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Three trips to the tip
carpets cleaned throughout the house
but walls looking tired
.
by Scooj
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Three trips to the tip
carpets cleaned throughout the house
but walls looking tired
.
by Scooj

This whole-block hoarding is the gift that keeps on giving. Having stumbled upon this spot completely by accident, I have been revelling in its treasures. This piece by Roo is in her home town. Most of her work that I have featured in Natural Adventures is from Bristol, so it is always great to see some of her work in her own back-yard.

This beautifully painted cat, who is settled down for an evening of screen entertainment, is full of character and charm. Although Roo’s character work appears to be quite simple, with solid fills, strong outlines etc, don’t be fooled. These are carefully crafted and brilliantly designed pieces with a lot of attention to detail, especially with the highlights and shadows, for example the yellow strip on the left-hand edges, suggesting a reflection from a light source. This piece gave me a warm feeling of familiarity inside. Now all I had to do was find a piece by SkyHigh.

This road was one of the first I wrote a blog post about, in fact it was number 21 (this is 5,217), and the portrait piece was on the other side of the road, by Dora, an artist whose debut on Natural Adventures was in fact her first and last appearance. This piece is by the irrepressible Kosc, and what a belter it is.

The colour palette of the piece is exquisite and works beautifully with the blue buffed background. There is often quite an industrial/urban feel to Kosc’s work, but the letter fills in this one are a little bit softer, almost dreamy, although I can see a few ‘rivets’ here and there.
It is amazing to see how far this artist has come over the last few years, from his early pieces under a different name, to being in the top division of Bristol writers. There is so much to love about this one.

Pieces like this are the best ones to find. I went for a dog walk with my wife last week and on the way back to our house, we came across this Inkie piece on a garage door. I don’t recall ever seeing it on social media, so for me, it was a completely new discovery.

The portrait piece is so typical of Inkie’s style, incorporating all the design elements that one associates with the artist, with the interesting addition of a pair of yellow-tinted glasses. This piece is pure Inkie class, and possibly the closest piece of street art to where I live, and yet I have only just discovered it.

We have some very special artists in Bristol, and two of the very best are 3Dom and Sled one, and every once in a while these two combine to do something completely amazing. They like to refer to themselves when they paint something like this as the hi-vis crew, becoming invisible when they wear official-looking high visibility clothing.

I was lucky enough to be passing when these two were still painting these pieces, and it was in fact the first time I have met 3Dom properly, and I have to say what an absolutely lovely bloke he is. These arches have had some fantastic pieces painted on them over the years, and 3Dom and Sled One are continuing that great tradition. I fear that it won’t be too long before the authorities clamp down on painting this wall, but until such time we can only enjoy it.

Both artists have a surreal and fantastical approach to their artwork, which in many cases it is probably best not to try and interpret. 3Dom presents a character whose head is made of a balloon filled with water and a couple of fish that might be the character’s eyes and a syringe that forms the mouth. The target and fez are details that add intrigue. Upside-down clouds and a cityscape round off the piece nicely. Brilliant.

Sled One has created a portrait piece of a woman smoking a cigarette. Her skin, however, has been stripped away from the middle third of her face, exposing a cartoon-style skull. This is without doubt one of the odder pieces that Sled One has painted, but is certainly arresting and powerful. Also brilliant.

If you ever wondered how these artists reach the higher bits of a wall, here is the answer. A perfect collaborative wall from the masters.
Doors 221 – Bristol and Porto street art and graffiti doors
When I do these street art and graffiti doors, it usually signals that I am really busy at work, and don’t have time to do all the necessary admin to prepare doors to share, preferring to trawl existing pictures that I have posted on my blog under the street art category.
So let’s get straight to business with these doors from Bristol and Porto, which were originally posted on Natural Adventures in July 2022:

Doors painted during Upfest 2022



Access hatch on a bridge

Access hatch on a bridge



Cat ghost door

Abstract ghost door

Another abstract ghost door


OK, so it’s not a door, but I just love this photograph.
Well, that’s it for another week. I hope you have a great weekend. Happy Thursday doors.
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.
by Scooj


‘Who duh fook is dat guy?’ asks Stivs whose portrait pieces are truly outstanding – who knew about this incredible versatility, when he was pretty much exclusively painting his calligraffiti pieces? This portrait piece has very quickly established itself as something of a classic and definitely stands out from the crowd.

I didn’t have any idea who was featured in the piece, that was until Paul H posted this piece on social media and helped me out with identification. It is Conor McGregor – UFC champion, which explains why I didn’t know. Although I like to think of myself as having my finger on the pulse, I am not a wrestling/UFC/boxing fan, it simply isn’t in my nature to watch alpha males (or females) knocking seven shades of sh*t out of each other for our entertainment. Great portrait piece though.

There are many artists in Bristol who have created their own unique stamp or style, but none more so than Nugmoose, whose surreal alien pieces entertain and confuse in equal measure. This is a recent one from the long wall in Cumberland Basin.

I am not even going to attempt to decipher what is going on in this piece, but it is a mash-up of alien writing, plant-life, hoofed legs and a human face. The whole thing, painted in soft tones, hangs together nicely, and demonstrates so clearly the breadth and depth of street/graffiti art in our city.
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Exquisite birdsong
attracted my attention
a flycatcher’s call
.
by Scooj

It feels like Todoaciem (who writes CIEM) has been a little quiet over the winter months, perhaps returning to his native Spain to keep away from the miserable British weather (my speculation), so it is great to see his work gracing the walls of our city once again.

This outstanding piece of calligraffiti shows off Todoaciem’s skill as a writer. Set out on a modest wall, with minimal footfall, the piece oozes class and really stands out. I know that there is at least one other recent piece by the artist in another part of Bristol (watch this space) so, with any luck, it is the start of some high quality calligraffiti to look forwar to this summer.