5441. Greenbank (90)

Unity, Greenbank, Bristol, August 2023
Unity, Greenbank, Bristol, August 2023

Popular culture has had a bit of a renaissance recently with the release of the Barbie move, which I must confess left me a little cold. For all the hype, clever role-reversals, and funny one-liners, I can’t help feeling that Mattel will be laughing all the way to the bank and that their self-deprecating and rather too knowing involvement has paid off. I guess there is a failure on my part to connect with Barbie as a concept, as her world and mine never collided until now.

On the upside though, Barbie has been an inspiration in the street art world, and this piece by Unity, is one of many from an RBF- Barbie paint jam on the long hoarding at Greenbank (more from this paint jam to follow).

Unity, Greenbank, Bristol, August 2023
Unity, Greenbank, Bristol, August 2023

Unity is an artist in the RBF crew who lives in Wales and occasionally comes to Bristol to paint with her friends. I managed to have a short chat with her at the Cheltenham Paint Festival recently, and she is a lovely lady. Her working of her name in the Barbie font and colours is brilliant and very tidy indeed. She totally captures the spirit of Barbie in her own way and carries it off very well. Plenty more to come from this fun paint jam.

5440. Brunel Way (223)

Bean, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2023
Bean, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2023

It was a great pleasure to meet Bean for the first time recently, and this was one of the three pieces he has painted side by side under Brunel Way on three separate occasions. It really is important to emphasise just how good an artist Bean is, and what a significant impact he is making on the Bristol scene in such a short time, having only arrived in the spring this year.

Bean, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2023
Bean, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2023

Bean is equally comfortable with characters or writing, and here he has combined both. His original  characters are creative and imaginative and always on point. Solid fills, great shading and sharp lines contribute to well worked and finished pieces. This particular character appears to be popping out of a spray can, like a Jack-in-a-box, holding a spray can of the same colour. The letters are fabulous too, with great fills and some cool shading at the edges to give a 3D effect. Altogether this piece showcases the talents of this remarkable artist.

5439. Cumberland Basin

Conrico, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2023
Conrico, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2023

Conrico has been very present on the streets of Bristol lately, which is great news for people like me who appreciate the incredible, ever-changing gallery of free art in the city. His unique ‘painted’ style is unlike anything else around, and has a comforting, organic feel to it.

Conrico, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2023
Conrico, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2023

This piece was painted as part of the birthday celebration paint jam for Werm, and shows a girl sitting on some giant petals (or she is a very small person). The piece has a mysterious ethereal quality to it and conveys a sense of calm. Very nice stuff indeed from Conrico.

5438. Greenbank (89)

Waster, Greenbank, Bristol, August 2023
Waster, Greenbank, Bristol, August 2023

I really don’t know very much about Piewaster. I know that he has painted a few pieces in Bristol over the years, but never enough for me to become familiar with his work or identity. This is a recent piece from the hoardings at Greenbank.

Waster, Greenbank, Bristol, August 2023
Waster, Greenbank, Bristol, August 2023

One of the elements that I think might be common to his work is the eyes that decorate the piece. I know of at least two other pieces (probably unpublished on Natural Adventures) by Piewaster and they had the same eyes. The letters spell out WASTER in two style/colour forms, one a hollow blue line WSE, and the other solid grey letters ATR. The whole thing is beautifully painted and is the work of a talented artist.

5437. Dean Lane skate park (632)

Klashwhensober and Bean, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2023
 Klashwhensober and Bean, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2023


In my experience it is unusual to find a Klashwhensober collaborative piece, so this one painted with Bean was a bit of a treat. The letters, spelling S BER, by Klashwhensober, have been augmented with a fabulous cartoon character by Bean, replacing the ‘O’.

Klashwhensober and Bean, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2023
Klashwhensober and Bean, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2023

Altogether the whole piece is a lot of fun, and is a coming together of two artists who are rather busy with their painting at the moment. Klashwhensober’s letters are filled with a gentle blend of red and pink set on a lilac background. Bean creates some wonderful cartoon characters in a style that is both beautifully finished and recognisable. This is a wonderful collaboration from the two artists.

5436. Cumberland Basin

Werm, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2023
Werm, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2023

A couple of weeks back it was Werm’s birthday, and there was a fabulous turnout of friends and LRS crew to celebrate with a large paint jam. Werm, as usual, turned out an exceptional piece to mark the occasion, in the blue and pink theme colours.

Werm, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2023
Werm, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2023

Werm is continuing with his current form of writing a small WERM at the centre of the piece with elaborate extensions to the letters creating a complex wildstyle burst of terminal arrows. His work is always beautifully designed and turned out, and has come on such a long way since his early character pieces under his Eman moniker. Happy belated birthday.

Cornwall break

Jigsaw puzzle, Hole Farm, Cornwall, August 2023
Jigsaw puzzle, Hole Farm, Cornwall, August 2023

.

Restful holiday

dog walks, puzzles and snoozes

batteries recharged

.

by Scooj

5435. Greenbank (88)

Dator, Greenbank, Bristol, August 2023
Dator, Greenbank, Bristol, August 2023

I got lucky with this piece while walking on my little circuit, taking in the long hoardings at Greenbank. This shorter hoarding is at the entrance to the development site, opposite the cemetary,  and has only recently been ‘decorated’ with graffiti. There was an artist painting a small character piece when I passed, so of course I introduced myself and struck up a conversation. It turns out that the artist was Dator, who paints with the Sunday Lovers, and the character he was painting was next to this piece of writing he had painted the day before.

Dator, Greenbank, Bristol, August 2023
Dator, Greenbank, Bristol, August 2023

Dator told me that he likes to vary his style from piece to piece, so it can be difficult to identify his work, especially as he doesn’t sign it. The letters here say S LOVERS, and is beautifully crafted. The letters have a hint of Claro_que_SSSNOH style about them, which is perhaps not a surprise, as adjacent to this is a piece by him too. The fills are skilfully worked and the whole thing is neat and tidy. Dator is a really nice man and was happy to chat for a while, long enough for the dog to get bored! Now I need to go through my archives and see if I can dig out any unattributed pieces that might have been painted by Dator.

5434. Brunel Way (224)

Mr Crawls, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2023
Mr Crawls, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2023

It turns out that Mr Crawls is much more than a one trick pony, as I suspected, and has been painting different variants of his bird portrait mega-tags. The first one to appear in Natural Adventures was a Gull called Gul, then a parrot. This fun bird is ‘The Goose’.

Mr Crawls, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2023
Mr Crawls, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2023

The Goose can be identified by the shape of his beak, his rather droopy eyes, and a distinctive winter hat with ear flaps. The cartoon character has been painted beautifully with clean lines and strong solid fills. I have the set of three birds so far, and plenty of unpublished gulls… I wonder what other designs Mr Crawls might have up his sleeve.

5433. Greenbank (87)

Laic217, Greenbank, Bristol, August 2023
Laic217, Greenbank, Bristol, August 2023

Laic217 is an artist who simply keeps on finding new ways to present his extraordinary talent. Using his trademark skeleton holding a spray can, he has gone for a different form of distortion in this remarkable piece. The skeleton is slightly out of focus, as our eyes are drawn to the sharp skeletal hand and spray can with the word ‘Laic’ written in script on the side. This is a great idea and outstandingly executed, tricking our eyes.

Laic217, Greenbank, Bristol, August 2023
Laic217, Greenbank, Bristol, August 2023

There are other elements that we see in Laic217’s work, such as the brick wall, bucket hat, smiley logo and neck chain, which no self-respecting piece from the artist would be without. I consider this to be one of Laic217’s finest compositions, brilliantly painted and conceived. The effect works really well and would require a whole bunch of rethinking technique. Bravo!