I am having way too much fun skiing to write comprehensive posts this week, and am completely worn out when I do have a moment. So this is a quickie.
Aspire, Mina Road, Bristol, February 2025
I have known about this stunning Octopus piece by Aspire for a while, but simply haven’t found myself an a situation where I could park up and photograph it. A little late to the party, but I made it in the end. Aspire used to keep us very happy in Bristol when he lived here with his regular bird pictures, but he does come back from time to time, and obviously still has contacts in the city. I guess that this was a commission for the restaurant below. Superb artwork.
Every now and again, I like to delve into my archives to see if there are any pieces that somehow were overlooked at the time, and I am always surprised by what I find. The next few posts are from 2016 and include this beautiful magpie by Aspire.
Aspire, City Road, Bristol, March 2016
Aspire was one of my favourite Bristol artists in Bristol, and his depictions of birds in particular struck a chord with me as a trained naturalist. For a few short years, his work brightened up our streets before he packed his bags and moved to London, where I am told the streets are paved with gold. Fortunately, Aspire does return from time to time, but I miss his portfolio of stunning birds and their surroundings. As well as being a superb portrayal of a magpie, we also see evidence of his pixel clusters, something of a trademark for the artist. Those were the days!
In the last, very sunny weekend of May, Paul H and I took a trip to Weston-super-Mare to have a look at some of the murals from Weston Wallz (a festival organised by Upfest) painted this year and in previous years. It is apparent everywhere in this Victorian seaside town that there is an immense sense of civic pride in the murals, and there is no doubt that they are seen by the local authority and others as part of the rejuvenation of the town and a visitor attraction. The power of street art.
Aspire, Weston wallz, Weston-super-Mare, May 2023
The first piece we saw as we walked from the station towards the sea front was this magnificent, large mural by Aspire, on Station Road. Aspire is no stranger to Natural Adventures, and his bird pieces are always a fine addition to any street art festival. This beautiful great tit piece, painted in 2022 follows a theme that Aspire has been working on for a couple of years, which is to position nature and human impact side by side creating a slightly uncomfortable juxtaposition. Beautiful artwork with the trademark ‘pixelated’ patches, makes this a wonderful introduction to Weston Wallz for anyone arriving on the train.
Aspire, Lighthouse Community Gardens, London, April 2023
Every once in a while, the stars align and things work out and all is well in the world. These are moments that we must cherish and draw on to help us through more challenging times when it feels like there is no hope.
I had been invited to facilitate a workshop in London at the end of April, at a small community centre in the heart of Stratford, adjacent to the Olympic Park where there has been a phenomenal amount of redevelopment over the last decade or so. As I approached the location from the station, I spotted an entire block of hoardings, entirely covered in graffiti writing and street art – this was a good day, before the workshop had even begun. Even better, the hoardings surrounded the Lighthouse Community Gardens, the location of the workshop. Guess what I was doing before and after then meeting and in our lunch break.
Aspire, Lighthouse Community Gardens, London, April 2023
I was surprised at how many of the pieces on the hoardings were by artists I am familiar with, including this beauty by former Bristol artist Aspire. Bristol’s loss was definitely London’s gain as you can see from this outstanding sparrow perched on an ice lolly. Aspire’s work is so distinctive – almost always featuring birds, incorporating some pixelated elements. More recently, Aspire has featured human relationships with birds in the form of litter or food etc – the lolly plays this role here.
I was in a very good place, and the workshop went really well too. A red-letter day.
Even though Aspire no longer lives in Bristol, I have managed to come across some of his work this year, which is a joyful thing. Of all the artists that have left Bristol in recent years, I miss his work (and that of Kleiner Shames) the most. Thank goodness for festivals such as Upfest and the Cheltenham Paint Festival, which have encouraged Aspire to leave London and share his work in the provinces.
Aspire, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2022
This piece is an absolute belter, with a beautiful Robin, set alongside some silver birch trees and weirdly a bottle of sun spray. I’m not quite sure I get the significance of the plastic bottle, but it certainly sets up an interesting juxtaposition in the piece. As always the whole thing is superbly crafted, and Aspire’s pixelated sections perform the job of a signature. Top work from Aspire.
It looks like Aspire made great use of his time in Bristol for Upfest, and left behind this little extra piece in Devon Road, a spot he has painted in before when he lived in the city. I will never tire of Aspire’s beautiful birds and pixelated aberrations, and still feel sad that he left Bristol for London a few years ago.
Aspire, Devon Road, Bristol, July 2022
Although he has painted dozens of different species of bird, he seems to return blue tits most frequently. The bird is stunning, and the incorporation of the street sign inspirational. I don’t have the writing skills to express how much I like Aspire’s work, suffice it to say I think it is awesome.
One of Bristol’s biggest losses (in street art terms) in recent years was the departure of Aspire, who took up residence in the old smoke, making the opposite decision to the one I made many years ago. I definitely know where I’d rather live, and it is not in London. On the upside, Aspire does come to visit Bristol from time to time, and he always seems to dazzle us during Upfest.
Aspire, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Aspire specialises in creating the most beautiful pictures of birds and in this Upfest piece he has perfectly captured my favourite British bird, the Goldfinch. His work is never complete without his trademark pixelation, and it is interesting to see from this work in progress, that he adds the pixels at the end of the painting process.
Aspire, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
I love this piece, it feels very uncluttered, and the neutral skyline background serves to lift the goldfinch out from the boards. If you are interested in seeing more of Aspire’s work, I recommend you take a little look at a gallery I compiled in 2018, and updated today.
I leave you with three Haiku poems I wrote about goldfinches:
Another fine piece that has been in The Natural Adventures ‘departure lounge’ for an eternity is this lovely bird by Aspire, reminding us of what we have missed since he moved to London a few years back.
Aspire, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2016
Painted as part of a paint jam, you will notice a Kid Crayon character just to the right… what heady days those were. Pieces would stay intact for much longer back then. These days if you snooze you lose. I have had trouble identifying the blue and white bird, which troubles me as I consider myself quite good at identifying wildlife. It is beautifully painted with Aspire’s signature pixelated boxes. It was a sad day indeed, when he left Bristol.
How utterly perfect to welcome Aspire back to Bristol for Upfest’s 75 walls in 75 days, and what an amazing huge mural he has gifted the fine people of Bedminster. I have to admit that this piece came as a bit of a surprise as he seemed to have painted it quite quickly between visits, or maybe I just didn’t stop to look the right way at the right time.
Aspire, Fairfield Road, Bristol, August 2021, Upfest 21
I thought I was going to get a bit frustrated with the parking situation, but the gentleman in the black van was very obliging and moved out of the way for me to take a picture, and just to prove it, here he is giving me the thumbs up. If you don’t ask, you don’t get. The upshot was I managed to get a full and uninterrupted photograph of the wall.
Aspire, Fairfield Road, Bristol, August 2021, Upfest 21
The mural itself is awesome, and takes Aspire into the next level. I am not sure how many large murals he has done since moving to London from Bristol, but this is definitely the biggest I have seen.
Aspire, Fairfield Road, Bristol, August 2021, Upfest 21
The focus of the piece is a stunning Kingfisher, with a cherry on the top, and a little bit of pixelation, for which Aspire is famed. However, Aspire has combined the bird with a classical study of a bowl of fruit and the combination makes for a very special and intoxicating mural. This is glorious stuff and reminds us of what we have been missing in Bristol (as if we didn’t already know) since Aspire left. Bravo!
Photographing street art is a bit of an artifact of my desire to explore and innate curiosity. Last weekend I went to the recycling centre – we continnue to clear out our home, but like a plate of spaghetti, the residual never seems to diminish. I decided o take a different route out and was rewarded with a few walls on Alfred Street that I have never been aware of. The pieces there are not new, but are utterly splendid.
Aspire, Alfred Road, Bristol, March 2020
Front and centre is this magnificent (citron crested?) cocatoo by Aspire. I can honestly say that I think it is the best piece I have seen from this artist, maybe ever. There is something about the composition, its weirdness, toadstools and alien spaceships and this unphased cocatoo, that simply blows me away. Aspire moving to London was a real pity for us in Bristol, but what a treat to be able still to find ‘new’ work by him. More to come from this hidden spot.
Natural adventures 