You might have sensed my excitement a few posts ago with the return of Rozalita (Rozilitaa), and here she is again with another outstanding portrait piece, in the same venue, and again featuring Frida Cahlo, who has come to represent so much about female art, strength and vulnerability.
Rozalita, Greenbank, Bristol, March 2024
This time, the portrait is painted in shades of blue and turquoise, which contrasts brilliantly with the four surrounding orange flowers. There is a lot of passion and emotion in Rozalita’s work which works hard to combine people with the natural world. This is another belter, and there is still more to come soon.
Rozalita returns! This is exceptional news. After a long lay-off, in part down to travelling, during which time I wondered whether she might abandon her street art altogether, she has returned in style, with several pieces in short succession. This is how to announce your return. In another name change (from Rosalita to Rozalita (Rhozi) to Rozilitaa) she has hit the ground running with a bolder presence, and a sense of confidence that hasn’t always been obvious from her work.
Rozalita, Greenbank, Bristol, March 2024
This portrait piece, I believe of Frida Kahlo, is bursting with passion, where the determination and status of the subject, looking skywards, is beautifully presented. The white border accentuates the pose and creates an aura that is augmented by the burst of energy of flowers and decoration in the background. Without the border, the piece could be at risk of being busy, but its presence is masterful. This is brilliant in my view, and what a way to make a comeback. I bloody love this piece!
Over the last few months Werm has calmed his pieces a little, from the highly complex and technically brilliant pieces into something slightly easier on the eye, and this piece, for me, represents a mature approach from an artist who doesn’t need to impress any more, but rather, can concentrate on creating a thing of beauty.
Werm, Greenbank, Bristol, February 2024
The colour palette for this piece seems to work really well, and Werm has blended the fill colours expertly. The orange border and accompaniments augment the writing perfectly, the test of which is to imagine the piece without that splash of colour, rendering it greatly diminished. I like and welcome this new direction from Werm, and greatly admire this piece.
Mind 49 is establishing himself as something of a new force in Bristol street art and graffiti writing, expanding his range and pushing boundaries with every new piece he creates. He is perhaps better known for his portrait pieces, that seem to capture the subject in an unconventional pose, but he has been working on his writing too recently.
Mind 49, Greenbank, Bristol, February 2024
This recent piece, on the ever-diminishing hoarding which borders the Chocolate Factory development, demonstrates perfectly Mind 49’s writing style. Spelling out MInD, the letters are beautifully filled with a beautifully selected set of soft colours, which abut with one another with lines, stars and circles. Great drop-shadows, borders and decorations finish the job off nicely. We are lucky to have Mind 49 hitting a bit of a purple patch… long may it last.
Laic217 seems to have a plethora of ways to surprise me. Often his pieces appear unannounced, and so discovering them definitely feels special, but what surprised me with this piece is that it immediately took me back to some of the very earliest pieces of his that I started photographing a few years back.
Laic217, Greenbank, Bristol, February 2024
The character, for once, not a skull, is wearing a bucket hat with a satanic protection mask strapped to it. To the right of the portrait is a letter ‘L’ for Laic which has been hollowed out and blocked with a deep 3D drop shadow.
Laic217, Greenbank, Bristol, February 2024
The face, with its harsh features, could only be by Laic217. I don’t know what it is about his style, but it is quite unique. Looking at the close up, it almost looks like it has been painted on a canvas with brushes, and maybe that is what gives Laic217 his uniqueness. This is yet another awesome piece from one of Bristol’s very best street artists.
I have a very busy week ahead, so apologise in advance for any disruption to my usual rhythm. I start with a trip to Nottingham today and tomorrow and am in London on Thursday, delivering workshops, which is both time-intensive and exhausting. Managing expectations.
A graffiti writer, who has emerged over the last year or so is Knife, I don’t yet know they are or if they use social media, so for the time being I shall use their writing moniker.
Knife, Greenbank, Bristol, February 2024
I have seen Knife’s work in quite a few of the spots I visit, and felt it was about time I posted a piece. I think that Knife paints solo, at least I haven’t yet noticed any patterns of painting with anyone else, which makes me think that the artist is fairly new to Bristol. This is a really nicely executed piece, clean and tidy letters with a straightforward three colour fill, nothing too fancy or pretentious. Even though the wall hasn’t been buffed, the graffiti writing is eye-catching, and this is a solid debut piece (on Natural Adventures) from Knife. Expect more to follow.
I mentioned in a previous post what a pleasure it had been to meet Sub and Bloem painting together under the M32 a few weeks back. The pleasure continued on finding this pair of pieces on the long hoarding at Greenbank. While the two artists collaborate, in so much as they paint together, their work is separate and distinct.
Sub, Greenbank, Bristol, February 2024
Sub writes his bold oversized letters, with deep drop-shadows, and I guess that a challenge for him is to fill a space with only three letters. There aren’t too many writers who only use three letters, I suppose that Slim Pickings, who writes TES would be one. The fill is augmented with his trademark wisp of smoke running over it, and he incorporates some interesting drip work along the top.
Bloem, Greenbank, Bristol, February 2024
Alongside Sub is this quirky piece by Bloem. It would seem that she ha a bit of a thing for old ‘brick’ style mobile phones, and hands with pointy nails. What I like is that she varies these motifs from piece to piece, keeping both the theme running and keeping things interesting. Bloem is one of those artists whose work I always love finding, like Pekoe, Face 1st, Kid Crayon, Fiva, to name a few. This is a fine couple of pieces and I look forward to many more from the pair to come.
Mr Crawls continues on his quest to delight Bristolians with his birds and monster birds all over the city. This smaller piece is on one of two that were presumably painted around the same time on the long hoarding at Greenbank.
Mr Crawls, Greenbank, Bristol, January 2024
The gull-like cartoon character looks rather charming with his sleepy eyes. I am guessing this was a quick one, as the white fill is a little on the thin side. The thick pink border does just enough to separate the bird from the busy background, without the need for buffing the wall. If Mr Crawls continues with his high volume of pieces, I might have to start grouping them into posts.
Bnie, Pekoe and Evey, Greenbank, Bristol, January 2024
It is always a great pleasure to see any combination of RBF artists collaborating, and this is an early year beauty from Bnie, Pekoe and Evey. Unfortunately the photographs are a bit rubbish on account of tree shadows cast on the wall by a low winter sun. Fortunately, the girls declare that ‘2024 is going to be sexy AF’.
Bnie, Greenbank, Bristol, January 2024
Bnie starts the triptych, writing her letters with a certain amount of expression, and looking wonderfully free. The clever drop shadow appears to surround the letters as well as giving them depth. Bnie has used a three shade fill which is topped off with some darker bubbly shapes. A very nice piece of writing indeed.
Pekoe, Greenbank, Bristol, January 2024
There is something very different from Pekoe in the middle of the collaboration, which features a smartly dressed woman with a fancy green and yellow scarf wrapped around her neck. It is quite unusual for Pekoe to paint full (or even half) body characters, and it will be interesting to see if this is something she continues with this year.
Evey, Greenbank, Bristol, January 2024
Rounding off on the right is some tidy bubble writing from Evey, with a rather saucy ‘V’. Her fills are very nicely worked and the flow of colours through the letters are most enjoyable. I am not too sure about the drop shadow, which doesn’t quite hit the mark for me. Certainly a great start to the year though. I am looking forward to a whole lot more from RBF in 2024.
It’s that wonderful Mr Crawls again, treating us to another of his cartoon birds, this one on what’s left of the hoardings along the Bristol to Bath cycle path at Greenbank. This rather jolly bird character is a reminder of the wide range of birds that Mr Crawls has in his armoury.
Mr Crawls, Greenbank, Bristol, January 2023
The blue colour of the plumage decorated with darker dots gives the bird an almost comical appearance. More nice work from Mr Crawls.
Natural adventures 