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.

6071. M32 Spot (185)

Zaenone and The Mole, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2024
Zaenone and The Mole, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2024

For most people, coming across a street/graffiti artist while they are actually painting is probably something of a rarity. Because I am out most days in all the most popular spots, it is quite unusual not to meet someone while they are painting, and on this day I happened upon Zaenone and The Mole as they were working on this collaboration.

Zaenone, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2024
Zaenone, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2024

I had not met Zaenone before, although we have exchanged a few words on social media before. He was fairly quiet when I met him, and I mostly spoke with The Mole. This is a classic piece from Zaenone, typically bookended with characters and the letters ZAEN sandwiched in the middle. The combination has a psychedelic buzz going on, with the hippy characters and the multicoloured fills, topped off with peace symbols.

The Mole, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2024
The Mole, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2024

The Mole has written INCA and included his familiar mole character on the right of the piece, beautifully filled I might add. I asked him where the inspiration for the word Inca came from, and it is completely as you might expect, he has an interest in the Incas. The Mole character was created and developed during the first lockdown (if I remember correctly). As ever it is always great to welcome these LRS lads back to Bristol for a paint.

5932. M32 Spot (184)

Saor, Kosc and Mudra, M32 Spot, Bristol, March 2024
Saor, Kosc and Mudra, M32 Spot, Bristol, March 2024

Although this outstanding collaboration from Saor, Kosc and Mudra was painted a few weeks ago, it has taken me quite a long while to get round to posting it, which is largely down to the sheer volume of new art appearing on the walls of Bristol at the moment. I would say that this winter, in spite of the appalling weather, has been one of the busiest I have know for street/graffiti art and my archives are bulging.

Saor, M32 Spot, Bristol, March 2024
Saor, M32 Spot, Bristol, March 2024

Saor has made a few visits to Bristol lately, and has smashed each piece out of the park, and this is another in a succession of unbelievable artworks. In line with the overall collaboration colours, Saor has disguised his SAOR letters in an outstanding geometric design. What I love about Saor’s work is the blended of borders, which means that all of his lines have to be ultra crisp and sharp, which, of course, he excels at.

Kosc, M32 Spot, Bristol, March 2024
Kosc, M32 Spot, Bristol, March 2024

In the middle of the triptych is a brilliant samurai portrait piece from Kosc, unfortunately a little obscured by the street sign. There is a lot of precision in the detail of the mask and Kosc has achieved incredible depth and texture in the piece. Kosc is an artist who appears to be at the top of his game these days and is producing some outstanding work.

Mudra, M32 Spot, Bristol, March 2024
Mudra, M32 Spot, Bristol, March 2024

Rounding off the collaboration is this unusual piece of pixelated writing from Mudra, which seems to be playing with the letters ‘.CON’ (dot con). The skull in the middle of the letters, is a little strange, in fact I find the whole piece odd, and a bit out of kilter with the rest of the collaboration. There might be a story about the piece that I don’t know about which might explain it. Altogether though this is yet another amazing collaboration from the NTS crew.

5910. M32 Spot (183)

Evey, Pekoe and Bnie, M32 Spot, Bristol, March 2024
Evey, Pekoe and Bnie, M32 Spot, Bristol, March 2024

This is a pleasurable post to write because it involves one of my favourite walls with one of my favourite groups of artists. The RBF ladies have been a little quiet this month, but this collaboration from Evey, Pekoe and Bnie has laid that to rest pretty well.

Evey, M32 Spot, Bristol, March 2024
Evey, M32 Spot, Bristol, March 2024

Evey continues to smash it each time she paints and her improvement from piece to piece is so gratifying to witness. The letters here are nicely designed and cleanly finished, with good fill transitions and well organised spotty details. She appears to be building her confidence with is an important part of improvement.

Pekoe, M32 Spot, Bristol, March 2024
Pekoe, M32 Spot, Bristol, March 2024

In the middle is another Pekoe portrait piece, full of fun and style. The subject has beautifully painted big hair and a rather smart yellow cap or beret. The blue face is rather RBF, if you know what I mean and the whole piece has an interesting dot – dash border. For me though, the hoop earrings steal the show, they are brilliant.

Bnie, M32 Spot, Bristol, March 2024
Bnie, M32 Spot, Bristol, March 2024

Finally, Bnie never ever disappoints with her beautiful letters. This is classy writing, with stunning fills, a wonderful drop shadow and yellow border complete with drips. The colour selection of pinks and oranges works really well against the green patterned background. It is good to note a small Palestinian flag under the ‘B’, should we forget what is happening in Gaza right now. A wonderful collaboration from this RBF trio.

5848. M32 Spot (182)

Noise, M32 Spot, Bristol, February 2024
Noise, M32 Spot, Bristol, February 2024

There are some artists who, for one reason or another make a significant impact on me. Others will drift by, because their work, if I am being honest, simply doesn’t have any ‘wow’ factor, or show any signs that it is likely to. I guess that is being a little harsh, but some artists won’t and don’t appear to have the desire to improve, others might have loads of headroom and gradually piece by piece get better, developing their style and content. I guess that one thing they all have in common is the enjoyment they get out of slapping some paint on a wall.

Noise, M32 Spot, Bristol, February 2024
Noise, M32 Spot, Bristol, February 2024

Noise is an artist who grabbed my attention from the very first piece I saw, with his large chunky letters making a loud visual noise. In this piece the nicely constructed letters are beautifully filled with a series of horizontal blue shades with clever stripe transitions and some superb icicle drips on the letter tops. This is a really nice piece, and adds to an ever growing portfolio… time for a gallery soon I think.

5791. M32 Spot (181)

Desi and Mr Two Gram, M32 Spot, Bristol, January 2023
Desi and Mr Two Gram, M32 Spot, Bristol, January 2023

Desi (Veil) and Mr Two Gram paint together a lot, although I have posted far more of the former’s pieces than I have the latter. I think the reason, and it is a rather feeble one is that I keep forgetting Mr Two Gram’s name. I don’t think that this will happen too much more now, and I will need to draw out loads of his pieces from my archive.

Desi, M32 Spot, Bristol, January 2023
Desi, M32 Spot, Bristol, January 2023

This is a lovely fresh piece from Desi, with a nice colour palette and very organised fills. She has also included the incorporation of some background pink in between letters, which is a difficult thing to do. She did miss a little bit, between the ‘V’ and the ‘e’, but I am being picky.

Mr Two Gram, M32 Spot, Bristol, January 2023
Mr Two Gram, M32 Spot, Bristol, January 2023

To Desi’s right is a great piece of graffiti writing from Mr Two Gram, whose letters I still struggle to read. The grey ‘O’ or is it a ‘G’? always looks like an ampersand to me. Lovely letters and some superb fills round off this very nice collaboration perfectly.

ps. Some superb skiing yesterday… a good day 1.

5787. M32 Spot (180)

Bloem, M32 Spot, Bristol, January 2024
Bloem, M32 Spot, Bristol, January 2024

The day I met Bloem was a red letter day for me, as I have been hoping to bump into her for quite a while, and this was the piece she was painting at the time. Formerly signing her work as Hiccup, Bloem emerged onto the scene during 2023, with a wonderfully original creative approach, treating us to some pieces the likes of which we haven’t really seen in Bristol before.

Bloem, M32 Spot, Bristol, January 2024
Bloem, M32 Spot, Bristol, January 2024

Carrying the motif ACAB, the piece features a hand with long nails holding a small vase with flowers poking out of the top and a little creature peering over the lip of the vase. There is a little story going on here, I’m sure. To add a bit more interest, Bloem has created a patterned cloud background in pinks and greys. A lovely piece painted in her inimitable style.

5781. M32 Spot (179)

Sub, M32 Spot, Bristol, January 2024
Sub, M32 Spot, Bristol, January 2024

Although I have seen several pieces by Sub dotted about the place, this is the first time I have posted one on Natural Adventures. I met him for the first time when he was painting this piece alongside Bloem, who I also met for the first time – it appears that they often paint together, which I kind of already knew, but the penny only fully dropped properly when I saw them together.

Sub, M32 Spot, Bristol, January 2024
Sub, M32 Spot, Bristol, January 2024

This is a very nicely worked piece with large bold letters and a solid blue fill flooding across the whole thing. The letters are nicely formed, and apart from the green smudges, the piece is simple, with only some feature lines on the drop shadow, providing a sense of perspective. I have a feeling that there is a lot more to come from Sub, and I will watch his development with interest.