Cat – Page 5 – Natural adventures

6269. Dean Lane skate park (739)

In Dean Lane on the edge of the curved wall, Daz Cat has painted one of his trademark cats, but how his artwork has come on. In recent years, he has worked on and improved, immeasurably, his depth and features, which in his earlier work were rather flat. I guess I am saying that his work has become much more sophisticated. If you look at the image below, you will see what I mean.

This cheeky cat, sporting a bit of a quiff, is licking his face, something that cats seem to delight in being able to do. While this is a bit of a quick ‘stamp’ it is nonetheless really rather good.

6220. Greenbank (128)

It feels like Daz Cat is pushing all sorts of boundaries at the moment and painting with a freedom in both style and content that is a pleasure to witness. There is a lot going on in this free-flowing story-telling piece in Greenbank.

I can see a lady surrounded by purple/lilac cats, but the intriguing part of this piece is the two ‘robot’ arms that rather randomly seem to have landed in amongst them and are smoking from the arm sockets. There is a story which is skilfully illustrated, but it is a story belonging very much to the artist – as viewers we can only concoct our own stories. Great work from Daz Cat.

6140. M32 roundabout J3 (585)

Daz Cat, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024

Something happened to Daz Cat while he was travelling in Southeast Asia over the winter. It is almost as if he had an epiphany after which his art has moved on to a new level. A glance at this gallery of his work shows how much he has developed over the years, but this transformation is a bit of a step change.

Daz Cats work was already becoming more sophisticated, but since returning to the UK there is more fluidity in his work, which is more three dimensional, and he is trying out new things, such as the profile portrait of the girl in this piece. This is an exceptional and original piece of street art, and I think it might be my new favourite by Daz Cat. Whilst I was photographing it, a passer-by who was walking his dog, singled out this piece and said how much he admired it. Keep it up Daz Cat, this is special.

6037. Cumberland Basin

Daz Cat, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024

From what I can gather, Daz Cat has been away for a little while travelling in Southeast Asia, and has recently returned to Bristol not only with some vigour but also with a newfound inspiration that is coming across very clearly in his new pieces, like this one in Cumberland Basin.

I can’t say I have really seen anything like this from Daz Cat before, it is like his work has taken a significant step change. There is more sophistication and depth to his character portrait, who appears to be a hybrid between a human and a cat. There are some great colours used in this piece, and the hair is just something else. Daz Cat has come a long way, and his journey is getting really interesting.

6036. Dean Lane skate park (717)

I think that it is fairly common knowledge that ACAB is a subversive acronym derived from the phrase ‘all cops are bastards’. I am guessing that it was coined in North America, because we don’t generally use the word cop in the UK, preferring the terms Police, bobby, old Bill, ‘pigs’ or even ‘copper’ but rarely cop. ACAB is used liberally in street/graffiti art, and this piece on the curved wall by Mr Draws, has a humorous take on the letters.

Firstly, I would say that this is a really attractive piece by Mr Draws, who continues to gently push his boundaries all the time whilst retaining his style and identity. The design is great, the letters are nice and tidy and the fill colours work surprisingly well. Mr Draws has softened the tone of the acronym so that it reads ‘all cats are beautiful’, and has added in a cat character for good measure. Perhaps one could term this piece ‘fluffy subversion’.

6022. Cheltenham Road

The maxim ‘you can never have too much of a good thing’ is a variant of the phrase ‘you can have too much of a good thing’, and the two have very different meanings. In this instance I am adopting the former in relation to the number of recent pieces painted in Bristol by the London-based Roo.

It has been a very long time since this wall last had anything meaningful on it, and Roo has filled the space perfectly. Her precision and apparently simple design actually underplays her skill in creating such a tight piece. The character is bound to strike a chord with cat lovers, and the black ‘naturescape’ complements the piece nicely. Great work from Roo.

5980. Sparke Evans Park (95)

Noise, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, March 2024

Noise has had a rich spell of form recently, painting at least three pieces and probably a few more too that I don’t know about. This fabulous writing/character combination piece was painted during an LRS paint jam in Sparke Evans Park.

This lively piece, full of vibrancy and colour, has a very strong Noise vibe about it, but is a little different from his usual work with the inclusion of a cat character making up the ‘O’ of NOISE. The cat is really well crafted and it would be great to see him do more of this kind of thing. Combination pieces allow artists to showcase their artistic skills beyond writing or characters alone. Watch this space (like tomorrow) for more from Noise.

5926. M32 Cycle path (257)

Sepr, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, March 2024

I haven’t managed to catch up with Sepr for an eternity, so it was so good to be in the right place at the right time and find not only Sepr but also Inkie and Haka painting this spot together a week or two back. I was surprised to see them painting on this wall behind the Black Swan because, Haka aside, this is not a spot that you’d expect to find their work.

I asked Sepr if he works to a drawing or comes up with his designs in his head and freestyles them. He immediately pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and showed me his design for this piece – he said he keeps all his designs, which is amazing. I guess he may use some of them for tattoos. In this piece a fox or cat is juggling batons with his tongue while a from looks on from the safety of his trilby. A crazy scene perfectly presented with incredible sharpness and style. This piece is sheer class from my favourite character artist. Wonderful.

5891. St Werburghs tunnel (412)

Rowdy, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2024

Although he doesn’t paint all that often these days, Rowdy is responsible for some of the most iconic street art in Bristol. His crude pieces, often featuring his trademark crocodile, have been a mainstay of the Bristol scene for decades. He painted this small piece during Ryder’s RAW paint jam a couple of weeks back.

In this piece, Rowdy has painted a masked cat character hovering above a vibrant nigh time urban scene. There is an energy to the piece and a hint of subversion which I like. Of course a vertical green crocodile is in attendance. Of course, as is common in many works in the city at the moment, it is accompanied with the words ‘Free Palestine’. It is always a pleasure to see anything by Rowdy.

5829. Peel Street Green (26)

Sub, Peel Street Green, Bristol, February 2024

Having only recently graced the pages of Natural Adventures, Sub, I have a feeling, is going to feature more and more going forward. This large piece in Peel Street Green combines his big letters with a pussycat character. The piece was overpainted last week with some writing that incorporated (and by implication, took credit for) the cat… Sub has since returned and restored his own letters.

Sub’s letters tend to be super-large and simply filled, but it is the inclusion of his cartoon, manga-style cat, that adds lots of interest to the piece. This is a nice clean and tidy piece, and it will be interesting to see if the incorporation of characters will become more of a thing for the artist. Nice work.

	Cethru Cellophane on Tales of a telecabine
	scooj on Thursday Doors – 29 Janu…
	Sheree on 7436. St Werburghs tunnel…
	hitandrun1964 on Thursday Doors – 29 Janu…
	scooj on Thursday Doors – 29 Janu…

	Cethru Cellophane on Tales of a telecabine
	scooj on Thursday Doors – 29 Janu…
	Sheree on 7436. St Werburghs tunnel…
	hitandrun1964 on Thursday Doors – 29 Janu…
	scooj on Thursday Doors – 29 Janu…

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