Mural – Page 3 – Natural adventures

6833. St James street, Liverpool

Liam Bononi, St James Street, Liverpool, March 2025

There were several memorable highlights to our recent weekend away in Liverpool, and nestled just under my wife’s completion of the half-marathon, and walking around the docks and the Liver building, was this utterly outstanding portrait mural by Liam Bononi.

The portrait piece, of a contorted agonised male face, is particularly impactful on account of both its size and its positioning on an entire elevation of a large, isolated Victorian building. There is so much detail in the face and hands, a signature of Liam Bononi’s work, and there is a fair amount of emotional wrestling going on here.

Without doubt, I am a big fan of Liam Bononi’s work, and the quality of his portraits. What a fabulous surprise to find one as magnificent as this on the back streets of Liverpool.

6832. New Bird Street, Liverpool

Molly Mural, New Bird Street, Liverpool, March 2025

As you will know from yesterday’s post, I recently spent a weekend in Liverpool, and the old ‘graff radar’, which I thought I had turned off, swung into active duty. Not being familiar with the street/graffiti artists in Liverpool, it was comforting to come across this rather nice mural by Molly Mural, who has painted many times in Bristol, where she is based.

I’m not sure how long the mural has been there, but I guess a while, as some of the paint was chipping. The piece appears to be full of symbolism and stories and is centred around the numbers 1 and 3. The abstract piece is characteristically colourful, and after doing a little Interweb search, it turns out it was inspired by Taylor Swift’s ‘second era’ and her lucky number 13. You live and learn.

6759. Mina Road (14)

Aspire, Mina Road, Bristol, February 2025

I am having way too much fun skiing to write comprehensive posts this week, and am completely worn out when I do have a moment. So this is a quickie.

I have known about this stunning Octopus piece by Aspire for a while, but simply haven’t found myself an a situation where I could park up and photograph it. A little late to the party, but I made it in the end. Aspire used to keep us very happy in Bristol when he lived here with his regular bird pictures, but he does come back from time to time, and obviously still has contacts in the city. I guess that this was a commission for the restaurant below. Superb artwork.

6667. Greville Smyth Park (4)

Andrew Burns Colwill, Greville Smyth Park, Bristol, January 2024

I found this piece, by Andrew Burns Colwill, in my archives and I can’t for the life of me understand why I haven’t posted it before. His work is so good that every time I photograph it, I try to post it on Natural Adventures. Something went wrong with the system here, but at least I am putting things straight now.

I have a feeling that the incredible mural may have been painted as an Upfest piece back in 2022, but I only photographed t in January 2024, so not only am I slow in posting it, I was also very slow in finding in in the first place. As with all of Andrew Burns Colwill’s pieces there is a strong story happening here, and my interpretation is that mankind is running out of time on this beautiful Earth. There is a deep sadness in the piece which is extremely powerful. As ever Andrew Burns Colwill reminds us of our fragile relationship with the place we call home.

6651. Braggs Lane

Billy, Braggs Lane, Bristol, December 2024

It is my birthday today. It is a busy day of packing, sightseeing and travelling. We are due to return to Bristol at around midnight, when our little break will sadly be over. Some great experiences and memories will remain with us and sustain us through the rest of the winter, I hope. I found this piece by Billy a little too late I fear, it would have been nice to have seen it without the tags.

Billy’s no nonsense simplicity and story-telling illustrative pieces are a real strength, and this piece shines through the tags with class. My guess, and it is a guess, is that this is a mural about peace in Palestine. The bird might be a dove, the semi-circular shapes might be watermelons, a motif of Palestine. Of course, it could be something else entirely. Whatever it is, there is a story in the illustration. Nice work from Billy.

6609. Gloucester Road

Hazard, Gloucester Road, Bristol, September 2024

I found and photographed this piece a little while ago, and perhaps should have waited and got some better pictures, once the site in front of it was cleared. The huge mural was an unsigned mystery, and so I have held back on posting it. Once again, I have Paul H to thank for his detective work in finding out that it is by Hazard. Well, well, well, who’d have thought it?

Hazard has a particular style that is quite easy to pick out, but this commission on the side of the Anchor pub on Gloucester Road is nothing like her usual style, and I don’t think I would have ever guessed it was by her, especially as she left Bristol about two years ago.

There is so much to like about this mural, which tells the Bristol story, with balloons and the Clifton Suspension Bridge, some colourful Georgian houses, a swan, a gull and of course an anchor. It really is a magnificent mural, but I simply don’t understand why she didn’t sign it… curious. Driving south along the Gloucester Road, this piece has quickly become something of a landmark.

6603. Dove Street South

Fowsachi, Dove Street South, Bristol, November 2024

UPDATE: Thanks to Mike Matthews for informing me that the artist is in fact Fowsachi.

As regular readers will know by now, I don’t really like posting pieces by unknown artists, but it does happen from time to time, in particular in relation to large one-off murals, like this one. I expect that this piece is signed, but it is difficult to get close, because it is painted in the middle of a housing block, and it would feel a little awkward to go snooping around.

I don’t recognise the style of this artist, which makes me think that it is either painted by a visitor, or by an artist who rarely paints in Bristol… of course I could be quite wrong on both counts. The bright and colourful piece is certainly uplifting in quite a bleak block, and features bold elements including a figure, and what looks like a parrot. All part of the Bristol street art scene, and a welcome addition to the area.

6601. Upfest 2024 (60)

Jack Lack, Upfest 24, Greville Street, Bristol, May 2024

Jack Lack is an artist from Stuttgart, Germany, who is a muralist who uses cans and rollers in his work, influenced by the graffiti scene. When I first saw this impressive and moving piece, I assumed the animal was a fox, but it was nagging me that the proportions of the snout, and markings were all wrong. It turns out that it is a red panda, and this is what the artist wrote about the piece:

Sometimes things are easier to comprehend if they are fluffy, so here is an endangered red panda dealing with a pointy nest. Hopefully soon we can steer the world to an increase in safe homes for everyone.

So it would seem that the red panda nestled in amongst some arrows is a metaphor for safe homes for everyone, and I guess that means domestically and those suffering in war zones or other disaster areas around the world. It is a powerful piece, but more than that it is superbly painted, and a stand out piece from the 2024 Upfest festival.

6600. Upfest 2024 (59)

Dave Bain, Upfest 2024, Bristol, May 2024

Dave Bain is a reasonably well known muralist in Bristol, and I have featured a few of his pieces before in Natural Adventures. This was his Upfest 2024 piece, which as you can see took up the whole front of a terraced house, giving it that something special compared to its neighbours.

Dave Bain’s imagination and creativity have run wild in this floral piece which combined familiar shapes and figures with abstract ones. There may be a little symbolism in the piece too, with a spaceman-like figure holding up a polyhedral shape on a starry background. I feel that sometimes Dave Bain could be a little bit more adventurous with his colours, because this colour palette is quite subtle, and perhaps doesn’t do the artwork justice (my view only). An interesting festival piece.

6572. Greenbank (141)

Le Imposter Design, Greenbank, Bristol, June 2024

Street art takes many forms, and encompasses so much more than graffiti writing and spray-painted portraits, characters or scenes. It is a broad church that encompasses murals using spray paint or other painting materials, paste-ups and installations large and small. Hardcore followers like to stick with spray paint work, but I like to find and write about all forms of street artwork, and this wonderful toadstool piece by Le Imposter Design is a perfect example of a modest hand-painted tiny mural.

I have posted all the Le Imposter Design pieces that I have found (three so far), because I feel they help to represent this vast spectrum of street art in Bristol. Most of her work features plants or fungus, and this is a particularly nice example, with a purple-capped toadstool and some rather pretty ground plants and flowers. She has added some little stars, to add a little bit of context and atmosphere. The piece is small and low down on the hoarding. Blink and you would miss it. More to come from Le Imposter Design.

	cjsmissionaryministe… on 7568. M32 roundabout J3 (…
	Cath Moore on Thursday Doors – 9 April…
	hitandrun1964 on Urbane fox
	cjsmissionaryministe… on Urbane fox
	skat on Urbane fox

	cjsmissionaryministe… on 7568. M32 roundabout J3 (…
	Cath Moore on Thursday Doors – 9 April…
	hitandrun1964 on Urbane fox
	cjsmissionaryministe… on Urbane fox
	skat on Urbane fox

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