Tag: Alex Lucas

6205. Cheltenham 2023 (17)

This is the second small gallery of Cheltenham art photographed at the Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023. I am posting this as the 2024 festival begins at the end of this week, and I felt it would be good to share some of last year’s pieces as a bit of a warm up.

Not all the pieces were painted last year – the Alex Lucas mural (feature image) was painted a few years ago, but I only got round to photographing it last year. I hope to be visiting Cheltenham for this year’s festival alongside Paul H, and am getting pretty excited about it all. Enjoy the gallery:

Alex Lucas, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
Alex Lucas, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
Alex Lucas, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
Alex Lucas, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023

This piece was actually painted in 2020 for the Cheltenham Paint Festival. Still looking magnificent.

Ajax Piper, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
Ajax Piper, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023

I don’t know an awful lot about Ajax Piper, but I believe he is a British artist who hasn’t been painting for too long, or so his website might suggest.

Wispa, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
Wispa, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023

A wonderfully colourful and vibrant piece by RBF artist Wispa (featured reasonably regularly on Natural Adventures).

3rdeye, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
3rdeye, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023

3rdeye has produced this typically mysterious piece with one of his creature characters and plenty of eyes.

Curtis Hylton, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
Curtis Hylton, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023

One of the featured artists at the CPF 2023 was Curtis Hylton, who smashed it with this outstanding large mural on the side wall of the Holiday Inn Express hotel in the centre of town.

I will need to do a few more posts from the CPF 2023, and some more unposted pieces from Upfests passim. So much to do and so little time to do it.

5377. Gloucester Road

Alex Lucas, Gloucester Road, Bristol, July 2023
Alex Lucas, Gloucester Road, Bristol, July 2023

I have attempted to photograph this sumptuous piece by Alex Lucas several times, but always there were huge shadows cast across it. At last, a fortnight ago I managed to capture it in all its glory, and with a magnificent blue sky behind. Alex Lucas truly provides a special USP for Bristol with her nature-inspired designs and illustrations that she transposes onto walls so seamlessly, and which are present all around the city.

Alex Lucas, Gloucester Road, Bristol, July 2023
Alex Lucas, Gloucester Road, Bristol, July 2023

Painted above a flower shop, this stunning mural featuring what look like chrysanthemums, fuchsias and an iris is full of rich detail. A finch of some kind is hiding within the glorious floral display adding further interest. So full is the piece that you barely notice the two windows taking up a significant amount of space on the ‘canvass’. A rare beauty in this part of Gloucester Road.

5069. Montpelier

Alex Lucas, Montpelier, Bristol, February 2023
Alex Lucas, Montpelier, Bristol, February 2023

Finding my way home through the depths of Montpelier, I came across this stunning front door painted by Alex Lucas. Of course, such a feature shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise in this area, as Alex Lucas is the ‘Queen of Montpelier’, which is the epicentre of her work.

Alex Lucas, Montpelier, Bristol, February 2023
Alex Lucas, Montpelier, Bristol, February 2023

In this piece, two cats are interacting with one another, one above the other, cleverly following the portrait aspect of the door. The space around the cats is occupied with decorative ribbons and flowers. Who wouldn’t want a stunning personalised front door like this? The door and the artwork is so very ‘Montpelier’ if you get my drift. Brilliant.

4745. St Andrews Road (4)

Alex Lucas, St Andrews Road, Bristol, October 2022
Alex Lucas, St Andrews Road, Bristol, October 2022

I don’t often go to this part of Montpelier, but I had been to the Italian delicatessen in Picton Street a couple of weeks ago and decided to go a little wander. I was rewarded by finding this very recently completed mural by Alex Lucas, and what a beauty it is.

Alex Lucas, St Andrews Road, Bristol, October 2022
Alex Lucas, St Andrews Road, Bristol, October 2022

I think that this wall was very much off the radar in the street art community, as the first I saw of it on social media, was a few days later from Alex Lucas herself, which made me think that I must have been there very shortly after completion and scaffolding removal. This is a classic piece of Lucas artwork, with a fabulous design of two birds with a floral accompaniment. This is truly magnificent stuff. It won’t be long before every building in Montpelier will be adorned with one of her works. 

4135. Picture House Court

Alex Lucas has had a very good and productive year. Her beautiful murals, most of them commissions, have been appearing with joyous regularity through the year. This is one of her latest pieces, just off North Street in Bedminster, and is the centrepiece of a Christmas mural trail produced in partnership with Upfest, Aardman Studio and Netflix, promoting Aardman’s new animation Robin Robin.

Alex Lucas, Picture House Court, Bristol, December 2021
Alex Lucas, Picture House Court, Bristol, December 2021

I will have to walk the length of North Street at some point, perhaps over the Christmas break, to photograph all the other little characters along the trail. This is a very Bristol thing going on and something all citizens here can be proud of. A coming together of a Bristol-based film studio, a Bristol artist and a Bristol street art events business… a fine combination.

Alex Lucas, Picture House Court, Bristol, December 2021
Alex Lucas, Picture House Court, Bristol, December 2021

I have said it before, but there are a few artists in the Bristol whose illustrations, designs and murals have become synonymous with the city and I would name Alex Lucas as one of these, and the other two would be Cheo and Andy Council. These three adding colour and recognition to the place.

3847. Easton Business Centre (2)

This gorgeous new mural from Alex Lucas wasn’t the easiest to find, but with a little perseverance I got there in the end, and my search was well rewarded. Tucked away to the side of the building, by the bike racks, this piece, which is a little difficult to photograph, presents a little scene in which a couple of dogs are out on a delivery bicycle laden with cups of coffee.

Alex Lucas, Easton Business Cnetre, Bristol, July 2021
Alex Lucas, Easton Business Centre, Bristol, July 2021

The concept is imaginative, and as always the execution by Alex Lucas is perfect. There is so much character in the dogs and the scene is a whole lot of fun with its ‘Ulti-mutt coffee’ label. The piece joins another by Alex Lucas on another wall of the Easton Business Centre.

Alex Lucas, Easton Business Cnetre, Bristol, July 2021
Alex Lucas, Easton Business Centre, Bristol, July 2021

what I love about Alex Lucas’ work is that when you take a close up look Lou can see all the detail in the piece, and here, hidden in amongst all the coffee cups is a third little dog enjoying the ride. A lovely new mural to add to the growing portfolio.

3719. North Street

This is the sixth and final part of the Six Sisters project in North Street, a series of six huge facade murals by six female Bristol artists, organised by Upfest. This final part of the series is by Alex Lucas, who has featured in Natural Adventures numerous times, and a gallery of her work can be found here.

Alex Lucas, North Street, Bristol, May 2021
Alex Lucas, North Street, Bristol, May 2021

This piece is an absolute beauty and brings the series to a great crescendo. Alex Lucas brings her illustration skills to the fore with these three poodles and a pug? In amongst some beautiful flowers and clouds. The vibrancy of the colours was enhanced by the gorgeous weather on the day I took these pictures.

Alex Lucas, North Street, Bristol, May 2021
Alex Lucas, North Street, Bristol, May 2021

The poodles (not my favourite breed if I am honest) are full of life and movement with suitably daft expressions on their faces. They are frolicking amongst the clouds and amazing yellow flowers. The whole thing resembles fancy bespoke wallpaper.

Alex Lucas, North Street, Bristol, May 2021
Alex Lucas, North Street, Bristol, May 2021

When Gemma Compton completed the first of these murals above the Upfest shop in June 2016, I don’t think anyone could have foreseen what a wonder this row of shops would become five years later. Bravo to all the artists and hats off to Upfest for giving the city this amazing landmark.

The 'six sisters' - Bex Glover, Alex Lucas, Zoe Power, Gemma Compton, Sophie Long and Ejits, North Street, Bristol, May 2021
The ‘six sisters’ – Bex Glover, Alex Lucas, Zoe Power, Gemma Compton, Sophie Long and Ejits, North Street, Bristol, May 2021

My posts for the six sisters are listed below:

1. Gemma Compton

2. Zoe Power

3. Bex Glover

4. Sophie Long

5. Ejits

6. Alex Lucas

3456. Picton Street (3)

It has taken me far too long to take photographs of this wonderful mural by Alex Lucas. It is in Picton Street on the facade of her shop and replaced one that she had painted a few years earlier and which had begun to look a little tired. The makeover is a huge success.

Alex Lucas, Picton Street, Bristol, January 2021
Alex Lucas, Picton Street, Bristol, January 2021

I think that Alex Lucas deserves a title, something like the Duchess of Montpelier would be appropriate on account of the sheer volume of outstanding murals, big and small, that she has painted in the area, helping to make it a ‘go to’ destination for visitors to Bristol.

Alex Lucas, Picton Street, Bristol, January 2021
Alex Lucas, Picton Street, Bristol, January 2021

The black and white birds are beautifully drawn and sit on a backdrop of outstanding purple flowers on a blue background. This is both sumptuous and eye-catching and a massive part of Bristol’s USP (one that Bristol City Council are conflicted about – I’ll probably leave that rant for another post).

Alex Lucas, Picton Street, Bristol, March 2016
Alex Lucas, Picton Street, Bristol, March 2016

3396. Cheltenham Road

This is the perfect way to end 2020 with a spanking new and rather beautiful mural on the Cheltenham road just before the Arches heading north. The mural is by Alex Lucas and covers the entire wall of what was Flour and Ash but is now a new vegan Mezze bar called Koo Cha

Alex Lucas, Cheltenham Road, Bristol, December 2020
Alex Lucas, Cheltenham Road, Bristol, December 2020

I had been anticipating the unveiling of this piece for some time as I live nearby and had seen Alex painting it on a large scaffold erected in front of the building. It certainly didn’t disappoint, in fact I think it might be one of my favourite pieces by the illustrator/muralist. 

Alex Lucas, Cheltenham Road, Bristol, December 2020
Alex Lucas, Cheltenham Road, Bristol, December 2020

The cheetahs are absolutely stunning and stand out well on the blue background and the flowers are a beautiful touch that ‘glue’ the whole thing together. We are so lucky in Bristol to have Alex Lucas whose work lights up the city and brings such happiness to its citizens. Bravo Alex, bravo!

It has been an extraordinary year for street art and graffiti in Bristol and around the country. A succession of lockdowns and an extended period of social distancing behaviours haven’t done anything to stem the tide of wonderful artwork and I have had difficulty keeping up with it all. I think this year has been the most productive since I started Natural Adventures almost six years ago. The quality of work has increased too and there has been an influx of artists from the UK and beyond. 

Some artists have gone to ground for periods this year, reflecting what had been a troubling time, and work patterns have gone haywire too which will have affected some people’s ability to choose when they can make time for street art. In spite of it all, it has been an outstanding year on Bristol’s streets. Here’s to more in 2021.

Happy New Year all. Bring on the new!

2849. York Road (2)

Another old gem discovered on a ‘Covid-14 dog walk’ in Montpelier by very local artist Alex Lucas. This part of Bristol is liberally sprinkled with commissions by Alex Lucas and her murals have become part of the USP in this Bohemian district of the city. I had toyed with the idea of reserving this one for my Thursday doors post yesterday, but wanted to highlight it as a fine example of Alex’s work.

Alex Lucas, York Road, Bristol, March 2020
Alex Lucas, York Road, Bristol, March 2020

The front gate features a spider and a (Bristol) fox and the words:

“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery”

It is beautifully painted in her distinctive illustrative style and although looking a little weathered is a charming addition to her portfolio. My recent dog walks are proving to be fruitful in ways I would not have predicted.