4734. Sparke Evans Park (57)

Mest, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, September 2022
Mest, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, September 2022

I like Mest’s writing a lot. His letters are clear bold and the word have no links to anything, so there is no inherited preconception… what I mean by that, for example, is that if his name was HAND, or LION, you would expect to see a hand or a lion in the work. Actually, come to think of it, I can’t think of any writers who are called what they paint, other than the letters – except perhaps Face 1st, who always includes a face. Enough tittle-tattle.

Mest, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, September 2022
Mest, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, September 2022

This is a fabulous piece of graffiti writing, and possibly Mest’s best to date. The letters, looking like pieces of ironwork with cracks through them and the colour transitions at the edges are beautifully done, and the wisps of smoke complete the overall work. One of my favourites.

4438. M32 roundabout J3 (409)

Oof! Mest can really dial it up when he feels like it, and with this birthday celebration piece for Stivs, he has absolutely smashed it. I am guessing that during this birthday paint jam, Mest took his time to create this really tight piece.

Mest, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2022
Mest, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2022

The first thing to note is the unusual colour combination of cream pink and blue, which might not be an obvious alliance, but somehow he has carried it off. His letter shapes are a little more dynamic than usual and all the additional little details pick our different aspects of the writing. A very nice piece indeed, lifting Mest up into the next level. Also a fabulous tribute to Stivs on his birthday.

4190. M32 Cycle path (157)

You will have gathered from the gallery I posted last week that I am enjoying the work of Mest at the moment. His aesthetically pleasing letters work well with graffiti writing and he constantly tries to switch up the fills and patterns in his fairly uniform and consistent letter shapes.

Mest, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, December 2021
Mest, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, December 2021

In this piece he has incorporated a little extra intrigue with some orange-yellow wisps drifting across the letters. From the look of it he might have been using the dregs of that colour, because the fill is neither solid nor is it cloudy, it is more the kind of fill you’d get on a quick throw up. Nonetheless it is a handsome piece.

Mest

A gallery of great graffiti writing from Bristol’s Mest.

all photographs by Scooj

Mest, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, December 2021
Mest, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, December 2021
Mest, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, November 2021
Mest, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, November 2021
Mest, Mina Road, Bristol, December 2021
Mest, Mina Road, Bristol, December 2021
Mest, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2021
Mest, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2021
Mest, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2021
Mest, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2021
Mest, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, July 2021
Mest, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, July 2021
Mest, New Stadium Road, Bristol, June 2021
Mest, New Stadium Road, Bristol, June 2021
Mest, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2021
Mest, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2021
Mest, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2020
Mest, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2020
Mest, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2020
Mest, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2020
Mest, M32 cycle path, Bristol, November 2020
Mest, M32 cycle path, Bristol, November 2020
Mest, M32 roundabout, Brisol, August 2020
Mest, M32 roundabout, Brisol, August 2020

4157. Sparke Evans Park (25)

More from Mest, which is usually something to enjoy, and this is a great example of his versatile use of colours and fill shadings to switch up his letters a little bit. I have said it before, but I am not fond of the brown/orange combination, but I have to admit it works well in this piece, and although painted in the winter has an autumnal feel about it.

Mest, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, November 2021
Mest, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, November 2021

Sparke Evans Park is becoming more and more popular and I am definitely going to have to increase the frequency of my visits. The dog always likes walking down alongside the river, but it does take quite a long time to get down there, especially if there is heavy traffic. I have a whole ton more pieces to post from this particular visit back in November.

4147. Mina Road (9)

Since first posting his pieces about 18 months ago or so, I have been thoroughly enjoying the work of Mest. His letters lend themselves very well to writing and he certainly makes the most of them, constantly playing with his fills and colour options.

Mest, Mina Road, Bristol, December 2021
Mest, Mina Road, Bristol, December 2021

This piece is painted on the long wall at the southern end of Mina Road Park, which seems to be a bit of a practice wall, but in amongst the dross, there are some nice pieces like this one. I like what Mest has done with his fills, creating a 3D effect by using different shades of lilac and purple. The subtle shading in the white 3D shadow, also lifts the piece up. Nice work.

4131. St Werburghs tunnel (270)

Mest is an artist whose writing is improving all the time, not only in quality but also in creativity. Sticking to his standard letter shapes, he gets his variety through his fill designs and colours. I have so many more of his pieces that are not yet published, but posting pieces on Natural Adventures is a very competitive marketplace at the moment. I will get round to publishing more in due course.

Mest, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2021
Mest, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2021

The colour contrasts between the orange background and cool blue letter fills works wonderfully, a real hot and cold battle going on in front of our eyes. Mest has also been playing a little by picking out some of the brick work with pink lines. A sprinkling of little yellow dots rounds the piece off nicely. A fine piece from Mest which gets me ever closer to publishing a gallery of his work… watch this space over the next month or two.

4009. M32 roundabout J3 (352)

Mest is one of several artists who keep things simple. He adopts the same basic design of letters but plays around with the background, fill and shadow colours, always creating interest and variation of a form.

Mest, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2021
Mest, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2021

This is a lovely new piece on the M32 roundabout painted alongside Stivs, a good friend, and adopting the same colour scheme. I wonder if it is the influence of Stivs, but this piece is really tight and one of Mest’s best to date in my opinion. The horizontal transition of greens is nicely handled, and the thin green border is very sharp. An attractive piece of work.

3941. M32 Cycle path (141)

I was lucky enough to meet Mest when he was painting this piece, just a couple of days before the Italy v England Euro 21 cup final. Perhaps the less said about the result of that match, the better, although being an Italophile, losing to the Italians wasn’t so bad.

Mest, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, July 2021
Mest, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, July 2021

Mest wasn’t at all what I expected, but then I can’t think of a single artist who looked anything like I thought they might before I met them. His simple large letters in white are embellished with a large red cross through the middle to create a Mestivellian St George cross, The whole thing neatly bound with a black and blue border. A nice patriotic football piece. I must be getting close to having enough of his work for a gallery.

3806. New Stadium Road (34)

I met Mest for the first time the day before the Euro 20 final while he was painting an England variant of his letters (to come). We stopped for a long chat, and as with so many graffiti/street artists, he was a lovely bloke, happy to answer my rather inane questions and observations.

Mest, New Stadium Road, Bristol, June 2021
Mest, New Stadium Road, Bristol, June 2021

This piece under the M32 is a nice example of his work using three fill colours in his letters with some additional swirly decorations, but it is the red circles which have been incorporated into his letters that stand out for me. It won’t be too long before I have enough of his pieces to do a gallery.