7178. Peel Street Green (50)

Mr Crawls and Mote, Peel Street Green, Bristol, September 2025
Mr Crawls and Mote, Peel Street Green, Bristol, September 2025

The ‘dynamic duo’, Mote and Mr Crawls, are back in a spot that they have painted together before in Peel Street Green. It is a smaller bit of wall at the right-hand end of the spot, and is the prefect size and shape for one of their collaborations. The pair of birds are painted in their own unique styles, but there are some obvious ideas that read-across both artists.

Mr Crawls and Mote, Peel Street Green, Bristol, September 2025
Mr Crawls and Mote, Peel Street Green, Bristol, September 2025

Mr Crawls has been developing his pigeon character and here he is in all his resplendent glory. The colours of pigeon plumage lend themselves to street art (note to self: do a pigeon special gallery) and are present here – I wonder if he will start to work in more of the iridescent greens and purples in future pieces. Mote presents a rather weird looking bird monster, which those of you with a natural history interest will appreciate can’t possibly be a bird due to the presence of nipples, a mammalian characteristic. In Mote’s defence, it is a monster and from his imagination so it can be whatever he wants it to be – that is the joy of character pieces. Great to see these two collaborating again.

6975. Dean Lane skate park (840)

Fade, Acid Face with a Brace and Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2025
Fade, Acid Face with a Brace and Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2025

One of the best pieces of the year so far (in my view), this is an outstanding production triptych by Fade, Acid Face with a Brace and Dibz. What is difficult to convey is the scale of the collaboration, because not only is it wide, but it is also tall as well.

Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2025
Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2025

There is so much happening here, and it starts off with a superb piece of writing from Fade. The letters are complex and multilayered, with great fills, deep 3D drop shadows that appear to be translucent and some ‘tape’ wrapped around the ends of the word. The purple bubbly background is present through the whole piece.

Acid Face with a Brace, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2025
Acid Face with a Brace, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2025

Arguably the most eye-catching part of this collaboration is the central character by Acid Face with a Brace, a writer from Birmingham. The scary, hooded mummy-type character is superbly painted, with tons of movement, and brilliant folds in the fabric and bandages. The blue face and big red eyes are superbly crafted. This is simply awesome.

Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2025
Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2025

Rounding off the collaboration is a mirroring of Fade’s writing to a large extent, but with enough signature elements to be different and ‘Dibzy’ enough. The way these three have combined their talents to create this amazing production is a testament to their individual and combined skills. A little bird tells me that wall may get a facelift while retaining the character – you heard it here first.

6974. St Werburghs tunnel (504)

Scrapyardspec, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2025
Scrapyardspec, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2025

Scrapyardspec has been back in town with a raft of new wacky faces, including this long piece just outside St Werburghs tunnel. Over the last week or two, I have been finding more and more of these goofy monsters, which has been rather fun, and you can expect to see more here soon.

Scrapyardspec, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2025
Scrapyardspec, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2025

This piece fits the size and shape of the wall perfectly, being squashed and elongated, affording space for three eyes, and a very long toothy smile. I love the way that Scrapyardspec manages to maintain an incredibly consistent style with all different shapes and sizes of characters. A creative idea/theme nicely executed.

6913. M32 roundabout J3 (678)

Eatz, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2025
Eatz, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2025

This piece is from another out-of-towner, Eatz, the second post featuring a visitor in a row, which is one of the wonderful aspects of Bristol street art. Because Bristol is nationally and internationally known for its street art and graffiti culture, and its most famous contemporary son, Banksy, a lot of artists from about the place will visit and drop a piece while they are here.

Eatz, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2025
Eatz, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2025

Eatz has created a rather interesting monster, with multiple eyes and a hand holding a glowing stick of some kind, emerging from a puddle of blackness. Lots of great colours and a bit of a story behind this alien in a spacesuit. The piece was painted alongside a Lupa piece, and I wonder whether they are friends/acquaintances, or whether they met of the first time as part of the paint jam.

6910. East Street

Mr Crawls and Mote, East Street, Bristol, April 2025
Mr Crawls and Mote, East Street, Bristol, April 2025

On my wanderings in the East Street area of Bedminster, looking for Tian Paste ups, I came across this hoarding with a few treats on it. I think that this collaboration was painted last year when Mote and Mr Crawls were in full flow, painting together frequently all over the city.

Mr Crawls, East Street, Bristol, April 2025
Mr Crawls, East Street, Bristol, April 2025

To the left, the Mr Crawls character is quite unlike anything I have seen from him before, although his underlying style is unmistakable. The rather strange monster, in great green tones, is perhaps most notable for its psychedelic eyes, and ‘puckered’ upper lip.

Mote, East Street, Bristol, April 2025
Mote, East Street, Bristol, April 2025

Mote is no stranger to painting monsters, and here he has assembled five one-eyed beasts is some of his favoured colours. The chrome background for the collaboration gives me a pretty good date range (a little bit like carbon dating), which they first introduced at the end of 2023. A satisfying find.

6858. M32 Cycle path (287)

Lis, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2025

It will not have escaped regular readers’ attention that I am thoroughly enjoying the development of Lis (Le Imposter Design). Her work is increasing in both volume and scope, and she is broadening her horizon from the ‘safe space’ of mushrooms and toadstools.

Lis, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2025

I didn’t really notice this piece the first time I walked past it, and it was only on returning along the path a few minutes later that I stopped and registered it was by Lis. It is a rather nice monster character piece, looking like a teddy bear that is having a ‘bad hair’ day. Lots of fun, and experimenting with something new. Such has been her prolific painting, I will soon be able to publish a gallery of her work, which should give an indication of her rapid transition to spray paints. Keep it up, Lis.

6851. BB Gallery (7)

Mote and Mr Crawls, BB Gallery, Bristol, March 2025
Mote and Mr Crawls, BB Gallery, Bristol, March 2025

I rarely venture along the Bristol to Bath cycle path to the BB Gallery, because turnover tends to be very slow there, but I was pleased to find this collaboration from Mote and Mr Crawls on my last visit there.

Mote and Mr Crawls, BB Gallery, Bristol, March 2025
Mote and Mr Crawls, BB Gallery, Bristol, March 2025

It would seem that the collaborative pair are spending some time focussing on their own pieces at the moment, and that the joint pieces have dropped off over the winter. On the left is a fine monster character with all the trademark doodles and markings we would expect from Mote. To the right, Mr Crawls has painted one of his monster characters wearing a hat, the style of which first appeared on the streets about a year ago now. Nice work from the pair.

6841. Greenway bush lane (8)

Mote, Greenway Bush Lane, Bristol, March 2025
Mote, Greenway Bush Lane, Bristol, March 2025

I believe that Mote might have been one of the first, if not the first, artist to start colonising this long blue-bordered black hoarding in Greenway Bush Lane. As a pioneer, he may well be pleased to see that others have descended on the spot to decorate it.

Mote, Greenway Bush Lane, Bristol, March 2025
Mote, Greenway Bush Lane, Bristol, March 2025

In this piece, Mote has painted two bird-like monsters for the price of one. They look like distant relatives, sharing colours, but evolution has separated them. The top and bottom halves are reversed, and one has only a head, while the other has a neck and body. These monsters are so uniquely by Mote, and there is no need for a signature. A fine duo.

6779. Raleigh Road (10)

Mote, Raleigh Road, Bristol, February 2025
Mote, Raleigh Road, Bristol, February 2025

Although he hasn’t been painting too much this year, Mote has certainly been cherry-picking his spots, seeming to prefer rather nice, clean virgin spots, which makes him a bit of a pioneer for others to follow. This is a nice new hoarding on Raleigh Road and the perfect spot for a bit of ‘Motism’.

Mote, Raleigh Road, Bristol, February 2025
Mote, Raleigh Road, Bristol, February 2025

Mote is a master of creating unthreatening imaginary monster characters, and this cat monster falls perfectly into his specialism. The cat isn’t quite cute, and there is some pathos about the piece, maybe it is the stitching that has parallels with Frankenstein’s monster. As ever, it is always great to find new Mote pieces.

6748. Purdown (85)

DFC1848 and Skem, Purdown, Bristol, February 2025
DFC1848 and Skem, Purdown, Bristol, February 2025

It can be quite a challenge photographing pieces when I am walking the dog, because he doesn’t much like standing around, and will often pull on his lead, just as I am taking a picture (annoying). This is particularly challenging at the Purdown spot on account of the small herd of goats which live within the enclosure, which send the dog into a frenzy of sniffing, pulling and general desperation to find the beasties.

DFC1848 and Skem, Purdown, Bristol, February 2025
DFC1848 and Skem, Purdown, Bristol, February 2025

On my last trip to Purdown, I saw this rather nice collaboration from DFC1848 and Skem. I am very familiar with DFC1848 and his work, but I don’t think I have posted any pieces by Skem before. These two monsters straddle the writing in the middle spelling out SKEM. I particularly like the way Skem’s monster interacts with his letters as DFC1848’s monster cheekily watches on. A nice collaboration from a pair of ‘out-of-towners’.