7007. Cumberland Basin

Andy Council and Acer One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2025
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, 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, 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.

7006. St Werburghs tunnel (510)

The Last One, St Werburghs, Bristol, June 2025
The Last One, St Werburghs, Bristol, June 2025

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, 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.

ChatGPT, a haiku

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First words from the screen

AI shapes thoughts into verse

new paths softly bloom

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by ChatGPT

  • 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.

7005. Dean Lane skate park (843)

Nina Raines, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2025
Nina Raines, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2025

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
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.

7004. Sparke Evans Park (131)

Hire, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, June 2025
Hire, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, June 2025

2025 has been a dry year so far, and we have had an unusually sunny time of it, and although this is in part driven by a changing climate, it still feels good after the rather wet years we have had in the last decade or so. I mention this, because in these sunny conditions, photographing certain walls in Bristol has been a bit of a nightmare and this one was particularly challenging.

Hire, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, June 2025
Hire, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, June 2025

Despite the difficulties (you can just make out my arm in the top left trying to block out the glare), It was well worth the effort to capture this beauty from Hire. This piece is like some of his earlier spiky pieces, but with slightly softer edges. Some great autumnal colours and fabulous highlights surrounding the HIRE letters instead of a drop shadow give this piece a distinctive look that is a hallmark of the artist. A very nice piece of graffiti writing.

Pelmo

A gallery of outstanding oversized character pieces by Bristol artist Pelmo.

Instagram: @pelmos_world

All photographs by Scooj

Pelmo, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2022
Pelmo, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2022

Pelmo, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2022
Pelmo, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2022

Pelmo, New Stadium Road, Bristol, June 2022
Pelmo, New Stadium Road, Bristol, June 2022

Pelmo, New Stadium Road, Bristol, June 2022
Pelmo, New Stadium Road, Bristol, June 2022

Pelmo, New Stadium Road, Bristol, June 2022
Pelmo, New Stadium Road, Bristol, June 2022

Pelmo, Lucky Lane, Bristol, April 2022
Pelmo, Lucky Lane, Bristol, April 2022

Pelmo, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2022
Pelmo, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2022

Pelmo, Lucky Lane, Bristol, August 2019
Pelmo, Lucky Lane, Bristol, August 2019

Pelmo, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, June 2019
Pelmo, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, June 2019

Pelmo, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, May 2019
Pelmo, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, May 2019

Pelmo, Upfest shop yard, Bristol, July 2018
Pelmo, Upfest shop yard, Bristol, July 2018

Pelmo, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Pelmo, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

Pelmo, West Street, Bristol, April 2018
Pelmo, West Street, Bristol, April 2018

Pelmo, West Street, Bristol, April 2018
Pelmo, West Street, Bristol, April 2018

Pelmo, West Street, Bristol, April 2018
Pelmo, West Street, Bristol, April 2018

Pelmo, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

Pelmo, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

Lady’s Bedstraw

Lady,s Bedstraw (Galium verum), Purdown, Bristol, June 2025
Lady,s Bedstraw (Galium verum), Purdown, Bristol, June 2025

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In parched parkland

wild flowers battle for space

small in the grand scheme…

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by Scooj

7003. King Square Avenue

Bethcub, King Square Avenue, Bristol, June 2025
Bethcub, King Square Avenue, Bristol, June 2025

Following my last post featuring a couple of wheatpaste drawings by Bethcub recently, I had a nice Instagram message from the artist, who had read the post and told me a little bit more about these wheatpastes. Bethcub confirmed that they are one-off charcoal drawings from her life drawing class, which she fixes and pastes up straight after the class. It is always great to know a little bit more about the art on our streets.

Bethcub, King Square Avenue, Bristol, June 2025
Bethcub, King Square Avenue, Bristol, June 2025

In this sketch, the model is perching (rather awkwardly) on a stool as if in transition. Some lovely curves, and an unusual position, make this a fascinating study. Seeing things like this, make me excited about retirement and a pledge I have made to myself to start art lessons. Why wait? You might ask – not enough hours in the day, I might reply.

7002. Purdown (91)

Jest Soubriquet, Purdown, Bristol, June 2025
Jest Soubriquet, Purdown, Bristol, June 2025

The concrete slabs at Purdown can be quite challenging to say the least, the stand-alone edifices limit the scope and dimensions of the piece, and don’t lend themselves to writers. There is also the matter of a small herd of goats that tend to enjoy ‘scrambling’ around all the concrete structures. Jest Soubriquet (@likes_wan_tu) has absolutely made the most of this slab, showcasing his superb work.

Jest Soubriquet, Purdown, Bristol, June 2025
Jest Soubriquet, Purdown, Bristol, June 2025

Jest Soubriquet has absolutely smashed it with this colourful portrait piece, which really stands out as something special. It is great that dog-walkers, runners, families and so on, who enjoy Purdown, get to see great art like this for free, in an interesting context of WWII history, nature and street art. A supreme piece from the master of colour.

7001. M32 Cycle path (290)

Oust, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2025
Oust, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2025

Oust is a graffiti writer who is probably a little under-represented on Natural Adventures, which might reflect the fact that he doesn’t paint all that frequently, and it is possible that I miss the odd piece altogether. He seems to have been in a rich vein of form recently though, and this is one of at least three pieces I have found recently.

Oust, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2025
Oust, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2025

This birthday tribute piece for Sled One is absolutely outstanding in my view. Oust has used great colours, orange and green always work well together, and his classic style is full of great fills, depth and movement. Although the piece is busy, it isn’t cluttered. This is a classy piece of graffiti writing from Oust.