Frome side – Page 3 – Natural adventures

6693. Frome Side (48)

Bbygwya, Frome Side, Bristol, January 2025

As someone who photographs and writes about street and graffiti art, it can be quite a challenge keeping up with Instagram monikers and even the letters that artists write. Bbygwya, AKA Flux, writes Flux. Luxe and in this instance Lukz and you have to know her style and range of letters to be able to identify her work successfully.

This piece was painted under the M32, alongside the River Frome early this month, and might signal a healthy presence from her and the RBF crew, who have all had a pretty busy January. Her letters have that unruly feel to them, being slightly irregular. The fills are nicely done and capped off with a couple of brilliant starbursts. Like other pieces painted during this session, there is some rain damage, which suggests that it was a wet paint day. There is a nice final touch… the shout out to Mena.

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Bloem, Frome Side, Bristol, January 2025

I don’t get down to this spot underneath the M32 nearly as much as I’d like to, but I do get there often enough to capture most of the pieces that are painted there, because the turnover is quite slow. This is a wonderful Bloem piece that was painted alongside her friend Sub.

I have noticed that quite a few of the pieces that have been painted over the winter in this spot are showing signs of rain damage, including this one. This piece is a bit of a ‘retro’ piece for Bloem, taking us back to some of her earlier themes when she was painting under the name Hiccup, such as the ‘brick’ mobile phone clutched in a hand with very long fingernails. It is always such a treat finding her work.

6604. Frome Side (46)

Oust, Stivs and Noise, Frome Side, Bristol, November 2024

This magnificent triptych forms one part of a larger paint jam under the M32 prompted by World Wall Stylers wi the theme of the animation Ninja Scroll – not a film I am familiar with. The three artists who have collaborated are Oust, Stivs and Noise.

Oust, Frome Side, Bristol, November 2024

To the left is some highly accomplished writing from Oust. Quite how it relates to Ninja Scroll, I don’t know, but having not seen the film, connections might be difficult for me to spot. There is a misty quality to the piece, and the 3D drop shadow is masterful.

Stivs, Frome Side, Bristol, November 2024

The obvious focal point of the collaboration is the wonderful character piece in the middle by Stivs, whose talent appears to have no bounds. I am assuming that the character is taken from the animation, and is wielding a fine double ended sword. Stivs is so good at painting these kinds of characters.

Noise, Frome Side, Bristol, November 2024

To the right, the ubiquitous Noise has added his own inimitable style to the proceedings with some chunky bronze letters spelling out NOISE. His letters hive some nice fills and a contrasting pink drop shadow. The common factor with each of the three pieces is the greens-blue plasma cloud surrounding. Very nice work from the trio.

6578. Frome Side (45)

Mr Klue, Frome Side, Bristol, November 2024

This large piece by Mr Klue is unusual in that it isn’t in St Werburghs tunnel, his favoured spot. It was painted as part of a paint jam themed along the lines of a cartoon film ‘Ninja Scroll’ as determined by World Wall Stylers.

Although there is little to link this piece to the film, except perhaps the letters, which I can’t read, it was very much in keeping in terms of palette selection with the other artists in the paint jam. I do like it when Mr Klue ventures beyond his safe space of the tunnel, as it gives his truly unique abstract writing more of a chance of being seen by more people, although that isn’t necessarily the case under the M32.

6555. Frome Side (44)

Astrea, Frome Side, Bristol, November 2024

Astrea is finding her feet in the Bristol street art scene and has been developing at pace. The first time I encountered her work was on a hot summer’s day in Muriel Alleyway for the mini street art festival organised by Rtiiika. Now her work can even be found in the difficult-to-access Frome Side spot, underneath the M32.

Astrea’s abstract designs in black and white, remind me a little of Prince’s squiggle, when he was represented by a symbol. This column piece is imaginative, and although her finishing needs a little work, she has painted a fairly intricate pattern. My eye keeps getting drawn to the lower right-hand side of the piece where one of the squiggles looks a little bit like a dancing figure. It is so good to see Astrea getting out and and about practising her artwork.

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Hire, Frome Side, Bristol, November 2024

The collaboration involving several artists under the M32, which is inspired by the World Wall Stylers challenge of the Japanese Animation ‘Ninja Scroll’, has turned out some highly memorable pieces, including this outstanding graffiti writing from Hire.

I’m not quite sure how he has done it, but Hire has managed to paint a fusion of his style with a strong Japanese influence. His signature, resembling Chinese character kanji (used in Japanese), mirrors the main piece, and is accompanied with the letters BF on the opposite side. The backdrop includes subtle hints at an ancient Japanese urban landscape. Cool piece.

6546. Frome Side (42)

Kool Hand and Scrapyardspec, Frome Side, Bristol, November 2024

This is not a pairing that I would necessarily have predicted, but on reflection, is is a good match, and I can see why these two, Kool Hand and Scrapyardspec, have collaborated. Both have opted for an orange colour theme, either by accident (Kool Hand’s orangutan is usually this colour, and Scrapyardspec often uses orange) or by design.

Kool Hand does what Kool Hand does with his familiar character, that he must be able to rattle off in his sleep. It is a pity that his white fill is a bit thin and there is some previous artwork bleeding through, some paints are thin, and there isn’t a lot you can do about it. To the right, Scrapyardspec has painted another of his zany wobbly characters, that we are seeing all over Bristol at the moment. Both artists have decorated the piece with spots, but in their own styles, rather than creating some kind of uniformity across both pieces (which I think might have sealed the collaboration a little better). Great to see these two pairing up.

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Bloem, Frome Side, Bristol, November 2024

This is a magnificent column piece under the M32 from Bristol artist Bloem. The spiked ball and chain should come as no surprise really as these motifs appear in her work, whether her artwork or her jewellery. Bloem seems to like sharp objects and chains and is mastering the latter in particular.

There is humour alongside the threat in this piece, with a fun smiley in the middle of the ball. What is interesting to note in this piece is the amount of depth Bloem has managed to create by using light and dark shades. This is a developing aspect to her work which was quite flat when she started painting walls. A great piece from an artist who is just getting better and better all the time.

6539. Frome Side (40)

Omie, Frome side, Bristol, November 2024

In the short time that I have been aware of the artist, Omie’s work simply gets better and better. Omie is one of those artists who uses completely different styles for each piece, with only the letters OMIE remaining constant, so you never quite know what you are going to get next, and I love that versatility and element of surprise.

This piece was painted in a large collaboration as part of Chapter 17 of the World Wall Stylers challenge, with a ‘Ninja Scroll’ theme, a 1990s Japanese animation. Omie has stuck to the theme colours really well and created something quite beautiful in pink and grey shades, bordered with a blood-red line and drips. The background is a subtly worked bamboo forest, which on its own is worthy of great praise. A fine piece from Omie.

6535. Frome Side (39)

Quale, Frome side, Bristol, November 2024

At first glance I was fooled into thinking that this piece was by Conrico, mainly based on the subject matter, but also a little o the style, but it didn’t quite feel right. It turns out it is by visiting artist Quale, as part of a chapter 17 World Wall Stylers paint jam challenge with the theme Ninja Scroll. Ninja Scroll is a 1993 Japanese animated jidaigeki–chanbara film written and directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri – who knew?

This piece (sorry about the glare, this wall is difficult to photograph) is stunning. It is so full of movement, and little pastiches from the film. I don’t know anything about Quale, but hope to see more in Bristol in the future.

	Bill Bisgood on Eager beaver
	paulh121 on 7479. Cumberland Basin
	Chuckster on Thursday doors – 19 Febr…
	China Dream on Thursday doors – 12 Febr…
	bushboy on Thursday doors – 19 Febr…

	Bill Bisgood on Eager beaver
	paulh121 on 7479. Cumberland Basin
	Chuckster on Thursday doors – 19 Febr…
	China Dream on Thursday doors – 12 Febr…
	bushboy on Thursday doors – 19 Febr…

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