Vane and Bnie, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, September 2024
This stunning collaboration from Vane and Bnie was painted a little while ago during a paint jam organised to wish Mena a swift recovery from her accident in Thailand. The character on the left is by Vane and the writing, spelling MENAS is by Bnie.
Vane and Bnie, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, September 2024
The colour selection in this collaboration is really quite something, with the purples, pinks and mint green working exceptionally well together. I don’t get to see much artwork by Vane, and Bnie hasn’t painted too much this year, so this collaboration was bonus and a bit of a treat. I hope all the good vibes created during this paint jam have helped Mena on her journey to recovery.
When I first came across this piece, I really wasn’t too sure what it meant, but photographed it anyway, because it is a clean and classy piece of writing with an important message. It turns out that it is by Vane and is a get well shout-out to his friend Holly, AKA Mena – regular readers will know that she is a Bristol writer who had an accident in Thailand recently and is currently recovering in the UK.
Vane, Jamaica Street, Bristol, July 2024
This is a heartfelt and touching piece by Vane, who, although he is a Bristol artist, hasn’t appeared on Natural Adventures all that often. I think it says much about the graffiti/street art culture in the city that so many artists have rallied around Mena and painted messages of support for her over the last few weeks. I hope her recovery continues well.
Bbygwya (Flux), Cumberland Basin, Bristol, September 2024
There have been many ‘get well’ tribute pieces about the place for Mena, who suffered a motorcycle accident (I think) while travelling in Thailand a while back, and this one in Cumberland Basin by Bbygwya, or Flux as she is more commonly known is an absolute beauty.
Bbygwya (Flux), Cumberland Basin, Bristol, September 2024
Bbygwya is something of an enigma who can produce some really high quality pieces in varying styles, but is also rather fond of quick and dirty throw-ups. I particularly like the horizontal fills in this piece and how they give the whole thing the appearance of shiny metal, by design or accidentally. A nice shout out of ‘We love you’ rounds the whole thing off nicely.
Unknown artist, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2024
I photographed this piece before I knew that Mena had had an accident and that she couldn’t have possibly painted this piece. I initially thought it was hers, but had doubts, because it isn’t really in her style. This leaves me with a bit of a problem, in that I don’t know who to attribute this shout-out piece to, hence the label of ‘unknown artist’.
Unknown artist, M32 roundabout, Bristol, September 2024
There are some clues in the piece as to who painted it… there are lots of graffiti arrows, used a lot by artists such as Hypo. There are also some nice subtle stars in the fill patterning, which many artists use. This one will remain a mystery until somebody tells me who painted it, but the sentiment is, I’m sure, much appreciated by Mena and her family/friends.
In this last look back at 2019 (for the time being), I am posting five pieces from the wall on the M32 Cycle path, which never made it onto Natural Adventures at the time. There is some poignancy to this post and the feature piece by Mena (Menas), because I have recently heard that Mena is currently recovering from a bad accident she had while travelling in Thailand. She is back in the UK, but quite unwell. This is my small way of wishing her a full recovery, and I dedicate this retrospective post to her. I expect you’ll see a few pieces, from various artists, in the coming days and weeks that will be wishing her well.
This is a particularly fine example of her work, and although she doesn’t paint all that regularly, her pieces are always welcome. I am not certain that all of the following pieces were painted as part of a paint jam, but I suspect they were.
Ryder, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2019
Ryder is most definitely a graffiti writer’s writer, if you know what I mean, he is highly respected in the community and turns out some of the best graffiti writing in the city which he has done for quite some while. This piece is rather more subtle than most of his work, and perhaps doesn’t quite have the impact we would normally expect. I’m not sure these light shades quite work (for me).
T-Rex, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2019
Finding anything by T-Rex is always a treat, and this is a classy example of her great work. the writing/character combination always works a treat. The dinosaur always adds a touch of light-heartedness to the edgy nature of graffiti writing.
Hemper, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2019
Hemper has used a similar colour palette to Ryder, and for me it all just looks a little washed out. There is no doubting the superb skills of the artists, but on this day, I think they chose a weak colour palette, and perhaps that is why I never posted these pieces back in June 2019.
Soker, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2019
Finally, and very possibly not part of the paint jam, is this bright and colourful piece from Soker, displaying his graffiti writing credentials to the max. Superb letter shapes and fills mark this piece out, I only wish my photographic skills could do it justice.
It has been a while since I last posted a piece by Mena, and in fact, I think that she is rather underrepresented on Natural Adventures overall. I am sure that I have several photographs of her pieces in my archives that I never posted, which feels kind of wrong really and I am minded to do something about it when I find the time.
Mena, River Avon, Bristol, December 2023
It would be quite easy to walk past this piece and dismiss it, but that would be quite wrong. This is classy writing of the highest level. Great letters, with a nicely worked drop shadow and a brilliant and intricate fill pattern that runs throughout. The icing on the cake is the brilliant white accents to the right of the letters helping the piece to pop from the wall. This is great stuff from Mena.
Mena, Bnie and Wispa, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, October 2023
More from the RBF Halloween paint jam, from a week or two back, this time featuring Mena, Bnie and Wispa, in what was a fabulous turnout from the ladies and which seemed to bring the best out of each and every one of them.
Mena, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, October 2023
To the left is a beautiful script piece by Mena, who I haven’t seen much of in recent months, so this was a genuine treat. This piece is simple yet stylish and beautifully executed and I think she is at her best when she paints these thin script letters. I fear that I have a great many unpublished pieces by Mena, and must spend a little time going through my archives and unearth them.
Bnie, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, October 2023
There is little more that I can say about Bnie that I haven’t said many times before. I consider this to be an outstanding piece of graffiti writing. Brilliant letter shapes, superb rich fill and all beautifully finished. I rather like the addition of the orange spherical things, as a nod to Halloween, but I think the lettering is so strong that even if they hadn’t been included, this would have stood out.
Wispa, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, October 2023
The energy that Wispa brings to her work is exceptional, not only in its presentation, but also in her incredible and seemingly inexhaustible journeying around the country to paint. The letters, spelling WISPA, are dazzling, being so full of energetic fill patterns and colours. It all looks very complicated, but I expect in her head it is all rather straightforward and obvious. The ghost character which looks like Caspar the Friendly Ghost, is the perfect foil to the busy writing. What an absolutely excellent trio of Halloween pieces.
This stunner by Mena, writing MENAS, is her contribution to the recent Burberry’s themed paint jam, recently held in Sparke Evans Park. It is a clever theme, with each artist incorporating the Burberry check in their own way. It is interesting how a household brand is so instantly recognisable, even if it isn’t necessarily presented in the form that we are used to seeing.
Mena, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, April 2023
This is a real quality piece of writing from Mena, whose work is probably underrepresented on Natural Adventures. It might even be the best that I have seen from her. Perfect colours, complex checks and a sound 3D drop-shadow and border combine to make this a most enjoyable piece. A couple more and I will have enough for a gallery.
It would seem that Mena and Stivs have birthdays about a week apart, and both, being popular artists, manage to rustle up a large group of artists for a birthday paintjam. These pieces were part of Mena’s celebrations.
Mena and Phour, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, April 2022
A double hit in today’s post featuring both Phour and Mena. I haven’t posted much from Phour for a while, but lately he has been painting;g quite a lot, and this is a really nice example of his work, painted high up on the wall, with three horizontal colour fades, and some rather more animated letters than we might normally see from him.
I say the other writing is by Mena, which I think it is, but when it is someone’s birthday, their name is often the subject of other artist’s writing, so you can be tricked easily. Whoever it is by, it is nicely worked, with an interesting ‘fruit salad’ colour scheme, if you know what I mean. Happy belated Birthday.
Oof! I am absolutely loving these script writing pieces that Mena painted in the late autumn, and the departure from her customary blocky letters is inspired. It is so good when writers experiment with new styles, and this is a winning formula in my opinion.
Mena, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, November 2021
Painted alongside fellow RBF artists, this is a real stunner. Looking like a neon sign, the clever horizontal fills are really effective. Also the sharp lines are so skilfully done. All in all a really classy piece.
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