I enjoy getting to where people paint, and by that I mean, in this example, that although Hypo paints a lot in central Bristol, this is his local spot and somewhere that I expect he feels very much at home painting. I visited this spot on a warm, sunny day, which was as much a nature ramble as a graffiti hunt.
Hypo, L Dub, Bristol, August 2024
I am never quite sure about the colours blue and yellow together, which is curious, because they are the traditional colours of my beloved Arsenal’s away kit, but of course, I forgive my football team anything and everything. The HYPO letters are nice and regular, painted in two tones of blue and decorated nicely with spots and stars. A thin 3D Drop shadow and two border lines round the piece off nicely. Hypo in his natural habitat.
Bristol’s smallest street art festival in Muriel Alleyway was a joyous occasion where some twenty or so artists gathered together to decorate a row of garage doors and garden back doors, bathed in glorious sunshine. This was Billy’s contribution to the event, and completely in keeping with the positive energy generated during the day.
Billy, Muriel Alleyway, Bristol, August 2024
I think that Billy had to paint some of this over an extended period, because she and Merny were swapping parenting duties while attempting to complete their respective works. This is pure Billy, with here naïve style front and centre in the form of a portrait of a girl. Painted in bright and happy colours, this is a great example of her uplifting work.
Well, this is surely one of the more unusual pieces from Hire, that indicates he is enjoying pushing boundaries. When I first encountered his work a few years ago, his USP was his spiky, sharp letters that could poke your eye out if you weren’t careful. Contrast that with this organic green piece spelling HIRE.
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2024
Each letter resembles a bushy tree with green branches and canopy, in various orientations. The letters are set on a dark conifer woodland silhouette. This is a very nicely considered and executed piece from Hire – connecting with nature.
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
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.
Oof! This is an absolutely outstanding framed piece of writing by Smak, which stands out ‘poster-like’ from the long wall of the M32. Rather well concealed, the letters spell out SMAK, and there is an overwhelming sensation of a tropical island landscape conveyed by the palm trees and a possible reference to a bright sun.
Smak, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024
The way the piece is pulled together has a collage appearance, as if a youngster had cut up pictures from a holiday brochure (remember those?) and stuck them onto a rectangular piece of paper. This is a truly memorable piece by Smak and something a little special.
This outstanding abstract piece of graffiti writing by Mr Klue has it all, and has taken a bit of a shift in colour composition from his usual palettes of blues, greens, purples or oranges. It is really quite unusual to come across a piece by the artist with a white background, and it leaves the viewer with quite a different impression.
Mr Klue, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2024
The wispy letters spell out KLUE, and I am pleased to note the incorporation of his floating steps, which I think really adds something to the mystery and spirituality of his work. It is interesting to see that he, and others before him, have chosen not to paint the semicircle of chipped wall along the top of the piece. Wonderful work from local artist Mr Klue.
Over the past few months some rather nice script writing has appeared all over Bristol, with the words ‘Nice One’. I had nothing more to go on about the artist, until now, when a signed portrait by the artist appeared in Dean Lane recently. Unfortunately the identity of the artist remains a mystery, and until I know more I will refer to them as Nice One.
Nice One, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2024
This is a fantastic portrait piece painted in a ‘brush-stroke’ style, as if it were a charcoal sketch in a black book. The proportions and perspectives are superb, the work of a trained artist I would guess. I love the expression on the character’s face. The bold ‘e’ in the signature is something I’ll be looking out for. More to come from this Natural Adventures debutant soon.
This was a bit of a red-letter day… not only was it gorgeous weather, but I got to meet Mind 49 for the first time, having been following his work for a number of years. He was painting alongside the Bristol Mural Collective at Bristol’s smallest street art festival at the end of July.
Mind 49, Muriel Alleyway, Bristol, July, 2024
This is the first shutter piece that I have seen Mind 49 paint, and although the portrait is magnificent, I’m not convinced that the uneven surface lends itself well to his style, or at least in a narrow lane, where you can’t stand back to get the overall impression of the piece.
Mind 49, Muriel Alleyway, Bristol, August, 2024
This is one of the first times that I have seen a full face portrait piece by Mind 49, as he usually likes to paint heads from all sorts of different angles, or with obstacles hiding parts of the face, creating a sense of mystery. A very nice piece indeed from a lovely artist.
Mote and Mr Crawls, Cumberland Basin, Bristol,July 2024
This fine Mote and Mr Crawls collaboration is at the northern end of Ashton Avenue Bridge, and greets with good humour all who cross it. The pair appear to have gone with a full-on monster theme for this collaboration, combining their styles well.
Mote and Mr Crawls, Cumberland Basin, Bristol,July 2024
Once again we see their preferred chrome background, which is a quick and easy way to identify the artists. On the left, Mote’s monster, in pink, has a little bit of Frankenstein’s monster about him, perhaps sub-consciously. On the right, Mr Crawls has gone for the melting face look, a device used by other artists such as Laic217. It works really well with this character piece. All in all, a tidy and fun collaboration.
I’m not entirely sure how Acer One finds the time to paint so much, but I am glad that he does. One of the upsides of self-employment I guess. This is a really classy design piece in one of his favoured spots, which he pretty much ‘owns’ these days.
Acer One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2024
The word ‘love’ is written in the same format as the background, and emerges from it due to the curves in the lettering where they depart from the horizontal background pattern. If the letters were to straighten out, they would disappear into the wall altogether. The piece is nicely conceived, and as always with Acer One, beautifully executed.
Natural adventures 