I managed to sneak another trip underneath the M32 recently and picked up a couple more pictures of work by Sketch, which I might have missed last time. I haven’t seen his work anywhere else in Bristol. We really need to get this boy out and about so that more people can admire his modernist work.
Sketch, Frome Side, Bristol, December 2025
The bright and vibrant piece owes a lot to the inspiring surrealist and cubist movements, with features being spread around the face in an abstract fashion. I love these creative pieces that combine spray-painting with art movements in a brave and exciting way. More please.
During a little flick through my September folder, I like to go back from time to time to see if I have left pieces worth posting behind, I found this interesting piece by Sketch. The unusual portrait was on the opposite side of the river, so these pictures are slightly zoomed in and not of the best quality.
Sketch, Frome Side, Bristol, September 2025
I haven’t seen any work by Sketch outside this spot, and I think he is very much in his ‘discovery’ phase. The portrait of a man, wearing big yellow spectacles, is all rather fluid, and slightly in the cubist style. Smoke is flowing out of the character’s nostrils and swirling around his face… perhaps he is vaping. There is loads to like about this piece, including its originality. I am curious to seeing where Sketch’s art takes us next.
Although Rtiiika has moved away from Bristol for the time being, her work remains very much in our memories. It was a pleasure reacquainting myself with these pictures of a piece that she painted in Leonard Lane back in May 2022. Many pieces that were painted in May were bumped because of Upfest, which always impacts on the number of posts I can write. This moment of reflection at the start of 2023 has enabled me to share some great pieces that got left behind.
Rtiiika, Leonard Lane, Bristol, May 2022
Rtiiika’s work is pretty much unique in Bristol, although this piece leans heavily on the cubists and artists like Picasso. It is an absolute beauty of a musician playing a cello or double-bass. The musician is female, as denoted by the ‘W’ representing breasts, a motif that Rtiiika has used in her work before. This is a really classy piece and I do hope that she decides to return to Bristol.
I think that this might be one of my favourite Slakarts pieces to date. The slightly more sophisticated overall design and inclusion of great colours (reminiscent of Kleiner Shames’ preferred palette) delivers a truly pleasing work. Perhaps he was inspired while painting alongside Decay… and who wouldn’t be?
Slakarts, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, November 2021
The stylised portrait has been painted with great care, and the lines are sharp and fills solid. There are some clever elements and some fabulous fragmentation of elements, creating something of a cubist look to the piece. A beautiful piece beautifully finished.
In recent days, The Bearpit has been shut off and there is no access. Bristol City Council stealthily went in to evict a group of rough sleepers who had made themselves at home in a bus (formerly a cafe) and some container units. In forcing the eviction they have completely closed down the space. This was an not an inevitable conclusion to the problems caused by homelessness, addiction, antisocial behaviour in The Bearpit but a terrible failure in ‘upstream’ thinking about how to tackle the issue.
As a result of this intervention, all the good things about this public space have been closed down, possibly permanently. In my view this has been really poorly managed by Bristol City Council, but I would concede that they are grossly underfunded and what we are witnessing is the result of years of austerity and public sector funding cuts, and this in one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Disgraceful.
I say all of this because this lovely piece by Panskaribas is likely to be one of the last I will be posting from The Bearpit for some time.
Panskaribas, The Bearpit, Bristol, June 2019
Panskaribas is probably the easiest artist to identify in Bristol on account of his kind of cubist-doodle style and this is a wonderful example of his work. The other outstanding thing about this artist is his incredible energy, he seems to be the most prolific artist in Bristol currently. RIP The Bearpit.
I am really enjoying the work of Panskaribas at the moment and luckily for me it is popping up all over the place. His pieces add to the already remarkable spectrum of styles that we are privileged to witness in Bristol.
Panskaribas, The Bearpit, Bristol, February 2019
This one in The Bearpit exemplifies his cubist doodle approach. I’d like to think his work has been influenced by Picasso, Matisse and the like, but it might simply be utterly original. Whatever it is I love it. Right, I’m off to hit the slopes… see ya.
Panskaribas is my favourite ‘discovery’ so far this year, and this piece is slap bang next door to the first piece of his that I found, in fact you can just see the edge of it to the right of the picture.
Panskaribas, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2019
His pieces have what I would call a sophisticated doodle style to them that feel like a mash-up between a cartoonist and a cubist… cuboonist maybe. I have absolutely no idea whatsoever is going on in this piece, but I am intrigued by the hand on the piano keyboard and by the main character’s facial features. So much more to come from Panskaribas.
Natural adventures 