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 2022Cats 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! 😁🖖”
Frog and Nugmoose, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2022
This is not the first time I have seen this pairing on a collaborative wall, and I am sure it won’t be the last. I met them both while painting underneath Brunel Way. I already knew Nugmoose, but it was the first time I met the lady who paints frogs. I asked her what her ‘street art name’ was, but she said she was still working on it, so until I know more, I will call her Frog (see what I did there?).
Frog, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2022
To the left, Frog has painted a few frogs about the place, and they make a fine addition to the diversity of pieces in Bristol. I believe that she is quite early on in here street art presence and am really looking forward to watching her technique and compositions develop. This is a beauty, and the flowers and hat bring a narrative to the piece, which is a whole lot more than just a frog.
Nugmoose, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2022
To the right is another weird and mysterious piece from Nugmoose. It must be fun writing alien letters and confusing anyone trying to read them. The alien is proper alien, with no recognisable anthropomorphic features to identify with. These two demonstrate just what a fabulously varied offering we get in Bristol, and how blessed we are to see it all for free.
Writing about street art and graffiti here on Natural Adventures isn’t a very slick operation. Because of the volume of artwork appearing on the streets of Bristol every day, it is pretty much impossible for me to keep up and report on pieces photographed yesterday or the day before. The time-lag is about three weeks, and that is why you are seeing this magnificent Halloween piece from Stivs on 21 November!
Stivs, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2022
As ever, the calligraffiti offered by Stivs is of the highest order, and spells out ‘Halloween’, in the colours of the festival – green, purple and orange. It is funny how these colours have become adopted as the colours of Halloween… I guess the orange and green come from the pumpkin, and the purple is just a colour that complements them well. Anyhow, this is an absolute belter from Stivs.
The last time I was down here, there was an almighty flood caused by a burst water main, the result of which made visiting this spot rather difficult, because the slip road (where I park) was closed due to repair work by Bristol Water. Perhaps if they had had Bob the Builder on site, they would have fixed it in half the time. The reference, for anyone who might have missed it, is that this piece is a fabulous rendition of the children’s TV character Bob the Builder, by the ever-youthful Haka.
Haka, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2022
I believe that Haka is doing this great thing for his children, Jesse I think is one of them, and being a brilliant dad. He is painting characters from children’s books and from television, all over the city, which is such a cool dad thing to do. If I had the talent, I’d love to do something similar, although my children are pretty much grown up now. This piece is beautifully painted in typical Haka style, and definitely brightens up this dark corner under Brunel Way.
I was lucky enough to meet Cobo recently while he was spraying another piece of graffiti writing on the other side of this wall under Brunel Way. It turns out that he is a lovely bloke who has come to Bristol from New Zealand very recently and is looking for walls to paint. I hope I was able to help him with that in a small way. I’m not sure how long he will be staying, but expect to see more from Cobo in the coming weeks.
Cobo, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2022
Cobo is clearly an accomplished writer, using the letters ‘COBER’ in this piece, although I know he likes to switch things up a little bit. These solid, strong letters, looking like a rocky outcrop, are beautifully laid out in two shades of blue, the darker shade with additional decoration. The dark green background sets the letters up really nicely, providing a buffer between them and the overpainted works beneath. A nice introduction to another talent to hit Bristol.
I was lucky enough to pass by this little wall when Nugmoose was painting it alongside a friend who has painted a few frogs in the area, but currently doesn’t yet have a ‘street name’. Nugmoose is an interesting artist who seems to take a sideways view of our world.
Nugmoose, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2022
Nugmoose accompanies his trademark alien writing with a character, of sorts, but it doesn’t seem to matter ho much I look at it, I just can’t make out what it is. It looks organic, so I wonder f it is an alien. I will have to ask him the next time I see him. What you can be sure of with Nugmoose is that his work will always be super-imaginative.
Maybe Paints continues to dazzle us with his column studies under Brunel Way, as he has done for the last eighteen months or so. His ideas are expanding and becoming more ambitious, moving on from his early and original interlocking faces.
Maybe, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2022
In this piece, we see an ear in profile with a dangly earring composed of two small stylised heads. This is all so Maybe, and unique, there simply isn’t anything else out there remotely similar. We are lucky to have such a broad spectrum of street art in the city for all to enjoy.
The columns under Brunel way are a real pain to photograph, and it would be infinitely preferable if they were square, with four faces, like the ones under the M32. No amount of complaining will make any difference, so you’ll have to make do with these slightly inferior images of a rather interesting piece from Nugmoose. (Nice to see a Mr Draws piece in the background).
Nugmoose, Brunel Way, Bristol, September 2022
Nugmoose definitely has his own take and unique style of subject and painting, usually, if not always, built around a world of aliens. This rather satanic goat-alien is typical of his creativity, all wrapped up with some alien writing at the bottom of the piece. Not all street art is the same, and Nugmoose definitely pushes the boundaries.
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