5613. Sparke Evans Park (83)

Bbygwya, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, October 2023
Bbygwya, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, October 2023

This is another wonderful piece from the RBF Halloween paint jam at Sparke Evans Park, and is by Bbygwya, probably better known as Flux, the letters (or variations of them) that she writes. This is a masterful composition, very pleasing on the eye, with each element of the piece excellently executed. If only my slightly misty images did the piece justice.

Bbygwya, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, October 2023
Bbygwya, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, October 2023

The letters spelling FLXE or FLuXE or as Paul H rightly points out LUXE are beautifully filled with an orange/red oily-bubbly effect, and the white 3D drop shadow is nicely worked into the piece. The character, looking like a masked villain out of a Scooby-Doo cartoon, is well painted and complements the letters perfectly. Bbygwya, along with her RBF friends, has used the ‘house colours’ for the piece. I would love to have a picture with the whole collaboration, but alas there are large trees in front of the wall, and it is virtually impossible to get the whole stretch in one head-on view.

5611. Greenbank (99)

Olek McBolek, Greenbank, Bristol, October 2023
Olek McBolek, Greenbank, Bristol, October 2023

I am happy this year that I have done Halloween justice, which is not always the case. This piece on the not-so-long-anymore hoarding at Greenbank is by occasional visiting artist Olek McBolek, who has painted on this stretch once or twice before, which is impressive given that his locations listed on Instagram are Glasgow and Berlin. I imagine he has friends in Bristol.

Olek McBolek, Greenbank, Bristol, October 2023
Olek McBolek, Greenbank, Bristol, October 2023

This is a really good Halloween piece combining the emblematic and obligatory pumpkin sitting above a mass of skeleton remains, which have been very well painted and represented. There is a strong and confident style here that reflects an artist in full control. The letters spell S8E, commonly adopted in his work, although I don’t know what they mean. A pleasant surprise find.

5610. Sparke Evans Park (83)

Lupa and Desi, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, October 2023
Lupa and Desi, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, October 2023

It is not so long since Halloween, and this year I seem to have quite a lot of festive pieces to share, and not at the end of November or December. The reason for these more timely posts is that the artists were out a little earlier this year with many painting their Halloween pieces in mid-October. This pair of pieces by Lupa and Desi were painted as part of a large gathering of the RBF crew who were joined on the day by a Birmingham all-female crew called FKB (Full Kulla Burners).

Lupa, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, October 2023
Lupa, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, October 2023

On the left of this pair is a great piece from Lupa, whose carefree approach makes for easy viewing. With her work, I always get the feeling that she is relaxed, and painting within her limits for the sheer joy of it, and I really like that about her work. As usual, Lupa has had a bit of fun with the ‘U’ in her name and has presented her letters in her customary style while adopting the paint jam colours of the day.

Desi, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, October 2023
Desi, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, October 2023

To the right, Desi has painted a lovely VEIL piece which seems to be her preference these days – I haven’t seen a DESI for a while. I particularly like the screaming ghost face in the second heart. Great letters and some interesting fills. It is weird that the gold colour has picked out the markings on the wall, almost looking like Desi has painted the markings deliberately, a mechanism that many artists use to give the impression they are painting on a wall instead of on a flat surface. Great work from these two.

5605. Sparke Evans Park (81)

Mena, Bnie and Wispa, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, October 2023
Mena, Bnie and Wispa, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, October 2023

More from the RBF Halloween paint jam, from a week or two back, this time featuring Mena, Bnie and Wispa, in what was a fabulous turnout from the ladies and which seemed to bring the best out of each and every one of them.

Mena, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, October 2023
Mena, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, October 2023

To the left is a beautiful script piece by Mena, who I haven’t seen much of in recent months, so this was a genuine treat. This piece is simple yet stylish and beautifully executed and I think she is at her best when she paints these thin script letters. I fear that I have a great many unpublished pieces by Mena, and must spend a little time going through my archives and unearth them.

Bnie, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, October 2023
Bnie, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, October 2023

There is little more that I can say about Bnie that I haven’t said many times before. I consider this to be an outstanding piece of graffiti writing. Brilliant letter shapes, superb rich fill and all beautifully finished. I rather like the addition of the orange spherical things, as a nod to Halloween, but I think the lettering is so strong that even if they hadn’t been included, this would have stood out.

Wispa, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, October 2023
Wispa, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, October 2023

The energy that Wispa brings to her work is exceptional, not only in its presentation, but also in her incredible and seemingly inexhaustible journeying around the country to paint. The letters, spelling WISPA, are dazzling, being so full of energetic fill patterns and colours. It all looks very complicated, but I expect in her head it is all rather straightforward and obvious. The ghost character which looks like Caspar the Friendly Ghost, is the perfect foil to the busy writing. What an absolutely excellent trio of Halloween pieces.

5603. Brunel Way (243)

Mr Draws, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2023
Mr Draws, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2023

Mr Draws has been working really hard to push the boundaries of his work and producing more of these art pieces alongside his familiar writing. This Pumpkin piece was painted recently to celebrate Halloween, and captures the atmosphere of the festival perfectly. Mr Draws does like to celebrate festival dates, such as Halloween and Christmas.

Mr Draws, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2023
Mr Draws, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2023

This newish technique or presentation style by Mr Draws creates an atmospheric background as a ‘canvas’ for his subject, in this case the pumpkin. It is effective and fits Mr Draws’ rather unconventional style perfectly. I am led to believe that we can expect many more pieces like this by Mr Draws in the future.

Halloween humbug

.

The Grinch is in town

no trick or treat sickly sweets

pumpkin-free household

.

by Scooj

5602. Dean Lane skate park (654)

Laic217, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023
Laic217, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023

You might wonder why I have included this piece for a Halloween post. Well, regular readers will know that Laic217 specialises in painting skeletons and portraits of people with melting or distorted faces, and that to produce another one in that vein for Halloween would be a bit of a busman’s holiday. Instead, he has created a personal horror of a normal portrait of a young woman wearing a black puffer jacket. Woooooo, scary.

Laic217, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023
Laic217, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023

I was lucky enough to meet with Laic217 when visiting Dean Lane last weekend with Paul H, moments after he had finished painting this brilliant piece, and while he was doing an additional quick one, much more in line with what we’d expect. I had to ask him if the portrait was his – it was unsigned and not so obviously a Laic217 piece, although the shiny fabric was a bit of a tell-tale sign. Laic217 confirmed it was one of his, and explained the joke. Brilliant and funny, although I’m not sure that we can expect too many more of these ‘tame’ pieces from Laic217 – a bit of a one off I suspect.

4877. Brunel Way (186)

Logoe, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2022
Logoe, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2022

For once, Logoe came to Bristol and dropped only one piece, as far as I can make out. I believe he might have visited with his Mrs, whose piece lies next to this one. That is speculation based on second-hand information, and since Logoe has no social media presence, it is difficult to confirm one way or the other.

Logoe, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2022
Logoe, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2022

Not only am I late in posting this sensational Halloween piece, but I think that Logoe was late in painting it. This has all the ingredients of a top piece of writing, with Logoes characteristically slim script letters on a fiery background and festooned with a band of colourful ovals. A rather cute ghost character tops off the piece beautifully. A great Hlloween festival piece from Logoe.

4850. Coach and Horses

Bnie, Coach and Horses, Bristol, November 2022
Bnie, Coach and Horses, Bristol, November 2022

This post gives you an indication of how long it takes me to process a piece from seeking it out, to photographing it, to preparing it, to posting it. In this case it has taken about a month, and that is why you are seeing a Halloween piece on 30 November. My apologies.

Bnie, Coach and Horses, Bristol, November 2022
Bnie, Coach and Horses, Bristol, November 2022

This is by the outstanding writer Bnie whose work grows on me more and more with each piece I see. The letters were painted as part of an RBF Halloween paint jam, which has been the source of some great content for Natural Adventures. Fantastic letter shapes and great colours are perfectly presented, together with the spooky scene playing out in the fill, and is exactly what you want from a Halloween piece. Woooo!

4828. Brunel Way (180)

Stivs, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2022
Stivs, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2022

Writing about street art and graffiti here on Natural Adventures isn’t a very slick operation. Because of the volume of artwork appearing on the streets of Bristol every day, it is pretty much impossible for me to keep up and report on pieces photographed yesterday or the day before. The time-lag is about three weeks, and that is why you are seeing this magnificent Halloween piece from Stivs on 21 November!

Stivs, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2022
Stivs, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2022

As ever, the calligraffiti offered by Stivs is of the highest order, and spells out ‘Halloween’, in the colours of the festival – green, purple and orange. It is funny how these colours have become adopted as the colours of Halloween… I guess the orange and green come from the pumpkin, and the purple is just a colour that complements them well. Anyhow, this is an absolute belter from Stivs.