Amy McHugh first came onto my radar at the last Bristol Mural Collective paint jam on the Greenbank hoardings with a peace for Palestine mural. This time she has gone bigger with a nature theme and some comforting words for ‘Rob’.
Amy McHugh, Lucky Lane, Bristol, September 2025
The words are written in a lovely illustrative font, and I guess were painted with a brush. They say: ‘I’m sorry it’s so tough – it’s ok not to feel ok – one thing for sure is change – I’m sending love today – for Rob and all who struggle’. Kind words accompanied by kind birds and animals. The naive style is enchanting and would work well as illustrations in a picture book.
I happened to glance up at the right time when I was driving past this piece by Jody. First the pink caught my eye, and then the distinctive signature led me to stop the car (pulling over safely). The board is in a really unusual spot, attached to the wall on the side of Triodos Bank, and very close to the building where I work, and not a place you’d expect to find street art.
Jody, St George’s Road, Bristol, October 2024
The piece is a commission for the organisation called One Question, and this is the information I could find on the Interweb:
One Question is a global advisory organisation that seeks to understand how societal forces impact businesses. In Bristol, One Question launched a pilot project in September 2024 to explore the question, “Who is responsible for our mental health?”. The project involved a conversation with businesses, policymakers, the local community, and institutions. The conversation was intended to share challenges, find common ground, and explore new ideas.
Regular readers will know that I am not all that keen on advertising street art, but with this piece I am trying to see beyond the corporate identity and promotion and focus on Jody’s wonderful artwork which presents some wonderful themes and scenes from Bristol. An unusual piece in an unusual place, which demonstrates how commissions contribute to the overall street art scene.
My wife was a little late for work a couple of weeks ago, so I gave her a lift in the car. Our route takes us onto St Michael’s hill, and I glanced (as I always do when passing by) down a little alleyway favoured by John D’oh and by total luck he was there spraying a new stencil. Of course, after dropping my wife off, I made a bee-line for the alley way and stopped for a quick chat with John D’oh. As always it was a genuine pleasure to catch up, and great to see the artist at work. While we were talking, a bird pooped on one of the freshly painted faces… the perils of being a street artist!
John D’oh, St Michael’s Hill, Bristol, May 2022
The piece is a fantastic awareness work that talks about mental health, in particular depression and anxiety, a topic that resonates for me and my family, and I expect for a great many people in today’s troubled landscape. The words on the stencil piece read:
“Pretending you’re okay is easier than having to explain to anyone why you’re not.
Mental health – don’t suffer in silence
Depression is when you don’t really care about anything, anxiety is when you care too much about everything, and having both is just like hell.”
John D’oh, St Michael’s Hill, Bristol, May 2022
I believe this to be one of John Doh’s finest pieces. The topic aside (a massively important one), he presents four stunning colourful stencils perfectly and seamlessly joined and topped and tailed with a banner and footer. The whole thing is expertly produced and beautifully proportioned.
John D’oh, St Michael’s Hill, Bristol, May 2022
The stylised comic-book characters are cleverly selected to be both eye-catching and, to a degree, nostalgic. It was interesting to see that John D’oh brought elements of this piece to his collage of pieces for Upfest this year – the joy of stencil art.
John D’oh, St Michael’s Hill, Bristol, May 2022
I drove past the spot this morning, on a repeat wife-lift scenario, and saw that he has added another piece to his expanding gallery, so I’ll have to pop up there for another photo session soon. Utterly fabulous work from John D’oh.
One of the most pleasurable parts of the new format for Upfest, was the opportunity to meet artists in the weeks before the festival weekend while they were completing their allocated walls, and none more so than Ant Carver who I also met last year. The technique and painting methods he uses means that he paints over several days, and I think I caught up with him on three separate occasions while he painted this extraordinary portrait piece.
Ant Carver, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
The first stage to his work is creating a matrix on the wall which he photographs and then superimposes his draft onto on his mobile phone. The lines act as a grid which he uses to map out a sketch on the wall, and he can create his outlines with pin-point accuracy. I believe that the piece is one he had painted on canvass for an exhibition.
Ant Carver, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Ant Carver, I think, uses spray cans for some of the work, but much of it is painted with brushes. The fine detail in the piece is achieved with the brushes, something that would be difficult to achieve using spray paint alone.
Ant Carver, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
I have a feeling that This piece, and indeed last year’s 75 x 75 piece are about aspects of mental health. I am not too certain that Ant Carver completed the piece, because the candle doesn’t look finished to me. I’ll need to check up on that.
Ant Carver, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
All in all another very pleasing and special piece from Ant Carver, on a new wall for Upfest, which is in a really great spot for maximum exposure. Great work from this modest and really likeable artist.
‘It’s okay not to be okay’ is a very contemporary message from Sprite for this year’s Upfest initiative. I think that it can only be a good thing when mental health messages are amplified through street art as it demonstrates that real progress is being made in this ‘Cinderella’ branch of medical healthcare.
Sprite, Stanley Street, Bristol, July 2021, Upfest 21
The pink rabbit is a really rather lovely stencil by the Brighton-based artist whose intention is to make people smile and I think she has certainly succeeded with this piece. Her work is very scalable and perfect for bombing a town or city with great messages. It would be good to see more of her work in Bristol.
Natural adventures 