A little while back I was walking home from the wonderful Italian deli in Montpelier, when this toadstool caught my attention. I instantly recognised it as a fungi piece by Dobz, who made a visit to Bristol earlier in the summer. I don’t know if she painted this one then or whether it has been her for some time.
Dobz, Station Road, Bristol, August 2025
I like it when artists leave behind a trademark character or object in spots around a city, almost as if they are ‘collectables’ to be sought and found. This toadstool is nicely presented, with some great blended shading, and the gills are very nicely observed. Artists like Dobz are always welcome in Bristol.
Slim Pickings, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2025
It is a very long time since I last posted anything by Slim Pickings (TES), not because he hasn’t been painting, but because I have been so squeezed by unbelievable volume of street/graffiti art being painted over the last few months. To make up for lost time, here are two pieces painted during the same session in August.
Slim Pickings, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2025
For a long time Slim Pickings would repeat the same basic form of his TES letters, rarely deviating from the archetypal form other than adjusting the fills and the odd accessory decoration. With these two pieces he has thrown in some slightly different designs. The one with the pink background is a bit of beauty.
I have mentioned a couple of times recently that Cort has been having a surge this summer, not only in the quantity of his graffiti writing pieces, but also in the quality of them. This is another example of his unusual writing style on one of the large wall spaces at Peel Street Green.
Cort, Peel Street Green, Bristol, August 2025
Cort has been playing with all sorts of variants of his letters this year, and this one spells out KORTOS. The irregular shaped letters are verging on the ‘anti-style’ form, but have enough regularity and recognition to remail as conventional graffiti writing. The fills are nicely designed to run through the letters in a coherent pattern. I love the two characteristic black spots on the ‘T’. The wall is sensibly buffed, helping the letters to really stand out on the irregular white background. This is a beautifully designed and presented piece of graffiti writing.
Gunlaw (or gun law) is not a widely standardized term, but it can be interpreted in different contexts.
In the Old West or “Wild West” sense, the phrase can suggest a situation where: Law and order are dictated not by courts or formal justice, but by who has the most firepower.
Violence or threat of violence determines authority — i.e., might makes right.
I have waited a long time to see this wonderful piece from Biers. Over the last few months, Biers appears to have lost his mojo a little and has been painting infrequently and tending to use the short-form version of his WD40 moniker. It happens for artists from time to time – you can’t be on top of your game all of the time.
Biers, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2025
I hope this piece marks a return of the longer form combination pieces that are so typically the wonderful work of Biers. I don’t know who the character is meant to be, but I really like him (looks like a teddy boy to me) and I love the way he contrasts with the colours of the letters and background. The fills in the letters are outstanding With some nicely done reversed out circles in black and gold. The res patterns look like little viruses wafting over the piece. All in all a great piece and one, I hope, that encourages Biers to return to his former glory.
Scrapyardspec, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2025
When I look through my archives from this summer, I keep finding pieces by Scrapyardspec, and so what you see here on Natural Adventures is only a proportion of the pieces he has painted in Bristol. This one is a relatively recent piece created at a paint jam celebrating Werm’s birthday, and at which I met Scrapy for the first time.
Scrapyardspec, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2025
The most notable thing about this piece is the inclusion of hair and the addition of rudimentary arms and feet. Scrapyardspec and I discussed his development a little and I think that now he has grown in confidence and has his archetype nailed, he can play around a lot more with his characters and improve as an artist. I am very much looking forward to watching his onward journey.
Doors 324 – Doors of Marrakesh, Morocco, January 2025 (Part V)
This week I am continuing with some doorscursions mostly concentrated at the southern end of the Medina of Marrakesh, not too far away from where our Riad was. There had been some light rain, which didn’t really matter, because it was short-lived and dried up pretty swiftly.
My description this week is fairly brief, because I find myself short of time to write this post. There is a bit more variation in the doors this time, and I even include some ghost doors (or, as some call them, phantom doors). Do you have a favourite? I know that I do:
A door with multiple panels which is sunk one step below street level, Tariq Sahrij Gnaoua, Marrakesh, Morocco, January 2025
One doorway, two different doors, Tariq Sahrij Gnaoua, Marrakesh, Morocco, January 2025
Elegant door with a stunning tile surround, Tariq Sahrij Gnaoua, Marrakesh, Morocco, January 2025
Large arched door and sliding door cover, Tariq Sahrij Gnaoua, Marrakesh, Morocco, January 2025
Large ghost door, Tariq Sahrij Gnaoua, Marrakesh, Morocco, January 2025
Three studded doors in a side alley, Tariq Sahrij Gnaoua, Marrakesh, Morocco, January 2025
Wonderful door within a door, Tariq Sahrij Gnaoua, Marrakesh, Morocco, January 2025
Studded black door with small window above, Tariq Sahrij Gnaoua, Marrakesh, Morocco, January 2025
Concreted ghost door with brickwork exposed, perhaps a casualty of the earthquake, Tariq Sahrij Gnaoua, Marrakesh, Morocco, January 2025
Well, that’s it for this week and indeed for next week too, because I will be on a late summer family holiday in Madeira (Not many doorscursion opportunities, as the family have limited patience for my obsession).
May I wish you a very happy weekend.
If you have made it this far, you probably like doors, and you really ought to take a look at the No Facilities blog by Dan Anton who has taken over the hosting of Thursday Doors from Norm 2.0 blog. Links to more doorscursions can be found in the comments section of Dan Anton’s weekly Thursday Doors post.
This is another clear and unambiguous message painted at the Bristol Mural Collective’s Palestine protest paint jam held last month on the long hoarding at Greenbank. The piece is by Rtiiika, which, although unsigned, is so characteristic of her style.
Rtiiika, Greenbank, Bristol, August 2025
‘Gaza is starving’ – ‘Let aid in now’, two messages that have been persistently ignored by the Israeli Government. Every day brings new stories of the war crimes being committed by the Israeli Government, and still the international community does nothing to stop this. Trump is impotent and has been played by Netanyahu. Is it only me that sees the parallels between the Israeli state’s behaviour now and their justifications, and the behaviours and justifications of the Nazis during WWII? Surely the irony isn’t lost? One might have expected more compassion from a people who experienced some of the worst persecution in modern history. BTW, this does not make me an antisemite, just in case anyone was wondering, but it makes me very much opposed to the fascist elements of the Israeli Government.
Sorry, but I had to go there. Normal service will resume immediately.
I would say that 2025 has been the year when Posh upgraded from being a bit-part player to a fully fledged star of the Bristol street art scene. His occasional little characters have developed into a diverse range of larger combination pieces that show off his unquestionable talent.
Posh, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2025
In this piece Posh has combined his mischievous toffee-nosed imps with some unusual writing, which I can’t read, both in his sketchy style. The writing is full of colour and movement and quite unlike any other graffiti writing I have seen before. His characters continue to amuse, and I particularly like the fellow riding the bicycle. This piece is clear evidence of Posh’s growth and development.
Natural adventures 