Bristol Mural Collective – Page 3

6296. Muriel Alleyway (7)

Ailish Beadle, Muriel Alleyway, Bristol, August 2024

Painted on a sunny and warm day at Bristol’s smallest street art festival, this is a debut piece (in Bristol) by Ailish Beadle, who had only moved to Bristol a few days previously. It was great to be able to chat to her and welcome her to the city and its art scene.

Ailish Beadle was refreshing/reimagining a piece that had been painted here before by Rtiiika, but which had been tagged and abused. She was able to breathe new life into the great words in her own illustration style, which as it turns out is rather good and totally in keeping with the Bristol Mural Collective’s ‘look’.

A rather nice touch, and nod to the original piece, is the incorporation of the smiley face. The words in red in the centre are complemented perfectly with an array of designs and patterns in black and a sprinkling of dots, creating plenty of energy and movement. I very much look forward top seeing more from Ailish Beadle on the streets of Bristol.

Rtiiika, Muriel Alleyway, Bristol, May 2021

6289. Muriel Alleyway (6)

Tanith Gould, Muriel Alleyway, Bristol, August 2024

Bristol’s smallest street art festival took place at the end of July, organised by Rtiiika, in Muriel Alleyway, Brislington. This is an alleyway which has a couple of dozen garages backed onto it as well as garden back walls, which make fabulous canvasses for street art and murals. The spot has has a few pieces painted along it in a fairly sporadic fashion, but this event ensured that many of the available well/garage spaces were painted. Most of the artists were part of the Bristol Mural Collective, including Tanith Gould, who has painted this exact wall previously.

I love Tanith Gould’s illustrative style, which includes, I guess, quite a lot of symbolism and meaning. She has virtually replicated the hands that were here before, but the surrounding decoration is rather different. There is something very calming about the piece, which I really like. Below is her earlier piece from July 2021, for comparison.

Tanith Gould, Muriel Alleyway, Bristol, July 2021

5996. Cumberland Basin

Fishlock, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2024

This is a bright and fun piece from Katie Fishlock was painted at the Bristol Mural Collective paint jam back in April. I have featured her work a few times in Natural Adventures, and have several more of her pieces in my archives, but perhaps don’t ‘big her up’ as much as she deserves.

Her art studio creative designs translate very well onto walls, which provide a great showcase for her design work. If you’d like to know more about Katie Fishlock, her biography on her website is well worth a read. The portrait piece here plays on the confusion of double sets of eyes, which the brain quickly dismisses and accepts as a normal face, a device used a lot in street art. I rather like the bold statement and way it is presented. Note to self – dig out more of her work from the archive.

5991. Cumberland Basin

Ejits, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2024

The tragedy of Bristol Mural Collective paint jams is that all too often the pieces go unsigned and so many of them fail to make it into the pages of Natural Adventures. Fortunately, this piece by Ejits was signed, but she is also an established street artist, and I recognised her work in any case.

This cheeky little character piece is cleanly painted onto a graffiti wall, with part of a Klashwhensober piece behind it. Technically, it might have been polite to paint out Klashwhensober’s piece rather than leave half of it, but I don’t think he is the kind of writer who minds all that much. The adorable character has, it would seem, dropped a fart of toxic gas as described by the skull and crossbones in the ‘speech’ bubble.

5959. Cumberland Basin

Nina Raines, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2024

A piece by Nina Raines can only mean one thing, and that is a Bristol Mural Collective paint jam. There were several excellent pieces painted by artists of Bristol, unfortunately most unsigned, during the paint jam, and this one stood out. Nina Raines paints scenery for productions as a profession, and her skills have certainly come to the fore in this small piece.

One of the things I like about artists swapping a day in the studio for painting public walls is that they have a very different take from regular street/graffiti artists, not having any rules or conventions to follow, and often their work is incredibly creative. This piece is simple… a pair of arches, one with a cloudy scene and the other with something a little bit more cosmic, a nighttime sky, perhaps. I will try to post some other pieces from the paint jam, because the work of the Bristol Mural Collective definitely has loads of appeal.

5598. Cumberland Basin

Lost_in_illustration, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2023

I believe that this piece was painted during a Bristol Mural Collective paint jam, and like so many pieces that are painted on these occasions is totally worthy of inclusion in Natural Adventures. It is always great to see artists who are more used to studio work painting walls, although I know that Genevieve Clapp (Lost_in_illustration) has painted walls in Bristol before. There is a freshness and originality that adds to the vast spectrum of subjects and styles we see in Bristol.

This mysterious piece with a kind of atmospheric/cosmic background features a hooded woman, painted in contrasting shades of blue, clutching a glowing sphere in true fantasy fashion. It is a lovely and rather different kind of piece, which sits comfortably alongside any other works on this wall. I hope to see more from Genevieve Clapp before too long.

5383. Dean Lane skate park (624)

Sarah Trotter, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2023

Since the appearance of the Bristol Mural Collective, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of artistic murals by fine artists, illustrators and designers who have transferred their skills from the studio to the streets and the overall impact has been to broaden further the incredible diversity of street art we have in Bristol. This unusual piece by Sarah Trotter is a great example of the kind of work that has been unleashed.

The piece, Love like a Lobster, is very well described by the artist on her Instagram feed, and I recommend that you read what she has to say about the piece. The hand on the left is tenderly dancing with the lobster on the right, in a beautiful feast of colour and movement. I like the way that Sarah Trotter has really thought about the piece and the surroundings, including paying attention to the textures on the wall. There is a great more depth to the piece than first meets the eye. I’ll be looking out for more street art from Sarah Trotter.

5369. Cumberland Basin

Susannah Peacock, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2023

Susannah Peacock is a Bristol artist and illustrator, who, I understand from our conversations, has designed some very successful greetings cards and is also responsible for ‘decorating’ one of the Bristol Unicorns currently on display in the city. Her work is especially appealing to children, having that picture book illustration style.

The mermaid mural was painted over two or three days of the Bristol Mural Collective’s paint jam a few weeks back. The work in progress shot demonstrated how much work went into the piece. There is no doubt that the BMC paint jams introduce a whole new aspect to the street art scene and gives studio artists the opportunity to express themselves on large outdoor, public ‘canvasses’.

We live in a crazy world. Technically speaking there are no legal walls in Bristol, and yet it is one of the most decorated cities in the UK. Everyone who paints walls in Bristol without permission is at risk of being arrested. Although a ‘blind-eye’ approach tends to prevail, it doesn’t mean that enforcement doesn’t happen. It would make so much sense to introduce some curated legal walls for so many talented artists to make use of. Maybe one day…

5356. Cumberland Basin

Scooj, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2023

Although this is his debut piece, Scooj needs no introduction on Natural Adventures. He finally got the courage to paint his first wall during a Bristol Mural Collective paint jam a few weeks ago on a warm and very windy afternoon.

To be brutally honest his work probably doesn’t match up to his ambition, but the abstract piece is certainly a little different from most of the work seen in the city. There might be a very good reason for that. Some bright colours distract a little from the overall untidy finishing, but for a first effort the piece is passable.

Scooj is not an artist, and so it will be vital to practice his spray skills and hand control, and come up with designs he can execute. This piece is a little muddled, and the ‘holes’ cut through the yellow might be perceived as moons. My advice to Scooj would be don’t give up just yet, keep practising and hit a few more walls. Hats off to the Bristol Mural Collective for creating a gateway for new artists to have a go at painting in a fun and safe environment.

5347. Cumberland Basin

Urban Fay, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2023

One of the refreshing things about the Bristol Mural Collective paint jams is that most of the pieces created are murals predominantly painted with materials other than spray cans, which brings a whole other dimension to the spectrum of styles and techniques used to paint our walls. This is a moody mother earth piece from Urban Fay.

I am always likely to enjoy environmental pieces, and this one hits the spot. A reclining figure melds into the hillside while a red sun sets on the horizon with telegraph poles hugging the crest of the hill. There are some words to the right of the piece which say. “Suffering a sea change, we rearrange into entirely new shapes”. The female figure’s tears join the river that meanders down the contours of her face to the sea.

Zooming in, there is detail so small on the figure’s face in the form of tiny little fir trees. This is an unusual piece, which we would be unlikely to see without the great organising skills of Nina Raines and the Bristol Mural Collective.

	paulh121 on 7352. Cumberland Basin
	Sheree on 7352. Cumberland Basin
	paulh121 on 7350. Hillgrove Street (9…
	Bill Bisgood on Thursday doors – 11 Dece…
	scooj on Thursday doors – 11 Dece…

	paulh121 on 7352. Cumberland Basin
	Sheree on 7352. Cumberland Basin
	paulh121 on 7350. Hillgrove Street (9…
	Bill Bisgood on Thursday doors – 11 Dece…
	scooj on Thursday doors – 11 Dece…

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