Tag: Collaboration

7026. M32 Spot (203)

Desi and Mr Two Gram, M32 Spot, Bristol, June 2025
Desi and Mr Two Gram, M32 Spot, Bristol, June 2025

Unfortunately, I don’t get to post every piece by every artist, and even the artists I am more partial to don’t get fully represented here. There is so much artwork out there that only a fraction ever makes it onto these pages. Although I have posted a lot of Desi pieces, the same cannot be said for her partner, Mr Two Gram. Here they combine well on one of my favourite walls.

Desi, M32 Spot, Bristol, June 2025
Desi, M32 Spot, Bristol, June 2025

On the left Desi has painted a combination piece with her VEIL letters and a Chinese lucky waving cat (why are these such a thing? I never saw them when I was a kid). The piece is really nicely finished, and such a marked improvement on her early works, there is so much more sophistication and technique in her work these days.

Mr Two Gram, M32 Spot, Bristol, June 2025
Mr Two Gram, M32 Spot, Bristol, June 2025

Mr Two Gram tends to paint pieces that are reasonably consistent from one to the next, perhaps with a colour change or letter change from time to time. He likes to stick with his 2GRAM lettering (or TWOGRAM) often in Chrome, but not always. I would class Mr Two Gram as a graffiti writer’s graffiti writer, if that makes sense – one for the purists. This is a cool collaboration.

6940. River Avon (84)

Buser and Mr SCE, River Avon, Bristol, April 2025
Buser and Mr SCE, River Avon, Bristol, April 2025

This wonderful collaboration piece alongside the Bristol Avon came as a complete surprise. I am familiar with Buser, but I have never seen anything by Mr SCE before and assume that he was visiting.

Buser and Mr SCE, River Avon, Bristol, April 2025
Buser and Mr SCE, River Avon, Bristol, April 2025

The combination collaboration shares some commonality with the orange blast around the writing and portrait. Buser’s letters are well crafted although the colour combination is a little too overpowering for me, and there is quite a lot of brown in there. I am beginning to wonder if brown is the colour of 2025.

Mr SCE, River Avon, Bristol, April 2025
Mr SCE, River Avon, Bristol, April 2025

The two-tone portrait by Mr SCE is beautifully painted and it is a bit of a shame that it is so off the beaten track, although it is likely to remain here longer than in some of the more accessible spots in Bristol. Such is the quality of this portrait, that I will certainly be looking out for Mr SCE’s work in the future.

6881. Cumberland Basin

#DFTE and Dave Sharp, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2025
#DFTE and Dave Sharp, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2025

These two artists collaborated on almost this exact spot back in July 2022 – how time flies, I had it in my mind that it was last year. From what I can gather #DFTE and Dave Sharp are good friends, and this fine collaboration ‘anxious iron giants’ combines the distinctive writing of #DFTE with the artistic talents of Dave Sharp.

#DFTE and Dave Sharp, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2025
#DFTE and Dave Sharp, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2025

I would love to see more from #DFTE – the power of words is so beautifully presented with his unique style, going big on the drips, but he doesn’t seem to paint all that often. Dave Sharp, I don’t know much about, but he has captured the Iron Giant robot really well, perhaps tinged with a little anxiety… who knows. Their combination works really well, and as a bonus, here is their last one…

Dave Sharp and #DFTE, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2022
Dave Sharp and #DFTE, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2022

6784. Cumberland Basin

Face 1st, Zake and Soap, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, February 2025
Face 1st, Zake and Soap, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, February 2025

It was great to see this PWA collaboration recently, something that is a little less frequent these days now that Face 1st has moved away from Bristol, but true to his word, he does still come back now and again to decorate our streets. Here he is joined by Zake and Soap.

Face 1st, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, February 2025
Face 1st, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, February 2025

Face 1st has been experimenting with his letters recently, and perhaps it is a way of refining his technique and growing himself as an artist. There is a symmetry to the letters which spell out Face First, painted in a deep gold colour which contrasts with the pink background and sets the colour theme for the whole collaboration.

Zake, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, February 2025
Zake, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, February 2025

The centrepiece is a character face painted by Zake, with all the depth we are used to seeing in his work created by the use of light and shade. Zake has cleverly picked up on the gold colour and used it as the bottom-lit element, highlighting his character’s features.

Soap, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, February 2025
Soap, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, February 2025

Rounding off the triptych is a piece of writing from Soap, who also appears to be trying something a little different. His letters look like a halfway house towards calligraffiti, with some order and form to the letters in terms of shape and size, and some interesting details creeping in. A truly wonderful PWA collaboration from three beating hearts of the Bristol street/graffiti art scene.

6762. St Werburghs tunnel (479)

Goober and Maes, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2025
Goober and Maes, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2025

As you will know, I am on holiday. Writing posts can be a challenge while away. Routines are disrupted and inevitably trying to snatch a moment to write posts can be tricky. I am writing this after a long day of skiing, in preparation for tomorrow when I will be skiing… get the picture? This piece is a nice collaboration from Goober and Maes.

Goober and Maes, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2025
Goober and Maes, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2025

I have not posted much from either artist, but have plenty of their work, particularly from Maes in my archive. The collaboration works well, with Goober’s superb exploitation of the ‘OO’ opportunity, and some particularly imaginative letter shapes from Maes, whose work is on a huge improvement trajectory. Looking forward to posting more from both artists.

6761. St Werburghs tunnel (478)

Hemper and Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2025
Hemper and Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2025

Hemper and Hypo have been smashing it recently, and this is a wonderful recent collaboration in the tunnel. I fear that while I am away in France I will be missing a whole bunch of their work.

Hemper, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2025
Hemper, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2025

Hemper, like Kid Krishna, has had something of a lifestyle change and has come out of it all guns blazing. This is a combination piece of writing and little blue characters, which might have been a joint effort from both artists. Vibrant and energetic.

Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2025
Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2025

After a quiet January, Hypo too has been in outstanding form through February and this is yet another fine piece from him, with great colour transitions and his familiar  HYPO moniker. An outstanding collaboration.

6738. Unity Street

Bnie, Smak and Elvs, Unity Street, Bristol, January 2017
Bnie, Smak and Elvs, Unity Street, Bristol, January 2017

This is the third piece ‘rediscovered’ from dipping into my archive, and it is a fine collaboration from Bnie, Smak and Elvs. Once again, I am mystified by how it got left behind in the archive, but at least I am rectifying the situation by publishing it now.

Bnie, Unity Street, Bristol, January 2017
Bnie, Unity Street, Bristol, January 2017

Bnie’s work is always a joy. Her letters somehow work really well for graffiti writing – some combinations work much better than others. Here she has paid particular attention to some highly intricate fills, which I can only think were achieved using stencils. However they were realised, they are wonderfully technical and beautifully presented.

Smak, Unity Street, Bristol, January 2017
Smak, Unity Street, Bristol, January 2017

The middle piece is by Smak, whose work pretty much defines the ‘Bristol school’ of graffiti writing. Superb colours and a strong sense of flow through the piece, combining curves and straight lines skilfully. Simply an outstanding writer.

Elvs, Unity Street, Bristol, January 2017
Elvs, Unity Street, Bristol, January 2017

To the right is a fine piece by Elvs, whose work is so unique and distinct. He has worked so long and hard on his letters ELVS, that I would love to see what he could do with some other letters in his style – that would probably present a serious challenge and take him a little out of his comfort zone. Brilliant work from all three graffiti writers, demonstrating what their art form is all about.

6678. M32 roundabout J3 (651)

Desi and Lupa, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2025
Desi and Lupa, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2025

Ladies of the PWA crew have started the year with some real momentum, and have broadly had a busy period. This conflation piece from Desi and Lupa looks gorgeous in the evening sun. In my experience, it is quite unusual for two artists to merge their names and share a style in this way, and I have to say I rather like it. Within the crew, there are all sorts of combinations that would be fascinating to see, although I sense that this might be a bit of a one-off.

Desi and Lupa, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2025
Desi and Lupa, M32 roundabout, Bristol, January 2025

Desi has contributed the VEI, and probably L, and Lupa, the UPA. They have set the pink writing on a traditional purple brick wall background, and the Christmas hat from PWA’s Zake can still be seen behind the letters, providing some temporal context. A fine and true collaboration from Desi and Lupa.

6591. Brunel Way (305)

Face 1st and Zake, Brunel Way, Bristol, December 2024
Face 1st and Zake, Brunel Way, Bristol, December 2024

True to his word, Face 1st said that despite moving to Herefordshire, he would be back in Bristol to have a paint from time to time, and who better to team up with than his PWA partner in crime Zake, who thrives on collaborations. This is a combination piece, with Face 1st’s writing wrapped around an unusual portrait by Zake.

Face 1st and Zake, Brunel Way, Bristol, December 2024
Face 1st and Zake, Brunel Way, Bristol, December 2024

Face 1st has enjoyed using the block letters idea, which he has used quite a lot to good effect, and here, they frame a rather sinister portrait from Zake. Seeing Zake’s characters with hair always adds a little bit of weirdness, especially in this piece, where the face is green and the hair purple. Although I photographed this collaboration not long after it was painted, the dampness of the wall has caused some damage on the character’s nose. I am so glad to see Face 1st popping down to see us.

6310. Cumberland Basin

Esme Lower and Bloem
Esme Lower and Bloem

Some viewers/visitors may wonder what the numbering convention at the top of each street/graffiti art post on this blog is all about, and might legitimately question whether it is helpful or not. In my mind, it is quite simple. The first number is the sequential listing of the blog post, so, this is the six thousand three hundred and tenth post I have written about street/graffiti art on Natural Adventures. The following name is the spot or road where the piece can be found, and the number in brackets (unconventionally there isn’t one for Cumberland Bain (a quirk)) at the end relates to the number of posts from that spot or location. It might have been simpler to instead have the name of the artist included as well, but when I started doing this back in 2015, I didn’t know who most of the artists were and so a place-based approach seemed more sensible.

This is an absolutely gorgeous and rather unexpected collaboration from Esme Lower and Bloem.

Esme Lower and Bloem
Esme Lower and Bloem

The collaboration appears to be entitled ‘Strength in numbers’ which might be a reference to the ‘counterprotest marches’ against the far-right riots that were happening around Britain at the time this piece was painted.

It is what I would call a ‘true’ collaboration where the piece is a mash-up by both artists, and although some parts are identifiable as being by one artist or the other, the whole thing is an integrated mixture. The hands and chain are definitely by Bloem and the eyes and teeth by Esme Lower, the rest could be by either one of them. It is great to see these two artists stretching themselves, and it would be wonderful to see more co-creations like this one in the future.