Greville Smyth Park – Natural adventures

7242. Greville Smyth Park (5)

Paul Monsters, Greville Smyth Park, Bristol, October 2025

I have just swigged down half a cup of cold coffee, a regrettable decision, but one that has brought about a bit of focus for the day. Lots of things I have to do before settling down to the Arsenal v Crystal Palace match this afternoon. Weekends are short, too short, there is never enough time to do the things I must do and the things I want to do.

This is an absolute belter from Paul Monsters painted on the small building up at the bowling green in Greville Smyth Park, a spot often reserved for Upfest pieces, but with a small turnover between festivals.

Paul Monsters is known for for his outstanding geometrical designs and use of complementary colours to create light and shade which adds depth to his work. In this piece he has combined geometric crosses with concentric circles from the centre, an incredibly technical piece of artwork. Brilliant stuff, although I’m not too sure the dog was overly captivated.

6667. Greville Smyth Park (4)

Andrew Burns Colwill, Greville Smyth Park, Bristol, January 2024

I found this piece, by Andrew Burns Colwill, in my archives and I can’t for the life of me understand why I haven’t posted it before. His work is so good that every time I photograph it, I try to post it on Natural Adventures. Something went wrong with the system here, but at least I am putting things straight now.

I have a feeling that the incredible mural may have been painted as an Upfest piece back in 2022, but I only photographed t in January 2024, so not only am I slow in posting it, I was also very slow in finding in in the first place. As with all of Andrew Burns Colwill’s pieces there is a strong story happening here, and my interpretation is that mankind is running out of time on this beautiful Earth. There is a deep sadness in the piece which is extremely powerful. As ever Andrew Burns Colwill reminds us of our fragile relationship with the place we call home.

6419. Upfest 2024 (51)

Hardy, Upfest 2024, Greville Smyth Park, Bristol, May 2024

It was a real pleasure to catch up with Hardy at Upfest 24 at the time that he was painting this piece, and he had plenty of kind words to say about my posts on Natural Adventures, which I always find a little bit surprising, because I really have no idea (beyond the core readership of the blog) who reads this stuff, and whether they value it. The function of my street art/graffiti posts is to keep a living record of contemporary street art in Bristol, if people visit and enjoy, then I am doubly satisfied.

Hardy has used this space well to spray four of his distinctive stencils, in two sizes and in different colours, and decorated the rest of the area with symbols and patterns, without which the stencils might look a little stark. Brightening up this space for Upfest.

6294. Upfest 2024 (49)

Ejits, Upfest 2024, Greville Smyth Park, Bristol, May 2024

A few weeks after Ejits painted this piece for Upfest, I was fortunate enough to meet her while she was painting a larger wall at the Cheltenham Paint Festival. She told me a little bit about her style and that she uses brushes for her work, because although she uses spray paint, her can control is not up to it for fine detail.

This is the second farting character piece I have posted in a matter of days, the other one was by Pl8o, this one however is a farting unicorn, farting rainbows, as they do. I have a feeling that Beep Monkey painted a rainbow-farting unicorn a few years ago. Obviously it is a thing. Ejits has painted this beautifully over a challenging wall with plenty of different textures to contend with. Neat, tidy, fun and cute… nice work all round.

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Stewy, Grevile Smyth Park, Bristol, May 2024

Stewy Stencils (to give him his full handle) is one of a handful of talented stencil artists in the Bristol area, and many of his iconic pieces can be found dotted around the city. His style is almost always black and white single layer stencil portraits of well known or influential people, or sometimes animals. In this piece, which is rather annoyingly behind a gate, Stewy depicts Tricky, a British record producer and rapper.

One of the features of many stencils by Stewy is that they can be a bit rough at the edges, and there is sometimes a bit of blurring, but in my view, that adds to the authenticity of these street pieces. I have a few Stewy pieces in my archive and need to do better to post them – something for a quiet moment perhaps (huh!).

6109. Upfest 2024 (25)

Kid Crayon, Greville Smyth Park, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024

This combination character and graffiti writing piece by Bristol’s Kid Crayon was something of a rarity at Upfest this year. It seems fitting that Kid Crayon was selected to paint this wall, because for me, he kind of represents the ‘Bristol school’ of street art, and although the styles of Bristol are enormously varied, somehow KC encapsulates them in his art.

The piece is a tribute to Jack Black, who KC obviously admires, and he openly states “This is not the greatest Montana burner in the world, no, this is just a tribute!”. This statement shows Kid Crayon’s modesty, because this is an accomplished piece, perfectly presented for an Upfest audience. It would have been nice to see a bit more graffiti writing at this year’s festival – maybe next time. More of Kid Crayon’s work in this gallery.

6103. Greville Smyth Park (2)

Acer One, Andy Council and Paul Monsters, Greville Smyth Park, Bristol, May 2024

Although this outstanding collaboration piece from Andy Council, Acer One and Paul Monsters was painted a little while ago, I only got to photograph it during Upfest 2024, however it is not an Upfest piece (although many visitors won’t know that). This is what I call a true collaboration, where the distinct styles of the three artists are combined into one story, and they have achieved this fusion expertly.

The three components are a wonderful geometric background design from Paul Monsters, which creates a colourful backdrop and tone, while also providing some depth with light and shadow tricks. The writing ‘New Story’ and circle are beautifully created by Acer One, whose precision and accuracy are unsurpassed. Note the subtle shadow to the lower and left sides of the letters, lifting them ever so gently from the wall. Finally, the greyscale monster in thee middle is painted by Andy Council and stands out against the colour of the background and is framed by the circle. Brilliant composition from the three of them. The piece was painted on the Spring Equinox on 24 March 2024 and a film and full explanation of the collaboration is given on Andy Council’s Instagram feed.

6075. Upfest 2024 (12)

Cock Dicks, Greville Smyth Park, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024

Cock Dicks is a Bristol-Based artist who occasionally transfers her skills to the walls in Bristol alongside the Bristol Mural Collective. In this piece for Upfest 2024, up at the Greville Smyth Park Bowling Club, she has painted a mural containing the most iconic emblem of Bristol, some hot air balloons.

I was lucky enough to meet Cock Dicks, whose mischievous name is derived from her surname (Dicks) combined with her mother’s maiden name (Cock), while she was painting this piece and told her that I had written about her art on Natural Adventures before, and she seemed to be surprised that I knew that she had painted with the Bristol Mural Collective occasionally.

Using brushes rather than spray cans, Cock Dicks has created a rather loveable collection of balloons, each with big eyes and differing expressions cleverly portrayed by the shape of the eyebrows and mouth and angle of the eyes. This is a piece for all the family, and captures the spirit of Bristol and Upfest perfectly.

6043. Upfest 2024 (2)

Sled One, Greville Smyth Park, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024

Although this is the second weekend of Upfest, there are only a few completed pieces dotted around the place, although I expect that by the end of the festival period, there will be an overwhelming array of pieces for me to photograph. This piece is by another Bristol artist, Sled One who is one of the leading writers and most creative artists in the city. This piece is a bit of a change from his usual style, but demonstrates just how incredibly talented and versatile he is.

The crazy character piece is painted on the walls of the bowling club in Greville Smyth Park, and looks absolutely fantastic. The cartoon-style piece depicts a man on a bicycle smelling the flowers. It is beautifully designed and frames in a loose pink border and as well as the central character, there is a lot going on throughout the piece to let the eye settle on. As ever, an outstanding piece from Sled One. You can see more of his work in this gallery.

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Acer One and Andy Council, Greville Smyth Park, Bristol, January 2024

The bunch of small buildings in the southeast corner of Greville Smyth Park have served as a canvas for the last few Upfest festivals, and this wall has recently been ‘dressed’ with this outstanding collaboration from Acer One and Andy Council. From the colours, you might pick up that this piece recognises and supports the plight of the Palestinian people, and Acer One offers a full explanation of the piece in his Instagram feed.

The letters SPEAK BIRD are beautifully presented by Acer One with his characteristic black shadow. The birds, which look like bee eaters to me, are by Andy Council. The one on the right is rather disturbingly composed of bombs and missiles. Both elements of the piece are beautifully painted and the words poignant once you know the back-story to the piece. I wish it would all just end.

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