Not long ago, I said that Stivs was rather underrepresented on Natural Adventures. This post is a deliberate effort to address this imbalance, and there are more pieces in the pipeline. This piece was painted in Sparke Evans Park alongside Counterfits and Maesyhook.
Stivs, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, May 2021
The beautiful calligraffiti spells out ‘Dirty Soul’ and is composed of large red letters with some nice pink shading on the upper surfaces and a black surround, set on a background of tiny white grid work, which must have taken a while to paint. A high quality piece of writing.
I first posted about Eman on 20 December 2020 and since then I would think that he has been the most productive artist on the streets of Bristol, and although other artists such as Turoe and Hemper have had very productive pulses, Eman has been regular as clockwork and experimenting with characters and different writing styles. It is difficult to keep him off these pages, and I have dozens more of his works in my archives.
Eman, Greenbank, Bristol, August 2021
This is a lovely character piece featuring a young man contemplating a joint. In this piece, Eman uses an uncomplicated style of strong lines and solid fills to create a cartoon effect. There is not a lot in the way of shading, decoration or depth, but that is not important to pieces like this. I do know that Eman is constantly pushing the boundaries and striving to broaden his rage and improve his technique, and I am enjoying the ride. Great stuff.
I am so enjoying the work of Maesyhook. Ever since I first came across her work, I have been hypnotised by her refreshing and quirky pieces. I thought I had her taped until I saw this piece outside the Dare To club. I have no idea what this piece is or what it represents, but the colours are the ones she uses most in her work, those and her signature are what bring continuity.
Maesyhook, Alfred Street, Bristol, September 2021
I’ll attempt to describe the piece. The pink element is reasonably straightforward and is a snake or serpent. The green circles might be apples, so is there an Old Testament reference here? If there is, then the blue element could be Adam and Eve, but on closer inspection it looks like a hand. OK, I’ll quit while I am ahead and simply enjoy a piece from one of my ‘flavour of the month’ artists.
Every year there is a special paint jam that takes place outside the Dare To club in St Philips. I haven’t yet managed to get to one of these paint jams, which is a pity, but it is hard to be everywhere always. This year’s session seems to have been largely confined to a couple of walls and fences in Alfred Street, rather than on the Dare To building itself.
Emotional Waterfall Art, Alfred Street, Bristol, September 2021
This post features a rather unlikely collaborative wall shared by Emotional Waterfall Art and T-Rex. I first encountered Emotional Waterfall Art’s work earlier in the year with her massive Upfest mural. What a contrast this is to that, a small and beautifully colourful ball or globe – the Earth maybe? The message – More Love.
T-Rex, Alfred Street, Bristol, September 2021
Next to the globe is a rather sweet looking Tyrannosaurus Rex surrounded by ‘butterfly’ hearts and the tag line ‘Nuff Love’. I imagine T-Rex must be able to paint these dinosaurs in her sleep, she has done so many of them, but they all have their own special personality. An interesting combination.
I’m not sure that Ments has painted for Upfest before, but it is wonderful to see him rewarded for his consistently excellent graffiti writing with this unusual bordered wall in Dean Street for the 75 walls in 75 days event. Looking at it, this spot has been crying out for street art work, and thanks to Upfest there are now two stunning new pieces opposite one another.
Ments, Dean Street, Bristol, September 2021, Upfest 21
Ments has been experimenting for about a year or so with his fluid/molten metal pieces, and it has been fun watching him develop his technique. This abstract piece is the culmination of a lot of work and is perfect for the wall – colours and tones Ments has used complement the red brick wall superbly well.
Ments, Dean Street, Bristol, September 2021, Upfest 21
Because the piece is set quite high up the wall, the closer you get to it, the more you are looking up and as a result there is more reflected light interfering with the piece. It is so good to see Ments moving into this abstract art arena, but I hope he keeps up his graffiti art work, which is so enjoyable for us to see.
Finding pieces like this one adds to the genuine fun of hunting out street art. I was on a bit of a wander in Bedminster and I took a look up a little alleyway I hadn’t noticed before, and my reward was this new graffiti piece by Pura Decadencia. I am guessing it is new, because the artist posted it on her Instagram account a day or two later.
Pura Decadencia, East Street, Bristol, September 2021
Pura Decadencia has been quite quiet lately, but that might be simply because she doesn’t paint walls all that often, which makes finding this one all the more satisfying. This is graffiti art at its very best – unexpected and sprayed directly onto an unprepared wall. The piece features a mouth with vampire teeth and long tongue, a theme that she returns to again and again. I love this raw piece.
Never too far from my mind are the exploits of Soap and Face 1st, hardly surprising really considering that I see their work on such a regular basis. I must admit though that I was a little surprised to find this collaboration recently, because this isn’t a wall I would normally associate with the pair.
Soap, New Stadium Road, Bristol, August 2021
I would start by saying I don’t think that this is one of their best collaborative efforts, but I think that is mainly down to the colour selections which are a bit muted, they don’t really shout out from the wall. On the left are the letters SOAP from Soap with some nice little details like the sun and the little face in the O. There is a quality and an assuredness about Soap’s work that makes it quite easy on the eye.
Face 1st, New Stadium Road, Bristol, August 2021
To the right is a classic face from Face 1st. He certainly seems to be enjoying his ‘splats’ at the moment, and the girl’s face has a blue mess about her mouth. Surrounding the face are the letters FACE. It looks like the PWA boys had some fun painting this one.
Curtis Hylton is a superstar, and this mural confirms his status as a worldie and no mistake. He has been to Bristol a few times in recent years, both for Upfest events and for painting with his mates, he has also painted at the Cheltenham Paint Festival where a couple of his works are still on show.
Curtis Hylton, Chessel Street, Bristol, August 2021, Upfest 21
This piece, tucked away in one of the residential streets in Bedminster, is simply stunning. The owners of this property have been blessed with a magnificent piece of artwork to call their own and share with their local community.
Curtis Hylton, Chessel Street, Bristol, August 2021, Upfest 21
The mural features a little boy in a yellow raincoat feeding a collection of yellow birds that are partially composed of flowers – a theme that lies at the heart of Curtis Hylton pieces. This combination of petals and feathers is so effective and creates a wonderful connection with nature.
Curtis Hylton, Chessel Street, Bristol, August 2021, Upfest 21
Next to the front door is a cheeky little robin painted in slightly more russet tones, but well-matched with the rest of the piece. This photograph will undoubtedly be making an appearance in Thursday Doors sometime in the future – a fairly ordinary door enhanced by its surroundings.
Curtis Hylton, Chessel Street, Bristol, August 2021, Upfest 21
To the right of the piece is a beautiful finch with its wings spread out wide and its chest revealing a couple of roses and a magnolia flower. Amazing. This is a ‘must-visit’ mural from Upfest’s 75 walls in 75 years event, and I hope that it remains well beyond the usual one-year life cycle for these things.
Curtis Hylton, Chessel Street, Bristol, August 2021, Upfest 21
All of this activity and the little boy watches on.
Ah! Sweet joy – another splendid piece from Bristol’s reliable and faithful Laic217. Of all the artists in Bristol, I think that the one that brings me most pleasure is Laic217, because I have been following his progress closely and watched him develop into a first class graffiti artist.
Laic217, M32 cycle path, Bristol, August 2021
This classy piece on the M32 cycle path returns to a melting face theme that Laic217 was rather fond of a few years ago, but it is now embellished with so much more detail and technique. His name is concealed in the melting face, and there is a nod to his crew PAD too. The bucket hat has some slightly peculiar eyes peering through, and I love the way he has painted the ridges in the brim. Another wonderful piece from Laic217.
Another debut on Natural Adventures – crumbs, there have been so many of those this year, it is no wonder that I am having difficulty with keeping up. This is a rather charming piece by The Mole, who come to Bristol for Eman’s birthday paint jam at the end of July.
The Mole, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2021
Naturally enough, The Mole likes to paint moles, and this one is sporting a rather fetching collection of pink peace symbols. The signature says Inca, and to give the artist his full name it is ‘Inca the Mole’. I like these kinds of megatag pieces, where an artist settles on a theme and then replicates it with variations. Lovely to see, and definitely not the last I will be posting from this west of England artist.
Natural adventures 