6467. M32 Spot (194)

ESKA, M32 Spot, Bristol, October 2024
ESKA, M32 Spot, Bristol, October 2024

This is an utterly magnificent piece taking up the whole board under the M32 by travelling artist ESKA. It is one of at least three pieces he has dropped while staying I;Bristol, and possibly more, but Being in Cornwall at the moment, I have lost touch a little.

ESKA, M32 Spot, Bristol, October 2024
ESKA, M32 Spot, Bristol, October 2024

This epic piece is a feast for the eyes, with a stunning colour palette of goods and silvers. There is so much going here with the combined writing and symbolism. To be appreciated fully it really needs to be seen up close because there is a lot of detail that isn’t captured with the full image, and I now rather regret not taking close-ups. ESKA has been a breath of fresh air o; the Bristol scene.

6397. M32 Spot (194)

Logoe and Nova, M32 Spot, Bristol, September 2024
Logoe and Nova, M32 Spot, Bristol, September 2024

When Logoe hits town, he tends to hit it pretty hard. When this collaborative piece was painted earlier in the month, I think it might have been a one-off, because I didn’t find any other pieces in all the spots he usually decorates so freely. It is a collaboration with Nova, about whom I know absolutely nothing, but it is a beauty nonetheless.

Logoe, M32 Spot, Bristol, September 2024
Logoe, M32 Spot, Bristol, September 2024

More often than not Logoe writes with thin script letters, but he has switched things up in this piece of graffiti writing with great big fat chrome letters with a bold solid black drop shadow. The whole piece is very neat and tidy and well presented on a red cloudy background. Of course, there is a sprinkling of small oval dots running through the piece, just in case we weren’t sure it was by Logoe.

Nova, M32 Spot, Bristol, September 2024
Nova, M32 Spot, Bristol, September 2024

Nova has painted letters using the same colour scheme, and also incorporated little ovals, although arranged a little more orderly than Logoe’s. Another cross-reference feature is the yellow ‘o’ in both pieces.  Nova’s writing is also nicely presented, and I am intrigued to know more about the artist, but that might need to wait until the next time I bump into Logoe. A fine collaboration an a favourite wall.

6385. M32 Spot (193)

Silent Hobo, M32 Spot, Bristol, September 2024
Silent Hobo, M32 Spot, Bristol, September 2024

Wow, wow, wow! This is something rather different and special from Silent Hobo. Not only has he changed his style, but these pieces come as a set of three on three sequential columns under the M32 at the M32 Spot.

Silent Hobo, M32 Spot, Bristol, September 2024
Silent Hobo, M32 Spot, Bristol, September 2024

The three pieces appear to be snippets from a conversation, and I rather hope for Silent Hobo’s sake that they are not autobiographical. The first column has a portrait of a man declaring “Baby I’m doing my best”.

Silent Hobo, M32 Spot, Bristol, September 2024
Silent Hobo, M32 Spot, Bristol, September 2024

The second column is a reply from a woman saying those words that nobody wants to hear “Yes but…” Sounds like he might be in trouble. The portrait is remarkable, and really so different from the rest of his work. It is less cartoony and more realistic and has the appearance of oil on canvass.

Silent Hobo, M32 Spot, Bristol, September 2024
Silent Hobo, M32 Spot, Bristol, September 2024

The third column is the killer blow… “You told me you were good”. Whatever the context of the conversation, I hope all works out well,. I am full of admiration at how skilful Silent Hobo has been to get viewers to invest so much in the characters in such a limited space. I suppose we can all construct our own stories about the three columns, but the artwork, which is remarkable, speaks for itself.

6355. M32 Spot (192)

Slim Pickings (Tes) and Biers, M32 Spot, Bristol, August 2024
Slim Pickings (Tes) and Biers, M32 Spot, Bristol, August 2024

It feels good to give these two a bit of attention, especially Slim Pickings (Tes), because although they are out there painting fairly regularly, I don’t tend to feature them on Natural Adventures as much as I should. I am pleased to see this collaboration between Tes and Biers because it is on one of my favourite spots in Bristol.

Slim Pickings (Tes) and Biers, M32 Spot, Bristol, August 2024
Slim Pickings (Tes) and Biers, M32 Spot, Bristol, August 2024

This is a particularly fine example of Slim Picking’s work, with the letters TES beautifully filled in two shades of orange with bubbles. Cleverly the drop shadow and the white spot highlights really make this one pop, fantastic stuff.  Biers has incorporated little flashes of orange (upside down crosses) which work really well with his green shades WD40. A fine collaboration from two great graffiti writers.

6317. M32 Spot (191)

Mr Crawls, M32 Spot, Bristol, July 2024
Mr Crawls, M32 Spot, Bristol, July 2024

Although Mr Crawls appears to enjoy painting with Mote, it certainly doesn’t stop him from going out and painting on his own. This column piece, under the M32 motorway, takes us back to some of the artist’s earlier themes, incorporation; old and new styles into the work.

Mr Crawls, M32 Spot, Bristol, July 2024
Mr Crawls, M32 Spot, Bristol, July 2024

The cartoon character is a gull or a raptor of some kind wearing a bucket hat. The piece incorporates newer design themes developed by Mr Crawls, such as the skeleton neck and hollow square eyes. You might have spotted a rare appearance by my dog, who accompanies me on most of my photographic trips. Nice work from Mr Crawls.

6258. M32 Spot (190)

The Art of Sok, M32 Spot, Bristol, July 2024
The Art of Sok, M32 Spot, Bristol, July 2024

The flurry of The Art of Sok pieces continues with this beautiful column portrait. There is a clarity and clean finish that the artist manages to perfect with every single piece he paints. Everything is exactly where he wants it, the lines are crisp and the fills solid and bold.

The Art of Sok, M32 Spot, Bristol, July 2024
The Art of Sok, M32 Spot, Bristol, July 2024

The character in this piece is nicely worked into the tall thin column and beautifully presented on a lilac background. The simplicity and accuracy of The Art of Sok’s work is his USP, and is something we don’t see too much of in Bristol. A really wonderful comic-book style design, with still more to come from the artist…

6221. M32 Spot (189)

Nuke, M32 Spot, Bristol, July 2024
Nuke, M32 Spot, Bristol, July 2024

This is the second piece by Nuke to appear on Natural Adventures, although it was the first to be painted, in chronological order, of the two. I’m not too sure if the two pieces were a one (two)-off and left during a visit to the city, or whether we can expect more to follow. I suspect the former.

Nuke, M32 Spot, Bristol, July 2024
Nuke, M32 Spot, Bristol, July 2024

His work, even though I have only seen the two pieces, is instantly recognisable in the delivery of a character/writing combination that has a haunting and slightly dark vibe about it. There is a blending between the ghostly portrait and the wildstyle letters, that works really well, and the colours reflect upwards from the base, and the white light is projected from the top left. Very nicely done.

6216. M32 Spot (188)

Minto and Bags, M32 Spot, Bristol, July 2024
Minto and Bags, M32 Spot, Bristol, July 2024

I am pretty sure that these pieces from Minto and Bags are part of a collaboration, rather than ones painted in isolation that happen to be next to one another. There is definitely some interaction from the Bags piece that overlaps onto the Minto side, but not necessarily vice versa.

Minto, M32 Spot, Bristol, July 2024
Minto, M32 Spot, Bristol, July 2024

Unlike most of his recent ‘deconstruction’ pieces, Minto has opted for a full size portrait, with the only writing being the ‘Minto’ on the subject’s hat. It comes across as a bit of a quick one, and may have been a dregs piece, because the fills aren’t particularly solid. Certainly this is Minto showing a slightly different side to his work, and for some reason it is a very memorable – maybe it is the green, maybe the hat… who knows?

Bags, M32 Spot, Bristol, July 2024
Bags, M32 Spot, Bristol, July 2024

Bags is a woefully underrepresented artist in Natural Adventures, and I think the only way I could rectify that would be to go through my archives and present several mini-galleries, just to catch up a bit. I think that Bags enjoys collaborating a lot, especially with his No Frills friends such as Biers and Slim Pickings. His letters are always recognisable and presented in roughly the same format, with the fills representing the main differences from piece to piece.

6209. M32 Spot (187)

John D'oh, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2024
John D’oh, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2024

I’m not too sure how it happened, but somehow this piece by the fabulous John D’oh got caught up in my production line, and was supposed to have been posted quite a while ago. Perhaps it feels appropriate that I should post it today, coming so soon after President Biden has said that he will not stand for the presidency in the forthcoming election.

John D'oh, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2024
John D’oh, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2024

This simple ‘spot the difference’ stencil, highlights Joe Biden’s apparently inconsistent approach to the bombing of Gaza by Israel and the bombing of Ukraine by Russia. Turning a blind eye (sponsoring) one and condemning overtly the other. Heaven only knows what might happen if Donald Trump gets a second term. What a mess. Nice commentary piece once again from the talented Mt John D’oh.

6208. M32 Spot (186)

Nuke, M32 Spot, Bristol, June 2024
Nuke, M32 Spot, Bristol, June 2024

I get a little bat squeak of excitement when I see a piece that is obviously by an artist new to me, tempered by mild anxiety that I don’t know who they are and may not get to post their work until I find out more. Everything happened quite quickly with this wonderful piece by Nuke, thanks to Instagram, and I am thrilled to be able to post this debut piece for Natural Adventures.

Nuke, M32 Spot, Bristol, June 2024
Nuke, M32 Spot, Bristol, June 2024

This is a very interesting and compelling graffiti writing/character combination piece that has an interesting quality to it. It has a ‘soft-focus’ appearance and yet is clearly defied and masterfully painted. The 20 years refers to the length of time that Nuke has been painting, and his experience certainly plays out in this piece. I don’t know if he was passing through or whether he is staying in Bristol, but this is one of two recent pieces painted in the city by the artist.