Greenbank – Page 5 – Natural adventures

6434. Greenbank (136)

Roma, Greenbank, Bristol, September 2024

One of the functions of Natural Adventures is to document contemporary street art and graffiti writing in Bristol, where I might differ from others who do what I do, is that I like to show the full spectrum of artists, and not only cherry-pick the high-end stuff. This way, readers get to see everything that goes on in the city, warts and all, rather than seeing it through rose-tinted spectacles. New and emerging artists play an important role in the street art culture of the city. Some will give up, while others will keep at it and improve and some will become celebrated artists in timer, and it is good to be able to trace their work back – Natural Adventures is a place where that can happen.

This piece is by Roma, whose work has been appearing from place to place all around Bristol. I am always a fan of red/green combinations, and Roma has thrown in some purples into the fills for good measure. ROMA are fine letters to work with, pleasing on the eye and easy to remember. While there is a rather nice drop shadow, it is interesting to note that there are no borders in this piece, which is unusual with writers. Personally, I quite like borderless pieces (my own personal prejudice, because I find them impossible to paint). The white highlights give the piece a little lift. Expect to see more from Roma

6392. Greenbank (135)

Nips, Greenbank, Bristol, September 2024

An explosive and colourful piece by Nips on the long wall at Greenbank was a very welcome sight, especially as the turnover at this spot seems to have slowed down a litle, so finding anything new there is always rewarding.

Once again it is the fills that delight and Nips seems to specialise in beautiful designs and colour palettes for her letters. As ever, the letter form tends to remain reasonably regular from piece to piece, although the dot over the ‘i’ allows scope for variation, and here she has placed a simple heart icon in the pink circle. I am not 100% convinced by the green and blue border, the green in particular gets a little bit overwhelmed by the purple fills. Nice stuff from Nips.

6359. Greenbank (134)

This is the second piece by Butch that I have found and posted and I am very much hoping to find and share a whole bunch more. I like this kind of writing a lot, I am not sure why. The letters cascade down from left to right, increasing in size as you traverse along. The fills are interesting and unconventionally but effectively applied.

PLB (Placebo) are an interesting crew of artists, managing to keep below the radar, enjoying their anonymous status, unlike many other artists and crews in Bristol. Butch has used the ‘rivet’ look which makes the letters look like metal plates bolted together. The whole thing would look better with a bit of background or a buffed wall, but I have a feeling that is not Butch’s style.

6341. Greenbank (133)

Le Imposter Design, Greenbank, Bristol, August 2024

This is exactly the type of discovery I love to make, and highlights why I do what I do. The Bristol to Bath cycle path is a very busy thoroughfare for cyclists and walkers alike. The vast majority of footfall (or wheel-fall) passing the long hoarding alongside the Chocolate Factory development, will miss this little gem, and some of the larger gems here too, being more focussed on getting from A to B. Observers of the world, however’, will stop and enjoy treats like this one from another first-timer on Natural Adventures, Le Imposter Design.

This modest design is dwarfed by the larger pieces of graffiti writing and street art surrounding it, and is easily overlooked, being at about knee to waist height. The art piece sets out a wonderful view out of a window and onto the street. There are lots of little details to enjoy, the plant and pot, coffee with a heart shape in the froth, some paperwork, and even a stall and awning on a building across the street. Wonderful calming stuff in a frenetic spot. A big welcome to Le Imposter Design, I hope to see more of her work before too long.

6337. Greenbank (132)

Grimes has been smashing it all summer with his colourful and energetic pieces, and this one on the long hoarding at Greenbank simply adds another to his expanding portfolio. Sadly, we’re now entering the last days of the Raj with this particular spot, as the development of the site is nearing completion. It will be a sad day when the hoarding comes down, but illustrative of the temporary nature of street/graffiti art.

The letters in ‘fruits of the forest’ colours spell out GRIME, and as ever have an incredible sense of movement about them. There is something rather lyrical about Grimes’ writing, if that makes any sense at all, like visual poetry. Another great piece from Grimes, and surely about time for a gallery?

6269. Greenbank (131)

Note to self… take better photographs. This piece is something of an outlier. It is by an artist called Whos, who is known for his anti-style writing, so when I first saw this it didn’t register that it might be by him. It was only after talking to Conrico at the Cheltenham Paint Festival who confirmed that it was indeed by Whos and that Conrico, while painting to the left of this piece, encouraged Whos to push the boundaries.

This urban landscape, making up the letters WHOS, is really imaginative, and coming from an artist more used to the free from of anti-style graffiti writing, is a great effort. The dark industrial colours lend themselves very well to the piece and help to create a special atmosphere, which would not have been achieved with bright pinks and yellows etc. I really hope that Whos is encouraged by this foray into a world of opportunities is just the beginning… we’ll have to wait and see.

6252. Greenbank (130)

I have mentioned a couple of times in posts recently that Minto has been pretty busy lately, and this is another in a string of graffiti writing pieces. The writing and overall piece is a little more coherent than some of the ‘deconstructed’ pieces of late.

There is lots of colour and movement in this piece, in which the letters MINTO are picked out in pinks and oranges. The piece is a good one for a nice sunny day, for sure. I particularly like the two traces of stars on the sides of the letter ‘M’. good stuff from Minto.

6241. Greenbank (129)

Just when I think that Haka has gone all quiet, he pops up with another piece, and so it was with this one on the long hoarding at Greenbank. The piece is a rather nice writing character combination, where the letters HAKA occupy most of the body space, behind which is a rather cheerful-looking stegosaurus.

I have tried to find out who the dinosaur is, as most of Haka’s characters tend to be from children’s picture books, but there are an awful lot of them and my Google search was fruitless. The whole thing is a really nicely composed conflation of graffiti writing and children’s illustration. Charming really.

6220. Greenbank (128)

It feels like Daz Cat is pushing all sorts of boundaries at the moment and painting with a freedom in both style and content that is a pleasure to witness. There is a lot going on in this free-flowing story-telling piece in Greenbank.

I can see a lady surrounded by purple/lilac cats, but the intriguing part of this piece is the two ‘robot’ arms that rather randomly seem to have landed in amongst them and are smoking from the arm sockets. There is a story which is skilfully illustrated, but it is a story belonging very much to the artist – as viewers we can only concoct our own stories. Great work from Daz Cat.

6212. Greenbank (127)

Conrico has been super-busy lately both painting on the street, and in his studio. He has a fabulous imagination, and much of his art is influenced by the culture of the Far East, in particular Japan. I don’t know what the connection is, but it adds an exotic flavour to many of his pieces.

This is quite an unusual portrait piece, that in contrast to what I have said in the previous paragraph, appears to be of a Central/South American person wearing face paint and with feathers in their hair. Once again, Conrico’s unique can-work gives the impression that the piece has been painted with brushes, and doesn’t have that ‘clinical tight finish that so much street art tends to have. More still to come from Conrico.

	paulh121 on 7402. Stapleton Road
	Loveswing on Winter afternoon
	scooj on 7400. St Werburghs tunnel…
	scooj on Winter afternoon
	scooj on 7400. St Werburghs tunnel…

	hitandrun1964 on 7402. Stapleton Road
	paulh121 on 7402. Stapleton Road
	Loveswing on Winter afternoon
	scooj on 7400. St Werburghs tunnel…
	scooj on Winter afternoon

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