This is a quick jaunt back to Nottingham and my most recent visit, when I managed to get out and find a few more pieces, including this beauty from Kid 30, who appears to ‘own’ the city, his work being dotted all around the city.
Kid30, Nottingham, March 2024
The large mural (painted in June 2022) covers the entire end of row wall and features a rather attractive skyscape, and a mash up of Dennis the Menace, and Kid 30’s alter ego ‘Smallkid’. There is something about the size of the piece and its relative simplicity that adds gravitas to the piece. I love it when street artists who paint loads of illegal pieces get to do a legal wall like this as it somehow legitimises their work, and compromises the authorities. My subversive streak emerging there. More from Kid 30 tomorrow.
Dan Kitchener, Southampton Row, London, March 2024
Serendipity is real – some things are just meant to be. I recently ran a workshop in Holborn, London and had engineered enough time, after the event, to walk from Holborn to Bedford Square where I lived with my parents for a few years when I was home from University. I simply wanted to see the old place and feel that nostalgia for a time when I was in my prime. To get there, I did a spot of psychogeography, knowing roughly where I was heading, but taking a random route to get there. My reward was to stumble across this Dan Kitchener extravaganza on the NYX Hotel in Southampton Row. I had no idea of its existence.
Dan Kitchener, Southampton Row, London, March 2024
I imagine that Dan Kitchener charged a hefty sum for this extraordinary commission incorporating a collection of pieces. The first section features one of his incredible rainy urban Tokyo scenes full of nocturnal buzz and bustle – a scene that he has perfected over many years.
Dan Kitchener, Southampton Row, London, March 2024
Adjacent to this is a beautiful portrait, stunningly painted, of a woman wearing a see-through plastic coat and pink neon glasses, straight out of the dystopian world of Blade Runner. Indescribably brilliant.
Dan Kitchener, Southampton Row, London, March 2024
Next up, opposite the entrance to the hotel, is this concrete column painted with an outstanding ‘wet window’ effect piece. This is such a clever technique that leaves you wondering, how on earth does he do this?
Dan Kitchener, Southampton Row, London, March 2024
Finally, and on a huge elevation, Dan Kitchener has painted a piece which extends from the top of the hotel to the ground, a total of eleven floors I think – a truly world-class piece.
Dan Kitchener, Southampton Row, London, March 2024
The top section of the mural features some stylised views of the city, while the bottom is a busy wet London scene, complete with red buses and black cabs – perfect for a tourist audience. Rarely does one get to see such a collection of artwork, and yet here it is in the centre of London – I wonder how many people simply walk past it without so much as a glance – more fool they. A perfect end to a great day in London.
Carla James, Hatherly Road, Bristol, December 2023
It has taken me an eternity to stop and photograph this stunning nature mural by Carla James, something that has been on my ‘to do’ list for a couple of years at least. I managed to walk up to the spot just before Christmas whilst seeking out some presents for my family. I have only seen Carla James’ work once before, and that was at Upfest 21. Curiously enough, one of the presents that I bought for my son was a beautiful fish print by another Upfest artist, Rosie McLay.
Carla James, Hatherly Road, Bristol, December 2023
Carla James has created a beautiful vision in which there is a seamless transition from a tropical reef below to forest foliage and airborne creatures. There is a calmness and huge sense of the balance of nature in the piece, with some lovely illustrations of turtles, fish, plants and butterflies. The central hummingbird is the link between this piece and her outstanding Upfest mural. Carla James’ website is a treasure trove, and her biography explains the connection with tropical and exotic scenes. At last, one I can tick off my list.
Carla James, Exeter Road, Bristol, June 2021, Upfest 21
I was very, very pleased to find this outstanding piece by Sheffield artist Phlegm, when I visited the city back in November last year. I would have missed it had I not dashed down a side road, while concluding a long walk with my daughter. She waited patiently for me on the Main Street and knew I had been successful by the smile on my face.
Phlegm, Sheffield, November 2023
Phlegm is a world star of the street art scene, one of a few artists who has really become famous for his extraordinary black and white scenes. There is so much going on in this piece, it is best simply to look at it and see what stories it is telling. I was chuffed to bits finding this piece (I had no idea it even existed), and it just felt so right finding one of his pieces in his home city.
Happy New Year. If all goes well, then I will have been exercising my ‘inner nerd’ this morning, fossil hunting in Bracklesham Bay. What this means is that I wrote this post, in the early hours of last night/this morning, after seeing in the New Year quietly with my wife, mother and the dog.
Rob Lee, Sheffield, November 2023
Back in November, I visited Sheffield with my daughter, who was looking at potential University courses. I was very taken with Sheffield, it is a lovely city with a great atmosphere and lovely people. Of course I managed to find a couple of pieces of street art. This rather large and wonderful mural is by Rob Lee. The bold abstract design is a strong statement piece that dominates the buildings that back onto a square. Fine work indeed.
I have been on quite a few what I call ‘road trips’ lately for both work and touring universities with my daughter – it is perhaps a misnomer, because I invariably travel by rail, which means I am reliant on my legs to get me around the cities and towns that I visit.
This year I have managed to have a walk about in London, Weston-super-Mare, York, Lincoln, Cleethorpes, Exeter, Birmingham, Nottingham, Manchester and Sheffield, and in most of these locations have sniffed out some street art and doors. It feels a little bit like I have been ‘on tour’ and I rather enjoy it. The street art and graffiti that I find is always rewarding, because I am unfamiliar with the locations and often the artists too. This wonderful mural, I stumbled across in Nottingham, falls into that category perfectly.
Laura Decorum, Nottingham, November 2023
This is a beautiful mural painted above a clothes shop by Laura Decorum, who started her artistic journey with face-painting – she has come a very long way indeed. The mural is difficult to photograph because of the narrowness of the street and height of the mural, but I think you get the picture. I think that the piece was painted sometime around July this year, and was probably either a commission or a festival piece. There are lots of things to admire from the stylised female character to the objects and textures, the fold is very nicely sone. A treat.
A final quick delve into the archives, before I wish you a happy/scary Halloween. Every couple of weeks or so, I like to take a quick look back in my archives to see if there are any gems that I may have, for whatever reason, failed to post. Going back to last October, I found this delightful piece, as always, from Billy in Leonard Lane.
Billy, Leonard Lane, Bristol, October 2022
Billy’s artwork in a naïve style is always a shot in the arm, and a reminder that there is a lot of good in the world. This message in this colourful mural is clear – PEACE. Painted at a time when the war in Ukraine was dominating the headlines, it is now the appalling conflict in Gaza that is front of mind, and the peace message resonates even more strongly. Protest is pretty much all we can do, and murals like this one help to get our voices heard. Great work from Billy.
One of my most popular street art posts on Natural Adventures was a piece by Vhils on Exeter High Street (which I would link to if links were working on WordPress this morning), a very short distance away from this stunner by Sophie Mess. I love it when ugly corporate or retail buildings commission artwork to brighten things up, and what an impact this floral treat has had on an otherwise dull facade and home for pigeons.
Sophie Mess, Sidwell Street, Exeter, October 2023
Sophie Mess is an artist based in Devon, who tends to go big with her incredible floral creations, and indeed painted a vast iris piece on the Tobacco Factory wall for Upfest 2022 (yet to be posted here). This piece is simply amazing, so full of rich colours and textures and so utterly uplifting. Every shopping centre in the UK should have one of these. Exeter is blessed to have a piece like this in the heart of their shopping area, and yet the only people looking at it were people wondering what it was that I was photographing. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink. LOOK UP!
Although I don’t recall seeing any of his work in Bristol, I am aware of Martin D’Acy and his outstanding murals, having seen some of them in Weston-super-Mare, which to my shame, I haven’t yet published on Natural Adventures. This piece was painted as part of the Bristol 650 year celebration and paint jam, curated and coordinated by Upfest and Bristol BID.
Martin D’Acy, Queen’s Road, Bristol, August 2023
The stunning and tranquil scene, which has been painted on some extraordinarily tricky door panels, depicts manicured parkland and a beautiful stillwater. There is a sense of a designed country estate with attractive follies, something deeply entrenched in British culture. I am not too sure what happened on the bit of wall between the windows and the doors, but it looks like the piece is perhaps unfinished. Nonetheless, this is a truly excellent mural that many may ignore, perhaps assuming it is one of those stick-on plastic pictures that blight shop windows on our streets. My advice to those who don’t open their eyes… put your phone down and look around you.
Creative Ginger, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
I have only once before posted anything by Creative Ginger, and that was at last year’s Cheltenham Paint Festival, also in the Honeybourne Line tunnels, and featured a young woman cuddling a fawn. This year it was the turn of a young woman cuddling a fox, and what a fantastic piece it is too.
Creative Ginger, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
This kind of work contains a lot of emotion and warmth and the style stops just short of photorealistic, while being accurate, calming and soft. Foxes play a very large part in street art (note to self: do a special gallery of foxes) and Creative Ginger has done a great job with this one, and plays with the girls hair colour and texture alongside the foxes. A perfect mural, and one which I am sure appealed to the many families visiting for the festival. It would be great to see Creative Ginger at Upfest.
Creative Ginger, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2022
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