficity, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2020
Trafficity, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2020

Trafficity, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2018
Trafficity, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2018

5450. River Avon (49)

Todoaciem, River Avon, Bristol, August 2023
Todoaciem, River Avon, Bristol, August 2023

This is a piece that I thought I had posted, which makes me think that it might have been painted some time ago. Having said that, it might be a recent piece. It is so difficult to keep on top of street and graffiti art in Bristol at the moment, because I have never known the turnover to be so high, nor the number of new entrants into the urban art community. Each time I go out, which is most days, I can find between 5 and 10 new pieces, which gives you some idea of the scale of activity in our vibrant city.

Todoaciem, River Avon, Bristol, August 2023
Todoaciem, River Avon, Bristol, August 2023

Todoaciem is one of two top-class calligraffiti writers in Bristol, the other being Stivs. Most of the time Todoaciem will write the letters CIEM in a Gothic style typeface, maintaining strict conventions in the letter shapes and forms. There is no room for error, as even small mistakes would be obvious in the overall look of the piece. From the photographs and from memory, it is difficult to tell if this is chrome and red or white and red, but I think it is the former. Whatever the colours, the form is fabulous and the piece another fine example of great calligraffiti from Todoaciem.