Moon Street – Natural adventures

7287. Moon Street (109)

Moon Street used to be one of my favourite spots, but the amount of development in the area has reduced turnover of street art and I don’t visit it all that often these days. On my last trip, walking to work, which in itself is a rarity as I mostly work from home, I spotted this strikingly different piece of artwork.

I don’t know who the artist is, but found the letters VP, so that is what I am going with. The rather creepy piece is composed of a portrait of a woman with pink hair and psychedelic eyes surrounded by multi-eyed ghosts. I wonder if it had been painted for Halloween, but don’t really have any way of dating it.

The artwork is something a little different and painted with brushes rather than cans. I have to say that I really like this, and would love to see more from the artist, but I get the sense it is probably a one-off.

6962. Moon Street (108)

Art Tits, Moon Street, Bristol, April 2025

Although there has been an uptick in the number of Wheatpastes appearing on Natural Adventures of late, I would still assert that Bristol isn’t really a past-up city, unlike Shoreditch and Manchester northern district, for example. However, I am enjoying finding new wheatpastes, paertly because of their rarity. Wheatpastes offer something very different from spray-painted pieces, and are notable not only for their artistic content, but also their placement.

This piece by Art Tits (Lillian Shanahan), lurks in the darkest recesses of Moon Street, a spot that was once the vibrant heart of the Stokes Croft area, but has become a bit of a backwater since regeneration and gentrification began in earnest a few years ago. I know little to nothing about the artist, and the paste-up itself is a curious amalgamation of a body builder and a doll, something that I think Art Tits works on in various artistic endeavours. I like this piece, which may have been in Moon Street for some time.

6906. Moon Street (107)

Cartoonneros, Moon Street, Bristol, April 2025

Since developers moved into the area around Moon Street, I don’t visit all that often, and driving around there is a bit of a nightmare, so I generally only visit when I am on foot. I had a lovely surprise on my last visit, finding this stencil piece by Cartoonneros.

I don’t know if the piece is new or old, but the artist does seem to visit Bristol sporadically – maybe he has friends here. Furthermore, I don’t know who the character portrayed in the stencil is, but it has all the hallmarks of a Cartoonneros piece. The black lines of the stencil are sprayed over a patchwork of orange and yellow paint, creating the unique look that the artist has perfected. A reward for keeping my eyes open.

6115. Moon Street (106)

Ooh! This is a superb ‘extra’ stencil piece painted by Goin while he was in Bristol for Upfest. It is pieces like this that separate out the ‘circuit muralists’ from the everyday street artists. Although Goin is often a featured artist at paint festivals, he likes to paint on the streets too, which is something I like and appreciate.

This is a telling stencil piece, and I don’t think that you need to be a genius to work out what is going on. A soldier is pointing his rifle at a tiny ladybird, and the latter obviously doesn’t stand a chance in this contest. There are many ways of protesting against war, and this piece from Goin is a very powerful image making the point. The red colour of the ladybird in a strange way offers some hope and beauty to this horrific scene. Thank you Goin for this wonderful gift to Bristol.

5205. Moon Street (105)

I have a very busy day ahead today, so I only have time to do a really quick couple of posts. When I last met Mote a couple of weeks back, he was rediscovering his mojo, after a quiet period. These monsters in my favourite Moon Street are evidence of his newly rediscovered enthusiasm.

Mote has not only been painting with a high frequency, but he has also been visiting a few new spots too. I believe this is his first piece in Moon Street, and he has filled the space here with a nice cheeky quick one.

5135. Moon Street (104)

Bbygwya, Moon Street, Bristol, March 2023

I have a feeling that we are going to see a lot more of Bbygwya’s work on Natural Adventures over the coming months. This RBF crew member has only recently arrived on my radar, but I know I already have a handful of her works in my photograph folders.

I haven’t yet worked out what the letters spell, but I am sure that Paul H will be able to help me out with that (it seems obvious now, but Paul H informs me it says FLUKS). This is accomplished writing, with a pleasing form and nicely crafted fills, drop shadow and background elements. I am also happy to see that Moon street is having a little bit of a renaissance at the moment. Watch this space for more from Bbygwya.

5124. Moon Street (103)

This is another piece from the archive, and is an absolute classic from RAW’s Ryder. Ryder is at the very heart of everything that is great about graffiti writing in Bristol. His work is consistently brilliant, there is always an element of edge and the style of writing has a really strong local identity to it. If you look at graffiti writing from around the world there are clearly local styles and influences, and Ryder is central to the Bristol look.

Painted in April 2018, in red and gold, the letters RYDER stand out and smack you in the face. It is weird looking at the finished piece, but it feels like the creation was effortless, maybe because of his modesty and lack of fuss. Punchy and direct, this is a no nonsense statement from the wonderful Ryder.

5060. Moon Street (103)

Lee Roy, Moon Street, Bristol, February 2023

I am definitely coming to the conclusion that it is time for a Lee Roy gallery. He appears to have had a little bit more free time to paint recently, and there are pieces appearing in all parts of Bristol. I often wonder what it is that creates these moments for artists, is it family circumstances, is it a job situation, mental health, affordability or inspiration that dictates the peaks and troughs in activity.

This piece in my beloved Moon Street is painted in his anti-style unruly lettering, spelling out LROY on this occasion. The dark colours give it a fairly austere appearance, and there are one or two little narratives going on – a burning candle, a stairway, the sun and stars and a face with four eyes, all stories to be told. Gallery to come soon I hope.

5014. Moon Street (101)

Cartoonneros, Moon Street, Bristol, February 2023

I first became aware of Cartoonneros when he painted a Kurt Cobain piece in Dean Lane in February 2019. I followed him on Instagram and have been intrigued by his work ever since. It is quite unlike anything we tend to see in Bristol, and although on first inspection it looks a bit untidy, his work is always really creative and imaginative.

His decision to paint in Moon Street was a good one, as this little alleyway, my favourite spot in Bristol, which is suffering slightly from neglect, is in need of some TLC from artists.

This stencil is a fabulous take on the iconic Rene Magritte “Ceci n’est pas une pipe” painting, but instead with the words “Este no es un stemal”, which literally translates as this is not a stem, although I guess stemal means pipe. Great stuff from Cartoonneros here in Bristol. He will be welcome here anytime.

4946. Various locations

There was a period early last year, when it felt like every available space in multiple spots was being filled with a portrait mega-tag by Asre, aka Runaway Joey. These distinctive characters are based on the same central core elements, but they are ‘pimped’, so that each has a distinctive look and theme. This is a mini-gallery of pieces by Asre from April last year. At another point in time, I will have to do another of these galleries to sweep up a bunch of other Asre pieces in the first half of 2022.

Asre, Jamaica Street, Bristol, April 2022

This was a small piece in Jamaica Street that reflects the basic character template.

A Moon Street cheeky character wearing a red hat, beautifully picked out with the customary three layered thick border.

Asre shows his versatility with this quick column piece under the M32.

Rounding off this mini-gallery with a piece behind the fence in Dean Lane, this time the character is wearing a blue hat.

One of the curious things is that Asre’s prolific activity simply dropped off a cliff later in the year, so I guess there might have been a lifestyle change at some point. It would be nice to think that he will return to our streets in due course.

	paulh121 on 7352. Cumberland Basin
	Sheree on 7352. Cumberland Basin
	paulh121 on 7350. Hillgrove Street (9…
	Bill Bisgood on Thursday doors – 11 Dece…
	scooj on Thursday doors – 11 Dece…

	paulh121 on 7352. Cumberland Basin
	Sheree on 7352. Cumberland Basin
	paulh121 on 7350. Hillgrove Street (9…
	Bill Bisgood on Thursday doors – 11 Dece…
	scooj on Thursday doors – 11 Dece…

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