One of the artefacts of the way I plan my blog posts is that I am always running a few weeks behind the time that the pieces were painted. So here we are on Sunday 21 January and I am posting a Christmas piece by Cobo.
Cobo, Brunel Way, Bristol, January 2023
This is an absolute chrome beauty by New Zealand artist Cobo, whose writing is out of the top drawer. In this piece, his wonderfully stylised letters are accompanied by a cat and a sign saying merry Christmas. I love a street art cat, and must, one day, get my act sorted out and d a gallery of street art cats. It will happen. In the mean time you’ll just have to enjoy this lovely fella.
I suspect that I begin quite a few posts featuring Mudra’s work with the words, ‘Mudra is absolutely smashing it at the moment’ and that is probably because Mudra is absolutely smashing it at the moment.
Mudra, Brunel Way, Bristol, January 2023
His signature pieces, usually painted on black buffed walls, have been coming thick and fast over the last year, and this one features a walking character, smoking a cigarette, alongside the letters NTS, the crew he paints with. Mudra’s work is always easy on the eye, smooth curvy lines and soft fills – there is something quite laid back about their presentation. Many more to come in 2023 I’m sure.
Bogat is an artist who is underrepresented on Natural Adventures, so this flurry of pieces that I photographed in March last year should go some way to addressing this. Although I took the pictures in March 2022, some of the pieces in the M32 J2 tunnels may have been there for a while.
Bogat, Brunel Way, Bristol, March 2022
Bogat, who often painted alongside Asre, has a thing for open-mouthed portraits and the occasional octopus. The piece above, from Brunel way, is rather nicely done, with some nice shading on the octopus and its tentacles providing some depth. I rather like the bubbles rising off the writing, too, and filling the black space.
Bogat, M32 roundabout J2, Bristol, March 2022
The rest of the pieces were photographed in the tunnels of the M32 roundabout junction 2, a few hundred meters North East of the junction 3 roundabout, which is a much more popular spot.
Bogat, M32 roundabout J2, Bristol, March 2022
These tunnels are quite narrow, and dark, making photography something of a challenge. Somehow I managed to capture these pieces reasonably well, perhaps because they are in a portrait orientation rather than landscape.
Bogat, M32 roundabout J2, Bristol, March 2022
It feels good to have posted these pieces, even if they have been collected together into one post. If I didn’t do that, then there is a real possibility that they would remain in the archives forever.
I have a feeling that 2023 will be a year in which we see Mote reach a new level. The artist is already turning out pieces at a phenomenal rate, and his character compositions are becoming more sophisticated. What will be interesting is to see where all this goes this year, and I can’t wait to see it unfold.
Mote, Brunel Way, Bristol, Deccember 2022
This is another piece with a pair of characters connected via an upturned crown (a motif that Mote is fond of). The characters are also connected by a reverse colour scheme, so there is definitely a story being told in the piece. As always, Mote has kept the fills strong, with all the borders and detail lines clean and tight. A fine pair under Brunel Way.
For once, Logoe came to Bristol and dropped only one piece, as far as I can make out. I believe he might have visited with his Mrs, whose piece lies next to this one. That is speculation based on second-hand information, and since Logoe has no social media presence, it is difficult to confirm one way or the other.
Logoe, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2022
Not only am I late in posting this sensational Halloween piece, but I think that Logoe was late in painting it. This has all the ingredients of a top piece of writing, with Logoes characteristically slim script letters on a fiery background and festooned with a band of colourful ovals. A rather cute ghost character tops off the piece beautifully. A great Hlloween festival piece from Logoe.
Klashwhensober, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2022
There doesn’t seem to be any letting up from Klashwhensober, and you have to admire his grit and determination. Added to that, you also have to admire the constant improvement and development of his bright pieces, as he becomes one of the more prominent writers in the city.
Klashwhensober, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2022
This bright SOBER writing is accompanied by a rather sinister gun-toting character, whose shooting has peppered the writing with bullet holes and bleeding. What marks this piece out, and indeed is a bit of a signature feature from the artist, is the objects and splashes bursting out of the middle of the writing. A fine grey-3D drop shadow and day glow green border (with drips) and cloudy background finish the piece nicely.
It doesn’t get much better than this. A frog wearing a cowboy hat. Fantastic. This piece is by the artist with no ‘street name’, so for the meantime I am calling her Frog, for obvious reasons.
Frog, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2022
Frog has painted alongside Nugmoose a couple of times, and his piece is a yard or two away from this one. The frog is nicely painted without sentimentalising the frog’s features. The frog looks like a frog, apart from the cowboy hat. It is not a cartoon representation of a frog. The humour is in the absurdity of a frog wearing a hat and doesn’t rely on a funny frog. Great stuff.
I would guess that I only manage to photograph about one in three of Mote’s pieces, which might give you an indication of how prolific he has been over the last few months. This piece under Brunel Way is a bit of a departure from his regular fare.
Mote, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2022
The stylised face is not a monster, but a human portrait, although it has all the characteristics of Mote’s work. Strong lines, solid fills and fine details created with black lines. The danger of painting the familiar, as opposed to wacky monsters, is that the piece will immediately be compared to a human face, there is a benchmark that we all have and recognise, and it is easier to criticise. Stylised works like this one work well, because they are self-knowing that they are representative of a face, but not an actual face. Great experimentation from Mote.
Face 1st, Zake and Soap, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2022
One of the great pleasures in life is coming across a PWA collaboration, and this little beauty painted under Brunel Way recently was a real treat. It is a well-balanced triptych, with Face 1st on the left, Zake in the middle and Soap on the right. It is an interesting observation that most of the time when Face 1st and Soap get together, they nearly always paint this way round – it must simply feel comfortable that way.
Face 1st, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2022
Face 1st’s piece in chrome is a nice simple girl’s face with the letters FACE neatly spaced around the edge, with a deep black 3D drop shadow and neatly bounded with a thin green line. Basic stuff done really well.
Zake, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2022
The middle section, or ‘filling of the sandwich’, is this unusual portrait piece by Zake. I am not too sure what is going on here, but it looks like the brain of the blue character is being expelled through his mouth, and that the brain appears to have a character all of its own. Quite bizarre, but beautifully painted with all the fine shading attributes associated with Zake’s work.
Soap, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2022
The symmetry is completed with another chrome piece, this one by Soap, to the right, reflecting the basic design of Face 1st’s on the other side. The central element is Soap’s characteristic mouth/skull ‘super tag’ with the letters SOAP encircling it. All in all, a wonderful piece from the PWA boys to brighten up our dull existence.
Haka and Cats and That, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2022
I felt that this collaborative piece by Haka and Cats and That merited its own post rather than potentially being overshadowed by the adjacent Bob the Builder piece by Haka. In this collaboration, the bicycle is by Haka, and the cats, unsurprisingly, by Cats and That.
Haka and Cats and That, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2022
The collaboration is a charming and endearing scene with a couple of cats lounging on the bicycle. The cats are simply painted, without bells and whistles, but this subtle approach is really effective, and anyway who doesn’t love cat street art? Cats and That has burst onto the Bristol scene in recent months and is already making a mark all over town. The column cats next to this wall are an example of this.
Cats and That, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2022
Cats and That, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2022
Finally, I would just like to say that writing this blog is a genuine pleasure. Sometimes it can be a bit of a slog, especially when the trials of work and home life catch up with me. At times it might seem a little esoteric, but I stick by the guiding principle that I started writing street art posts to help others understand, appreciate and love the street/graffiti art scene in Bristol.
This comment from a visitor, Artemis BJJ, to Natural Adventures was left on my ‘About’ section, and it absolutely made my day and reinforced my resolve to continue doing what I do, because even if it makes one person happy, I have done my job.
“What an awesome blog! Randomly bumped across it while googling “j3 roundabout bristol”. A considerably more engaging and aesthetically interesting result than I was expecting. Keep up the great work! 😁🖖”
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