There is never a time when I am not utterly made up when finding a portrait piece by Pekoe. This is a modest piece in the tunnel, which was painted as part of the Wispa birthday celebration paint jam in June.
Pekoe, St Werburghs, Bristol, June 2025
Pekoe’s subject and style has been a consistent landmark in the Bristol street art scene for years, and her corralling of the RBF crew is admirable. This portrait has some great colour contrasts – I love those glossy green lips, and green eyes. Pekoe has had a relatively quiet year so far, but I live forever in hope to find more of her work.
More paste-up magic from Tian in East Street. The French artist has left a trail of pieces on each of his visits to Bristol, and it is so much fun following his footsteps trying to locate each one. On previous trips he has occupied North Bristol, but this most recent one was concentrated in the East Street area.
Tian, East Street, Bristol, April 2025
The wonderful work in sepia tints and blue is a cut-out from a stencil. I imagine Tian first works on the stencil, and then once completed, prints dozens of copies, which he then cuts out and takes on his travels to paste up where he can. I have never seen his work outside Bristol, but I expect a trip to France would probably sort that out.
It took me a while to work out who this piece was by, and it wasn’t until I saw another that I could see that it was by Endz. There are no strong clues to go with – the letters may or may not spell ENDZ, the pieces are not signed, and the style is vague enough to be really difficult to place. However, all of these attributes come together, ironically, to make identification a little easier, as there care only a few artists who meet these criteria.
Endz, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, April 2025
The sketchy style, once you register it, is a feature of some (but not all) of the artist’s work. The letters spell ENDZ with the ‘N and D’ conflated in the middle. The soft cream tones work well against the blue and white background and the writing is beautifully finished with a scattering of green leaves, without which the piece wouldn’t be complete. Lovely and unusual writing.
El Ruby Tattoo and Umbrelle, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2025
Because Bristol is well known for its street art and graffiti scene, we tend to see a lot of visiting artists passing through and dropping a piece or two. I don’t actually know where these two artists, El Ruby Tattoo and Umbrelle, are from, but they have combined well to create this double-header on the M32 roundabout.
El Ruby Tattoo and Umbrelle, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2025
Both artists are tattoo artists, and they were painting with Kid Crayon and Tera (I think), so there was a strong tattoo connection. The two character portraits are very different, but both are rather good, and they work well side by side. It is a bit of a shame that the bright sunshine has cast a few shadows on the uneven surface, but that is the price you pay for nice weather.
I was walking to a cricket match a couple of weeks back with some friends, when I spotted a flash of colour down a side street. I made my excuses, said I’d catch them up, and dashed across the road to get a closer look. My reward was this lovely Mural by Jamel (AKA Loch Ness), looking fresh as a daisy. Loch Ness was one of the first street artists I became aware of in Bristol, and he even gave me a spray-painting class as part of an Upfest festival sponsorship initiative, some years ago.
Jamel, Princes’ Place, Bristol, June 2025
I haven’t seen anything by the artist for years, so this was a great find. The piece features a lion, which serves as a backdrop to a set of Bristol icons; the Clifton Suspension Bridge, Concord and hot air balloons. This is a wild and imaginative mural, probably a commission or for a friend/family, and is a bit of a gem. I hope this signifies a revival of Jamel’s work.
Doors 314 – Street art and graffiti doors of Bristol, Manchester, London and Nottingham, February to April 2024
Having completed the marathon of doors from Copenhagen and three weeks’ worth of doors from Leicester, I couldn’t make up my mind what to move on to next, so this week I have decided to go for some street art doors, which combines my love of doors and street art.
These doors were originally posted in February to April last year as part of my street art/graffiti category, but may have been photographed some time before that. I hope you enjoy them. Normal service will resume next time, but I still need to decide what to share next.
Djembello, Ridgeway Road, Bristol, February 2024D7606, Northern Quarter, Manchester, February 2024Sikoh, Richmond Road, Bristol, March 2024Sikoh, Richmond Road, Bristol, March 2024Ethan Lemon and Fredrik, Northern Quarter, Manchester, February 2024Kid30, Nottingham, March 2024Dan Kitchener, Southampton Row, London, March 2024Dan Kitchener, Southampton Row, London, March 2024Dan Kitchener, Southampton Row, London, March 20243Dom, Sevier Street, Bristol, April 2024Door with witty street art, Nottingham, November 2023Graffiti door, Nottingham, November 2023
That’s it for another week. I prepared this post in advance, and I am publishing it very early (UK time) on Thursday, because when I did this by mistake a few weeks ago, I had far more views than I would normally expect. I am testing the idea once again, but this time deliberately, to see if that was an anomaly or a real effect.
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 Thursday Doors post.
Andy Council and Acer One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2025
Andy Council and Acer One are a classic painting duo, with utterly different styles and subject, but their work, counterintuitively, seems to be wonderfully complementary. There is no jarring of styles, or competition for space or the limelight – the two artists seem to be comfortable with themselves and each other.
Andy Council, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2025
Andy Council has painted one of his gorgeous dinosaurs, selecting some beautiful colours and stitching the whole creature together with small components, like a Lego model. The little dots of green add so much to the piece. The collaboration was painted as a tribute to Tickz, who will be very much missed by the graffiti community in Bristol.
Acer One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2025
Acer One, who has been relatively quiet this year, has painted one of his iconic peace and love stamps in yellow and white or gold and silver, depending on your interpretation. This is a difficult wall to paint, especially with a designed graphic like this one, and the recesses in the walls present a challenge that Acer One has risen to. A fine collaboration and fitting tribute.
Such is Wispa’s popularity that when she celebrated her birthday with a paint jam in St Werburghs tunnel, it drew several artists from out of town, who might not have otherwise painted here. One of those artists, who is, in my view, one of the best combination (writing/character) artists I have seen, is The Last One.
The Last One, St Werburghs, Bristol, June 2025
The Last One has painted a few times in Bristol, but it is a rarity, so to have this magnificent piece taking pride of place in the tunnel is a privilege. Usually The Last One’s letters spell ZFG, but in this instance I think they might spell WISP – although I might be imagining things. The character is exceptional, painted with exaggerated features and incredible detail. The whole thing is as sharp as you’ll ever see, demonstrating great skill and complete mastery of the can. Bravo! A brilliant piece.
I had to do a training package today about using AI for communications, and thought I’d have a little practice session on ChatGPT. This was the instruction I gave:
“Write me a haiku about using AI for the first time to write the haiku”
Having done the training, it only reinforces my scepticism about AI, but I do see how it might be helpful in the right circumstances. Unfortunately, I think that it is so open to misuse, deliberately or accidentally, and I fear in these early days a lot of people and organisations will get their knickers in a twist and fall foul of what is really the Wild West out there.
The seduction of new technology is powerful, and the early adopters get super-excited. It is important that there are others who ground truth these novel opportunities and maintain some level of human experience, skill and knowledge. I feel that AI should be used when it is needed rather than because it is there.
This mustard pot is a little bit of creative genius from Nina Raines and absolutely made my day when I first saw it. This litter bin is such a familiar sight in Dean Lane, and although it has been ‘decorated’ a few times before, this is by far the best makeover I can think of.
Nina Raines, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2025
The Coleman’s mustard brand is one of the most iconic food brands in our store cupboards, and although Coleman’s isn’t even mentioned in this piece, it is instantly recognisable. As well as recreating the cow’s head, Nina Raines has adapted the ‘Original English’ to read ‘Original Bristol’. A clever piece that could so easily be scaled-up across the city, although I suspect it is something the council would never sanction.
Natural adventures 