6218. Jubilee Street (9)

Mote and Mr Crawls, Jubilee Street, Bristol, July 2024
Mote and Mr Crawls, Jubilee Street, Bristol, July 2024

I had a lovely evening a couple of weeks ago, visiting the opening of Merny’s art exhibition in Midland Street. Parking in the area was a little troublesome, so I parked a bit of a distance away, but used the opportunity to visit a little graffiti hotspot that I don’t go to all that often. I was rewarded with finding this Mote/Mr Crawls collaboration tucked away on a wall in Jubilee street.

Mote and Mr Crawls, Jubilee Street, Bristol, July 2024
Mote and Mr Crawls, Jubilee Street, Bristol, July 2024

I think that this piece might be a few months old, because I haven’t seen Mr Crawls’ skeleton-neck bird for some time, although the paintwork does look pretty fresh. This pairing has endured really well and brought the best out of both artists, which is great to see. They also tend to visit pretty much every available spot in the city, unlike some artists who may not stray too far from their favoured spots, which adds to their appeal… you just never know when you might stumble across their work.

6145. Dean Lane skate park (726)

Stiff, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024
Stiff, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024

It has been a while since I last saw a piece by Stiff, and while finding his work is always a great pleasure, I don’t think that this is one of his finest. The main problem I have with this piece is that I am not quite sure what it is, as the colours are rather dark and the elements not clearly defined.

Stiff, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024
Stiff, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024

Stiff usually paints weird and wonderful aliens and monsters, and I guess that this is another one to add to his menagerie. I feel it is important to post as much as I can from all artists, warts an all, because I like to reflect the full spectrum of art and graffiti writing in the city. Looking forward to Stiff’s next piece.

6123. Cumberland Basin

Mote and Mr Crawls, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2024
Mote and Mr Crawls, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2024

Some more jolly capers from Mr Crawls and Mote, who have been smashing it for months now, and continue to turn out some great and fun character pieces dotted all over the place. This pair of characters were painted on the warehouse wall in Cumberland Basin, and command a majestic view over the river.

Mote and Mr Crawls, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2024
Mote and Mr Crawls, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2024

To the left is a friendly, toothy monster by Mote whose eyes (in common with the adjacent Mr Crawls character) are simply holes in the head, creating a mask-like effect. There are some nice squiggles and doodles in the fill, something of a trademark of Mote’s work. On the right Mr Crawls has recreated one of his hatted birds, although in a stylised cartoon form that is more angular than some of his earlier work. The pair look magnificent on the white background, and are unusually large, due to the big wall they have chosen to paint.

6106. Upfest 2024 (22)

3rdeye, Raleigh Road, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024
3rdeye, Raleigh Road, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024

A little bit out of the way, but well worth the extra walk is this wonderful piece by 3rdeye, a Bristol artist whose work crops up from time to time around the city. The fact that this is a new wall for Upfest 2024, gives us an element of certainty that it will remain intact for some while, unlike some of his street pieces that exist for all too short a time.

3rdeye, Raleigh Road, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024
3rdeye, Raleigh Road, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024

This is a beautifully clean and well designed piece featuring one of his monster characters, set in a woodland landscape (a tree and a toadstool) with a blazing sun beating down (if only). There are lots of eyes (I guess the artist’s name betrays his obsession with eyes) surrounding the character, and a couple of abstract triangle things, of which the one on the left looks a little bit like a traffic sign, which once seen in that way can’t be unseen (sorry). This is a lovely piece, typical of 3rdeye’s quirky ideas.

6103. Greville Smyth Park (2)

Acer One, Andy Council and Paul Monsters, Greville Smyth Park, Bristol, May 2024
Acer One, Andy Council and Paul Monsters, Greville Smyth Park, Bristol, May 2024

Although this outstanding collaboration piece from Andy Council, Acer One and Paul Monsters was painted a little while ago, I only got to photograph it during Upfest 2024, however it is not an Upfest piece (although many visitors won’t know that). This is what I call a true collaboration, where the distinct styles of the three artists are combined into one story, and they have achieved this fusion expertly.

Acer One, Andy Council and Paul Monsters, Greville Smyth Park, Bristol, May 2024
Acer One, Andy Council and Paul Monsters, Greville Smyth Park, Bristol, May 2024

The three components are a wonderful geometric background design from Paul Monsters, which creates a colourful backdrop and tone, while also providing some depth with light and shadow tricks. The writing ‘New Story’ and circle are beautifully created by Acer One, whose precision and accuracy are unsurpassed. Note the subtle shadow to the lower and left sides of the letters, lifting them ever so gently from the wall. Finally, the greyscale monster in thee middle is painted by Andy Council and stands out against the colour of the background and is framed by the circle. Brilliant composition from the three of them. The piece was painted on the Spring Equinox on 24 March 2024 and a film and full explanation of the collaboration is given on Andy Council’s Instagram feed.

6063. Cattle Market Road (18)

Mr Crawls and Mote, Cattle Market Road, Bristol April 2024
Mr Crawls and Mote, Cattle Market Road, Bristol April 2024


The productive partnership between Mr Crawls and Mote continues without interruption. What is comforting bout their work is that both artists are continually evolving, and their influences on one another converge and then diverge, so in this collaboration, we see that slight divergence of styles.

Mr Crawls and Mote, Cattle Market Road, Bristol April 2024
Mr Crawls and Mote, Cattle Market Road, Bristol April 2024

Mr Crawls has recently been experimenting with monochrome pieces and developed more of an angular approach to his stylised bird characters, quite a shift from his early pieces. Mote, meanwhile, is creating ever more sophisticated monsters, and working hard on particular features such as the eyelids. I continue to derive so much pleasure from these two character artists.

6051. Dean Lane skate park (718)

Mr Crawls, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2024
Mr Crawls, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2024

There was a time, not so long ago, when Mr Crawls could be identified easily because all of his pieces featured quirky birds. That is most definitely not the case now, and his association with Mote appears to have encouraged him to branch out into painting all sorts of weird and quirky monster characters.

Mr Crawls, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2024
Mr Crawls, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2024

This quick one on the swimming pool building wall, behind the hedge, is a case in point. The green monster, looking a little bit like a hard-hat, is blessed with enormous eyes and an array of razor-sharp teeth. The eyes have no pupils, giving it a bit of edge. Pupils in eyes always soften a character and conversely their absence creates a hollow, even sinister appearance. This is a nice solo piece from the imaginative Mr Crawls

6013. River Avon (61)

Mote, River Avon, Bristol, April 2024
Mote, River Avon, Bristol, April 2024

Another Mote monster to add to the ever-growing back-catalogue. Mote’s work tends to go through themed phases where he will produce a sting of monsters with a particular design idea, such as monster birds and monster fish and recently, monsters with one white eye and another heavily lidded eye.

Mote, River Avon, Bristol, April 2024
Mote, River Avon, Bristol, April 2024

Because Mote themes his work in these ‘periods’, it can be possible to date his work to within say a six month time-frame. This monster is clean and tidy with a solid purple fill and pleasing ‘ribbon’ of green running through. And those teeth!

6004. Cattle Market Road (17)

Mote, Cattle Market Road, Bristol, April 2024
Mote, Cattle Market Road, Bristol, April 2024

Mote is an artist who emerged as a Bristol-based artist in the spring of 2022 and has been developing his craft steadily since then. His early pieces were relatively simple constructions with solid primary colours and thick solid lines, but he has quickly developed his style which is altogether more sophisticated while sticking to his monster characters.

Mote, Cattle Market Road, Bristol, April 2024
Mote, Cattle Market Road, Bristol, April 2024

This monster at the back of the Temple Meads development site is carrying a theme that Mote recently appears to be playing with which is to have the eyes appearing quite differently, one wide open, the other heavily lidded. this asymmetry certainly lends itself to the monster-like appearance of the character. There are just so many good pieces by Mote out there. 

5998. St George skate park (21)

Haka, St George, Bristol, April 2024
Haka, St George, Bristol, April 2024

In recent years, Haka has shifted his focus a little away from political statements, to the softer world of children’s picture books. The act of graffiti is no less subversive, but perhaps reflects different priorities in the artist’s life right now.

Haka, St George, Bristol, April 2024
Haka, St George, Bristol, April 2024

This piece is a faithful reproduction of the iconic children’s classic ‘Not Now, Bernard’ by David McKee, with the obvious replacement of the name Bernard with Haka. The piece, painted on the reverse side of a skate ramp, is in one of Haka’s favoured spots, and is wholly appropriate given that the park is so popular with young families. More, please.