Laic217 has been smashing it for years now, and I continue to enjoy the ride he is taking us on. His improvement and development continues from piece to piece, always getting better and more interesting to look at.
Laic217, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, February 2024
This piece is full of sharp detail, in the flames, and the folds of the fabric but most noticeably in the reflections of the skeleton’s glasses. There is a lot of precision in this piece, and the mask being worn is amazing. An L on the hat for LAIC rounds the piece off nicely. There is always a home for every piece I find by the artist on Natural Adventures.
Pura Decadencia, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, February 2024
Every once in a while, Pura Decadencia drops a piece as if just to remind us that she is still out there. It is a pity that she doesn’t paint on the streets more often, because her quirky writing and vampire teeth add breadth to the spectrum of styles, nationalities and content of Bristol’s street/graffiti art culture.
Pura Decadencia, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, February 2024
I think that this might be the tightest piece I have seen from Pura Decadencia, with nice bubble letters a strong yellow border/drop shadow and some lovely fills, with great transitions between the colours. Of course, not Pura Decadencia piece is complete without a set of vampire teeth drawing blood. I hope we don’t have to wait too long before her next piece.
This is not the first time that Slakarts has painted this flaky board, and I suspect it won’t be the last time either. I think it would be fair to say that Slakarts is now a rather occasional painter of Bristol’s walls compared with a couple of years ago, and this is a bit of a pity. I guess that it means he has less time to paint, which implies that he is busy with other things, which is probably a good thing.
Slakarts, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, February 2024
The stylised cartoon face that Slakarts has painted is rather more colourful than some of his earlier versions, but the same basic design remains, which is comforting in a way, perhaps more so knowing that he is capable of painting other things too. The flaky nature of the board makes pieces painted on it look rather old, but in actual fact this was quite freshly painted. I’ll be hoping for more from Slakarts as the year unfolds.
Mr Crawls and Mote, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, January 2024
The series of Mr Crawls and Mote collaborations simply goes from strength to strength, and as far as I am concerned, they can just keep on coming. This is a recent one from the M32 Cycle path not too far from the M32 Spot.
Mr Crawls and Mote, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, January 2024
Painted on a chrome-buffed wall, the two birds sit snugly side by side, the different styles complementing each other perfectly. The bird on the left is by Mr Crawls and features the hollow and haunting eyes. On the right, another Mote monster bird comes up trumps. Although they have used different colours, they both adopt minimal colour palettes, so the whole thing isn’t over fussy or complicated. Such a great and productive.
Just a reminder that Face 1st remains one of my favourite Bristol artists. He and his PWA friends provide the rhythm and bass upon which the Bristol street and graffiti art scene thrive. This piece, I think a solo effort, takes us back to a simpler version of Face 1st’s work.
Face 1st, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, January 2024
This laughing girl piece with the letters FACE making up her hair is a theme that Face 1st has used to great effect for many years, and here, he is reminding us that he is happy to keep revisiting the idea, in his unstoppable way. What is a little different to similar pieces from the past is that the letters are made to look chunky and deep some good 3D work. Keep ’em coming.
Rudini Doodini, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, January 2024
I haven’t posted nearly enough work by Rudini Doodini over the years, mainly because he hasn’t painted very often. He used to paint small characters under the name of Morph, some of which I posted a few years back. This is one of the larger pieces I have seen which was painted alongside Wxttsart and Mind 49.
Rudini Doodini, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, January 2024
The letters WHO are interspersed with three stylised characters looking like they mean business. There are some great colours in the piece and the composition works very nicely. I hope that this early New Year piece signifies more activity from Rudini Doodini in 2024.
Benjimagneic, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, January 2024
I wasn’t expecting this and it took me a minute or two to work out that it was by Benjimagnetic, which in retrospect is utterly obvious. I think that the absence of colours threw me a bit, as most of his work is pretty colourful.
Benjimagneic, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, January 2024
The letters spell out BEN and the piece is signed Ben, so I don’t know how I was being so thick – sometimes we don’t see the wood for the trees. There is a simplicity about the piece, which is an avenue that Benjimagnetic has been following of late, moving away from his busy explosive pieces that I am more used to seeing. I have to say I am enjoying the transition. A fine piece of graffiti writing.
It is my birthday – a significant one, and I have slightly taken my eye off the ball with writing my blog, so this will be an exceptionally quick one. Here we have a fun cartoony piece from Jevoissoul who emerged on the scene as recently as October last year.
Jevoissoul, M32 Cycle path, Brisol, December 2023
The character has a cartoon Picassoesque feel to it and reminds me of an artist who used to paint in Bristol called Panskaribas (see below). Jevoissoul often accompanies his work with the word Slow, and he has done so in big letters in this piece – I expect to see a lot more from the artist this year.
Panskaribas, New Stadium Road, Bristol, October 2018
Wxttsart and Mind 49, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, January 2024
This collaboration is one panel of an end of year paint jam on the M32 Cycle path, parts of which have hosted some outstanding pieces in 2023. This piece brings together the styles of two incredibly different artists, Mind 49 and Wxttsart (recently rebranded as Whatsxmilk).
Wxttsart and Mind 49, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, January 2024
The unmistakable anti-style calligraffiti from Wxttsart spells ‘Mindout’, a clear reference to his painting partner. The letters are beautifully constructed and consistent in form, and this writing is a little more conventional than some of his work. The contrast with Mind 49s portrait couldn’t be more marked.
Wxttsart and Mind 49, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, January 2024
There is something slightly elusive about much of Mind 49s portraits, a vagueness that allows the imagination to fill the gaps. There is an absence of sharp focus, so often found in photorealism, that makes Mind 49s pieces so special. The subject’s features are partly obscured by the shadow of the cap, adding some mystery to the piece. The folds in the material of the cap are beautifully worked. This is a fine piece and fine collaboration. A great way to end 2023.
This piece by Mr Keos, was definitely worthy of inclusion in Natural Adventures, as it is rather different from any writing that we usually see in the city. Looking at his Instagram feed, it looks like Mr Keos paints all over the country and was simply passing through Bristol in December nd dropped a couple of pieces.
Mr Keos, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, December 2023
His letters are big, bold and distinctive, no chance of any confusion here. The work oozes experience from an artist who appears to be very prolific. The chrome letters stand out nicely on the orange background and the subtle black feature patterns at the base of the letters turn this from a good piece of graffiti writing into something rather better. I’ll be looking out for at least one other piece he painted in Bristol.
Natural adventures 