7987. Dean Lane skate park (949)

Kool Hand, Werm, Zake and Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2026
Kool Hand, Werm, Zake and Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2026

I’m glad I caught this bright and cheerful collaboration, because it didn’t last very long, indeed nothing much lasts too long on this particular wall in Dean Lane. It is great to see Kool Hand, Werm and Zake teaming up, with a guest appearance from Hire as a bonus.

Kool Hand, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2026
Kool Hand, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2026

To the left of the collaborative wall, Kool Hand has painted a very crisp, neat and tidy leopard holding a spray can. This fellow has a great tail and even a well painted pair of wings. The cherub theme is central to this collaboration.

Werm, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2026
Werm, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2026

Next up is a superb piece of symmetrical writing by werm, although the colours are not quite symmetrical, with two different shades of red used in the drop shadow. a green spotty background decorates the margins, and the white buffed wall helps all the components of the collaboration stand out.

Zake and Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2026
Zake and Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2026

The cherubim theme comes into full force with a grotesque cherub on the left, and a rather more conventional one on the right. Both are floating in ther heavenly scene, and are joined by a signature rabbit, also with wings, by Hire. An uplifting and fun collaboration.

7978. Purdown (108)

Kool Hand, Purdown, Bristol, October 2026
Kool Hand, Purdown, Bristol, October 2026

I think it would be fair to say that I have slightly neglected Kool Hand’s excellent work this year, and I still have several of his pieces in my archive to post at some point by way of remedying the situation. This is a recent one from up at Purdown which was painted alongside the Daz Cat piece that I posted yesterday.

Kool Hand, Purdown, Bristol, October 2026
Kool Hand, Purdown, Bristol, October 2026

I don’t think that I’ll ever tire of Kool Hand’s animals, in particular his orangutans and leopards, which are painted in a style that incorporates strong black outlines and solid fills. Simplicity that delivers, like the work of Roo. This leopard, I imagine is wearing a red bucket hat, but the top is cut off, so I’ll never know for sure. I like the way he has incorporated the Purdown telecommunications tower in the piece. More to come when I get my act together.

7594. M32 roundabout J3 (762)

Kool Hand, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2026
Kool Hand, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2026

This is a wonderful, colourful, up beat splash of a piece by Kool Hand, painted as part of a paint jam, I think for Kid Crayon’s birthday, but am not certain.

Kool Hand, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2026
Kool Hand, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2026

Kool Hand has been enjoying his writing lately, and he is improving with every new piece. The colour combinations and curvy font make this piece very easy on the eye. Time, I think, to update his impressive gallery of work (just done it).

7555. Cumberland Basin

Kool Hand, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, March 2026
Kool Hand, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, March 2026

What a lovely tidy and fresh-looking piece this is from Kool Hand. I was lucky enough to catch up with the artist himself as he was painting this one, and, like nearly all the artists I meet on the streets, he is a really nice and engaging bloke… why wouldn’t he be?

Kool Hand, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, March 2026
Kool Hand, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, March 2026

I think it is the freshness of this piece that makes it so easy on the eye. Everything feels solid and strong, and even the white highlights that help the piece to pop, are bold and unambiguous. A piece like this works so very well on a buffed wall, and could look quite compromised if it had been painted directly over existing busy graffiti.

7473. St Werburghs tunnel (569)

Kool Hand, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2025
Kool Hand, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2025

This was a piece from a little while ago by Kool Hand, celebrating his own birthday with some friends in the tunnel. For some reason, my iPhone was playing up that day, and my photographs a little blurry – some kind of auto-setting might have kicked in because of the low light levels.

Kool Hand, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2025
Kool Hand, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2025

The combination piece has the letters KOOL accompanied by a trademark orangutan head, and the whole thing is very nicely presented. Kool Hand is an artist whose work just keeps on developing gradually but consistently. A very nice birthday present to self.

7442. St Werburghs tunnel (563)

Cool Hand, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2026
Cool Hand, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2026

I am not enjoying the upgrade that WordPress have made to the block editor. I do wish they’d leave things as they are. I use the Classic version to write these posts, but now it forces me into a classic editor screen, which is pants really. Old dog new tricks…

Cool Hand, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2026
Cool Hand, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2026

This is a rather joyful piece of writing from Kool Hand in the tunnel to celebrate Tera’s birthday. Simple in its design, the two-tone letters in yellow and lime green are bordered with a pink outline. There is a ragged edge to the letters, something that Kool Hand seems to be enjoying at the moment. A fun birthday piece.

7308. Purdown (97)

Kool Hand, Purdown, Bristol, November 2025
Kool Hand, Purdown, Bristol, November 2025

I am in a conference all day today, and only twigged late last night, so I am writing this yesterday in a bit of a rush. Halloween has been well-observed by several Bristol artists this year, and this beauty by Kool Hand was painted alongside a cartoon pumpkin by Werm.

Kool Hand, Purdown, Bristol, November 2025
Kool Hand, Purdown, Bristol, November 2025

Kool Hand has gone for an orangutan – pumpkin mash-up and absolutely delivered the goods. The toothy character is nicely painted with superb solid fills and confident thick black outlines. A perfect piece for the square concrete slab.

7292. Horfield skate park (16)

Kool Hand, Horfield Skate Park, Bristol, October 2025
Kool Hand, Horfield Skate Park, Bristol, October 2025

What a pleasure to find this tidy three-quarter profile of a trademark orangutan by Kool Hand at Horfield skate park. The piece was painted alongside a wonderful pair of cats by Daz Cat. A quick look at an updated gallery of his work gives an insight into his progress over the years.

Kool Hand, Horfield Skate Park, Bristol, October 2025
Kool Hand, Horfield Skate Park, Bristol, October 2025

The green-faced character has particularly large teeth, and looks a little more ferocious than some of his renditions of the ape.  Two things stand out for me in this piece; the confident solid fills and lines all neat and tidy, and the slight angle of the portrait, moving away from the straight on face, which is where it all started.

7284. St Werburghs tunnel (538)

Face 1st, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2025
Face 1st, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2025


It was an absolute delight to catch up with Face 1st while he was painting this piece at Kool Hand’s birthday celebration paint jam. We chatted for a long while about our shared common interests in nature and nature-friendly farming practices, such as regenerative farming, something he is keen to practice in his new home of Herefordshire.

Face 1st, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2025
Face 1st, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2025

These photographs are a little blurry… something went wrong with my iPhone camera in the darkness of the tunnel, but I wanted to share the piece nonetheless. Face 1st has been enjoying playing with his letter style and here he has crafted a script font with a deep drop shadow. Alongside is a small character laughing girl, and above it a motif by Soap. There was a good turnout for Kool Hand’s.

7269. St Werburghs tunnel (534)

Tera, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2025
Tera, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2025

It has been a while since I last saw a scary clown piece, so this one from Tera is most welcome. It was painted as part of a belated birthday paint jam in the tunnel for Kool Hand, and served as a tasty precursor to Halloween. Tera’s meteoric rise as a street artist of great talent continues at pace.

Tera, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2025
Tera, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2025

This scary clown character is superbly presented within a colourful decoration, I want to say scroll, but it is more like a designed plate with interlocking parts. The clown itself is really demonic, and falls very squarely into Tera’s preference for all things satanic. Peeping over the top of the piece is another of the artist’s previous nightmarish creations, see below:

Tera, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2025
Tera, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2025