What a delightful surprise it was to come across this unheralded piece from Haka on the M32 roundabout. Haka is one of those artists who very much does his own thing in his own way, and pretty much every piece is a tribute to his friend CK One, which is really touching.
Haka, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2021
This particular vibrant and wild portrait is, according to Haka’s own Instagram feed, a self-portrait. Having never met the artist, I can’t vouch for its accuracy, but I haven’t seen anyone looking like this in the Bristol area before. Great fun piece.
An outstanding calligrapher who is possibly a little underrepresented in Natural Adventures is Stivs. This beautiful piece of calligraphic writing from not too long ago so perfectly demonstrates his extraordinary ability to paint such beautifully formed letters.
Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2021
The whole shape and size of this piece is really most aesthetically pleasing and easy on the eye. The writing which spells STIVS is elaborate and complex, but in the hands of the artist is expertly executed. Note to self – time for a Stivs gallery?
This large collaboration goes back a few weeks, and I have already posted the fourth element, the Daz Cat character, a little while ago. The remaining triptych is by Face 1st, Sage and Soap, and is really rather special.
Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2021
To the left is the familiar work of Face 1st painted in a dazzling chrome. The letters FACE contain a feature used by Face 1st before, the introduction of a couple of swords. Quite what these swords symbolise I can’t say, but they appear to be driven into the smiling girl’s head, which is a little unsettling to say the least.
Sage, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2021
The middle section is, in my view, outstanding. The character by Sage just has something about it that really chimes for me. It is the perfect centrepiece to the triptych and really shows off Sage’s talent. The cartoon-style character somehow seems to fit the PWA ‘brand’ really nicely and reminds me of a very early PWA wall in St Paul’s (now gone)
Soap, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2021
On the right, as is so often the case in these PWA collaborations is a very nice piece of writing, also in chrome, from Soap. Lots off bones and gems in this veritable archeological/geological piece. The soap tag forms the centrepiece of tis complex piece.
Another wonderful PWA collaboration for us all to enjoy.
What a lovely surprise it was to come across this fabulous collaboration from Andy Council and Hemper when doing my rounds a week or so back. Two fabulous artists coming together to create this poignant piece.
Andy Council, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2021
Andy Council has been doing more street (non-commissioned) work at the moment than I can remember for several years, and I am definitely not complaining about that. The collaboration is a tribute piece to artist and friend Wayne, although I am not too sure about the reference ‘save the wheals’. Andy Council has painted a rather sad looking whale with his customary ‘stitching’ together of components to make the whole. Very nice work indeed.
Hemper, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2021
On the right, Hemper has written WAYNE with extraordinary skill with such beautiful letter shapes and and clever fills. There are never enough words to be able to describe Hemper’s work, and he is an artist who seems to be raising his own very high bar. Great to see this amazing collaboration.
It is a bit of a shame, but Smoke Perfume’s work never seems to last very long, which might be a feature of where and when he chooses to paint. My advice would be to not paint a high-turnover wall at the beginning of a dry spell of weather. It sounds obvious, but when it is wet, it is only the covered areas that get painted.
Smoke Perfume, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2021
This is a very nicely worked piece from Smoke Perfume with some interesting colour choices that contrast rather strongly – a deliberate use of prime colours I wonder. I think that he writes WINE, often toyed with or distorted in some way, but it is his trademark flames in the letter fills that give him away. I really rather like his work and look forward to finding more of it.
The number of ‘new entrants’ into the Bristol street/graffiti art scene over the last six months has been utterly staggering, and quite a handful to keep up with. One artist making a bit of a name for themselves (figuratively and literally) is Dog Bless the Band.
Dog bless the band, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2021
The artwork is very much in the school of unconventional letter shapes and textures practised by Taboo, Whos and Alos all of whom use this irregular form to great effect. I can’t quite make the letters out, but it looks like MO?EL or something like that. I love the M, which has real charisma. The dull colours work nicely together in this low-key piece. Looking forward to posting a lot more from this artist.
I have separated this piece from a large collaborative wall with Face 1st, Sage and Soap, because I felt that it was deserving of its own post, but also because I like to switch things up from time to time.
Daz Cat, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2021
Daz Cat has been relentless in his pursuit of painting joy this year, and I have several unpublished pieces by him waiting in my archive. This large piece sits so nicely alongside the Laic217 piece next to it, you could almost believe that they were painted at the same time, but they were not. Great respect shown to Laic217. Daz Cat has taken a little bit more time pulling this one together and there is a lot of nice detail in the cat’s face and jumper. The anthropomorphism goes a little further with this cat who has a human hand instead of a claw. Another superb piece from Daz Cat.
I recently featured Footloose for the first time on Natural Adventures and said then that I would need to post more of her work and so, true to my word, here is another recent piece from her up on the M32 roundabout.
Footloose, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2021
Her letters, spelling LEWSE, are always pretty clear to read and follow quite a standard pattern, with a long base on the L and a curl at the top of the W, so it is her colours, fills and patterns that distinguish one piece from the next. In this piece the letters are filled very nicely with different shades of blue in an array of different patterns from spots to drops to lines.
I don’t think I have ever really given Lewse nearly as much credit for her work as I ought to have done and will be trawling back through my archives when I have a bit of slack to find some older pieces.
I don’t understand what is going on in Bristol at the moment, but some truly magnificent pieces are being painted over far too quickly. Maybe we have too many artists (is that a thing?) or maybe we don’t have enough ‘safe’ walls (probably), whatever the reason, there is a lot of great art that has a very short lifetime. This collaboration from Hemper and Benjimagnetic is one of these ephemeral pieces.
Hemper, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2021
The artists have worked really well together here and their pieces appear to be a bit of a fusion, each mimicking the other one’s style. They have matched the colour scheme across the two pieces, and on the left is this exquisite HEMS (difficult to see) so skilfully crafted.
Benjimagnetic, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2021
To the right is the Benjimagnetic half spelling BEN and equally expertly sprayed. It would seem that in working together on this, both artists have raised their game, particularly Benjimagnetic, whose work at the moment is entering a new level. This is simply a beautiful collaboration.
Hemper and Benjimagnetic, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2021
There are so many outstanding artists in Bristol, which is a bit of a contradiction in terms, because if there are lots of them, then by definition they are not outstanding, but I think you probably know what I mean. One of them who seems to be at the top of his game at the moment is Acer One.
Acer One, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2021
This relatively recent piece (gone already) is in his two-tone 3D geometric lettering style and appears to spell out ‘CLEO 4PCC’ although I am not certain about that, nor what it means. These pieces create a dazzling effect, and to some passers-by may not be seen as letters, but simply shapes and patterns. So wonderfully distinctive. I need to catch him painting one of these so I can watch how he does it.
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