A gallery of incredible graffiti writing from Bristol’s Spanish Sunday lover.
Instagram: @claro_que_ssnoh
all photographs by Scooj
Claro_que_sssnoh
Tag: Graffiti
5348. M32 roundabout J3 (488)
When I first encountered Daz Cat’s pieces, they were pretty much always portraits of cats, sometimes dogs, and reasonably basic, but with that Daz Cat style. Over time his work has become more sophisticated, and about 18 months ago reached a new level, each piece telling stories, rather than just a portrait.
This one on the St Werburghs entrance to the roundabout, is a piece that uses the square space supremely well, and the illustrative rabbit (or cat with very long ears) curled up in a tight ball appears to be spinning. There is lots of movement here and even though it is painted in greyscale, it makes a strong impression. Who’d have thought he’d be producing stuff like this a few years ago. Great to see.
5347. Cumberland Basin
One of the refreshing things about the Bristol Mural Collective paint jams is that most of the pieces created are murals predominantly painted with materials other than spray cans, which brings a whole other dimension to the spectrum of styles and techniques used to paint our walls. This is a moody mother earth piece from Urban Fay.
I am always likely to enjoy environmental pieces, and this one hits the spot. A reclining figure melds into the hillside while a red sun sets on the horizon with telegraph poles hugging the crest of the hill. There are some words to the right of the piece which say. “Suffering a sea change, we rearrange into entirely new shapes”. The female figure’s tears join the river that meanders down the contours of her face to the sea.
Zooming in, there is detail so small on the figure’s face in the form of tiny little fir trees. This is an unusual piece, which we would be unlikely to see without the great organising skills of Nina Raines and the Bristol Mural Collective.
5346. Purdown (59)
More from Mote, who isn’t showing any signs of slowing down at the moment. This piece is another in his series of bird monsters and fits the square concrete slab perfectly. One of the aspects of Mote’s work that I really like is the clarity and crispness. The fills are solid, with nice patterns, and his black borders and details are always sharp. I imagine that there is a perfectionist in there somewhere.
This bird monster has a green bill and pink eyelids, which stand out against the blues and purples of the rest of the bird. Even though it is not so long ago that I published a gallery of his work, I have to keep on my toes with updating it. The production line of pieces continues.
5345. St Werburghs tunnel (371)
Ha ha! Face 1st always cheers me up, and doubly so with this lovely piece at the farm end of the tunnel in St Werburghs. The spot is one that is often favoured by Mr Klue (who has gone a little quiet again), but Face 1st has more than done it justice.
The running girl is blowing a huge bubble with some yellow bubblegum in which another girl’s face appears as if a reflection. The greyscale piece is packed with energy, movement and fun – a pleasure to find.
5344. Peel Street Green (14)
The wall at Peel Street Green is, in my opinion, rather underutilised by artists, and the turnover quite slow, which is strange, because the broad pattern in Bristol is one of massively increasing turnover, due in part to the growth in the number of artists painting over the last few years. It was refreshing to see an RBF takeover recently at this spot that included this rather lovely piece of graffiti writing from Bbygwya.
The letters, in a rolling script, spell out FLUKZ, I think. Set on a pink background, the dark blue letters are brought to life with some interesting cosmic patterns and a thick 3D white drop shadow. Thee is a confident sense with her writing, and although this is only her second appearance on Natural Adventures, you can be certain it won’t be her last.
5343. Cumberland Basin
The Bristol Mural Collective, formerly the Bristol Womxn Mural Collective, is a loose aggregation of artists in Bristol, organised by women and with a focus on creating a safe space for women and others to paint on the streets of Bristol. Through their paint jams, they provide an access point for artists to transfer their studio skills to a street scenario, and also for wannabe street artists to gain confidence with expressing themselves and getting a toe hold in the slightly intimidating scene.
The most recent paint jam was held on the 25/26 June 2023 and took up half the long wall at Cumberland Basin, involving some 9 or 10 artists, one of whom was the lovely Esme Lower.
Esme Lower’s highly stylised figures are in a yoga pose and have exaggerated hands and feet, and tiny little heads, a theme/concept that Esme told me she enjoys painting. When I watched her roughly half way through painting this superb mural, I wasn’t quite sure how it would all come together, but she absolutely smashed it in my view. The design is one that I could easily see gracing the front of a greetings card or as a wall poster. There is definitely a Matisse influence in there somewhere.
The paint jam was enjoyable if not a little windy, but with superb views of the Clifton Suspension Bridge and the River Avon, it must be one of the best spots for artists in the city.
5342. Cumberland Basin
Formerly painting under the name Mind Control, Mind 49 (his current moniker) appears to have matured and mellowed a little. His raw talent used to focus on passionate causes, such as animal rights, however recently, he has brought some other themes and elements into his portfolio which is seeing him grow as an artist.
This portrait piece on the long wall at Cumberland Basin features a singer, with baseball cap and brilliantly painted glasses. As if to prove that he is not a one-trick pony, Mind 49 has sprayed a little bubble throw up to the left of the piece with the number ’49’. Since painting this great piece, Mind 49 has returned to Bristol with another superb work – to come.
5341. M32 Cycle path (219)
Taboo is an artist who makes me laugh out load, not just because his anti-style letters are a great antidote to perfect wildstyle writing, and his often psychedelic characters full of weirdness and charm, but also because from time to time he paints some epic blockbusters, and this one on the M32 cycle path is quite breath-taking.
Clearly visible from the M32 motorway above, this piece offers drivers into Bristol a true Taboo welcome. Even on this massive scale, Taboo sticks to his style, with an irregular letter font, mid-line markings through the letters, and a druggy smiley character representing the first ‘O’. Huge and obvious, this is a great piece of work from Taboo.
5340. Brunel Way 214.
I caught up with Mr Draws when he was painting this piece, and he told me it was going to be something a little bit different and he was right. Mr Draws has always had a strong environmental conviction running through his work, and he says that he wants to do more of this kind of messaging work in the future.
Drawing attention to contemporary issues is something that street art does very well, and Mr Draws doesn’t pull any punches in this piece which states “No art on a dead planet”. The whole thing is simply done with big bold letters on a striking background. The colour fades in the big letters have been worked very nicely, and although not painted in his usual style, there is something so very Mr Draws about the piece.
Natural adventures 