7330. Cumberland Basin

Esme Lower, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, November 2025
Esme Lower, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, November 2025

What a wonderful creation from Esme Lower. I was lucky with my timing on this one, and met Esme while she was painting this piece. She always seems to make time for a quick chat, and told me that this piece was inspired by a Studio Ghibli character called Catbus, from Totoro.

Esme Lower, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, November 2025
Esme Lower, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, November 2025

This is a beautifully imagined and painted piece with superb clarity and definition between elements. The fills are clean and solid and black outlines tidy. I love the little mouse sitting on the top of Catbus. Researching the character led me down an interesting path of Studio Ghibli artwork and films, which was most enjoyable. A lovely and accomplished piece by Esme Lower.

7173. Greenbank (171)

Esme Lower, Greenbank, Bristol, August 2025
Esme Lower, Greenbank, Bristol, August 2025

What a nice thing to see, another piece from Esme Lower, who appears to be getting a little more active on the streets of Bristol lately. Her letters MELO are, I am assuming, a conflation of the end of esME and the start of LOwer.

Esme Lower, Greenbank, Bristol, August 2025
Esme Lower, Greenbank, Bristol, August 2025

Her artwork in this piece is beautifully thought out, with her merged letters decorated with some lovely daisies around the outside. Such is the fill running through that if you didn’t know it spelled MELO, you might have missed the letters altogether. A nice confident piece.

7140. M32 roundabout J3 (703)

Esme Lower, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2025
Esme Lower, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2025

I had only met Esme Lower a couple of times before I met her again while she was painting this piece, and every time she has been ever so friendly and patient with my rambling conversation. She painted this wonderful, piece with a couple of friends on a rather nice sunny afternoon (remember those?), and she has done a really great job.

Esme Lower, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2025
Esme Lower, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2025

The piece spells out ‘MELO’ which is the middle section of a conflation of her first and second names. The characterful letters are beautifully decorated with flowers, and the whole piece has a hint of art nouveau style about it. This is a really neat and tidy piece, quite different from a lot of the writing we see in Bristol, which has a strong artistic flair running through it. More to come from Esme Lower.