Neddy Ned Neddy, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, January 2025
This outstanding, colourful piece by Neddy Ned Ned was painted as part of a paint session celebrating Jaksta’s birthday. Although I was present to watch him paint some of this piece, he was a little bit too preoccupied to stop for a chat, and having never met him before, I didn’t want to interrupt him.
Neddy Ned Neddy, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, January 2025
This really is a top-drawer piece of wildstyle graffiti writing. The letters spell out Wiska and are filled with a quite superb blended yellow, orange and red colour combination which has a marble effect, really clever. The contrasting blue and black drop shadow has a vanishing point in the centre of the piece. The letters burst out of the wall and bedazzle.
Creamylines, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, January 2025
One of the most elusive artists in Bristol is Creamylines, probably due to the infrequency of his work. I haven’t yet met him, the chances of bumping in to him while he is painting is minimal, and that is a pity, because I’d love to tell him how much I admire his work.
Creamylines, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, January 2025
There is always a sense of joy and optimism in Creamylines’ creations that momentarily transports one away from the troubles of daily life. His pieces resemble stained-glass windows in the way that they are segmented, with black lines separating each of the small ‘panels’ of artwork. The landscape scene takes us from the sea through hills and mountains ending with a bright sun and birds in the sky. It is almost heavenly. People and eyes are scattered throughout the piece, perhaps demonstrating our interdependence with our surroundings. How much I would love to see more of Creamylines’ uplifting work.
Ryder and Jaksta, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, January 2025
Turnover on the M32 Cycle path has been fairly slow this winter, and I have reduced the frequency of my visits to the spot accordingly. On my last visit, however, I got really lucky and met Ryder and Jaksta, along with some of their friends, who were all painting together to celebrate Jaksta’s birthday. It appears that January is a big month for street art birthday paint jams.
Ryder, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, January 2025
In this combination collaboration, Ryder has painted the letters RAKE and Jaksta the character. Painted on a good old-fashioned brick wall, this piece looks like a throwback to the 1980s. The graffiti writing by Ryder is superb, spelling out RAKE, and not only celebrates Jaksta’s birthday, but also 25 years of painting together.
Jaksta, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, January 2025
Jaksta is the cartoon character king, who manages to create incredible caricatures of people both famous and unknown. This is an absolute peach, and one of two pieces painted by the artist during this session. The exaggerated features and overized head are key components of Jaksta’s style, and would not look out of place in Montmatre’s (Paris) crazy art markets. A fabulous collaboration by the RAW duo.
Nips is known for her wonderful colour selections and fill patterns and with this chrome piece on the cycle path, the question is could she carry it off with such colour limitations, the answer is unequivocally yes.
Nips, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, October 2024
Nips’ letters do not change an awful lot from piece to piece, but her decorative artwork does, and here she has made the most of a simple fill pattern of black blobs. The overall effect works very well. Normally you’d expect the tittle (a word I learned last night, meaning the dot above the i or j) in Nips’ pieces to have a little character face, but here she has substituted it with a heart. Great work from Nips.
Disfrutalafrutaaa, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, October 2024
This wonderful piece by Disfrutalafrutaaa, which is a first from the artist on Natural Adventures, was painted alongside Claro_que_sssnoh, and I am making the assumption that the artist is likely to be Spanish. Certainly the rather long and complicated moniker would point in that direction.
Disfrutalafrutaaa, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, October 2024
The piece itself is a beautifully presented blue script squiggle of letters which I can’t make out set on a red and orange spotty background that has a slightly psychedelic feel to it. The piece is really pleasing on the eye, but because I am unfamiliar with the artist, I can’t really say whether it is typical or not. It is always great to welcome new talent to Bristol.
Claro_que_sssnoh, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, October 2024
I was beginning to think that Claro_que_sssnoh had left Bristol altogether, as it seems like an age since his I last posted anything by him on Natural Adventures (April this year, in fact). This piece was painted recently in one of his favoured spots.
Claro_que_sssnoh, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, October 2024
Claro_que_ssnoh’s writing is so distinctive, and is unlikely ever to be muddled up with any other artists. It is a style we don’t see too much of here in the UK – perhaps it is a Spanish thing. His letters, spelling HONS, provide an opportunity to paint straight and curvy lines together, creating some contrast and tension in his writing. The colour palette is carefully considered, and the blues work well with the red and orange background colours. It is so good to see the artist back on our streets after a long gap.
This gorgeous story piece from Conrico somehow slipped under my radar, so on one of my routine visits to the Cycle path behind the Black Swan, I was thrilled to stumble across it. The Japanese street scene is full of atmosphere and ordinary life, with a woman cuddling a cat in the foreground.
Conrico, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, October 2024
Conrico’s style looks more like a paint brush painting than anything created with a spray can, which says a lot about his application style of short bursts like brush strokes. His love affair with Japan and Japanese culture may seem at odds with Bristol culture, but is in fact a refreshing perspective and part of the amazing spectrum of work artwork we see in the city. I love this low-key piece.
In this last look back at 2019 (for the time being), I am posting five pieces from the wall on the M32 Cycle path, which never made it onto Natural Adventures at the time. There is some poignancy to this post and the feature piece by Mena (Menas), because I have recently heard that Mena is currently recovering from a bad accident she had while travelling in Thailand. She is back in the UK, but quite unwell. This is my small way of wishing her a full recovery, and I dedicate this retrospective post to her. I expect you’ll see a few pieces, from various artists, in the coming days and weeks that will be wishing her well.
This is a particularly fine example of her work, and although she doesn’t paint all that regularly, her pieces are always welcome. I am not certain that all of the following pieces were painted as part of a paint jam, but I suspect they were.
Ryder, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2019
Ryder is most definitely a graffiti writer’s writer, if you know what I mean, he is highly respected in the community and turns out some of the best graffiti writing in the city which he has done for quite some while. This piece is rather more subtle than most of his work, and perhaps doesn’t quite have the impact we would normally expect. I’m not sure these light shades quite work (for me).
T-Rex, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2019
Finding anything by T-Rex is always a treat, and this is a classy example of her great work. the writing/character combination always works a treat. The dinosaur always adds a touch of light-heartedness to the edgy nature of graffiti writing.
Hemper, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2019
Hemper has used a similar colour palette to Ryder, and for me it all just looks a little washed out. There is no doubting the superb skills of the artists, but on this day, I think they chose a weak colour palette, and perhaps that is why I never posted these pieces back in June 2019.
Soker, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2019
Finally, and very possibly not part of the paint jam, is this bright and colourful piece from Soker, displaying his graffiti writing credentials to the max. Superb letter shapes and fills mark this piece out, I only wish my photographic skills could do it justice.
This amazing portrait piece by Pekoe is simply perfect. It appeared shortly after the far right riots that flared up recently in the wake of the stabbing of three girls in Southport. I won’t share my thoughts on the riots here, but I suspect that my feelings are consistent with the vast majority.
Pekoe, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, August 2024
Pekoe has her own way of answering back at the far right thugs, by hitting them where it hurts, their ego, with a speech bubble that puts down fascism in a single blow, “hot girls hate fascists”. The words alone are enough, but she accompanies it with one of her fabulous portraits. The right piece in the right place at the right time. Bravo Pekoe.
What better way to start the day than with a nice, crisp chrome piece from Nips. What a pity I didn’t get there before the tagger, but that is all part of the way of life in this jungle. Everyone knows what the rules are, and whatever existing rules can be broken at any time by anyone.
Nips, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, July 2024
There is an uncomplicatedness about this piece that speaks of an artist who is comfortable with their work. No need to embellish or over-decorate. Sometimes less is more, and I would suggest that is the case here. I haven’t yet met Nips, and look forward to the day when I might just be in the right place at the right time to do so.
Natural adventures 