Muriel Alleyway – Natural adventures

6456. Muriel Alleyway (16)

HNH, Muriel Alleyway, Bristol, August 2024

This piece was painted back at the end of July at the Muriel Alleyway mini paint festival organised by Rtiiika by an artist I have not encountered before called HNH. This is the first piece I am aware of that she has painted in Bristol, and I am really looking forward to watching her development. She has already dropped a few more pieces about the place and I think she brings something very different to the graffiti writing scene.

Shutter pieces are never easy to paint, but HNH has had a bloody good go with this one, and although the piece may seem a little rough around the edges, this is a great start. If I could use a parallel, what she does with graffiti writing reminds me of what the Cocteau Twins did with music and lyrics, if that makes any sense at all. Watch this space for more from HNH.

6430. Muriel Alleyway (16)

Erviti and Caro Maggs, Muriel Alleyway, Bristol, August 2024

A quick sidestep back to the end of July and start of August when this magnificent collaborative mural was painted by Erviti and Caro Maggs on one of the few hot and sunny days we had this summer. Both were participating in the Bristol Mural Collective mini-festival organised by Rtiiika.

Erviti, Muriel Alleyway, Bristol, August 2024

It is fascinating to see the take from two different artists painting the same subject using the same colour palette and seeing what they came up with. Ervitti has painted the vase and flower in what could be described as a fragmented style, and there is certainly something a little unusual going on with the portrait. It almost feels like a modern take on cubism – a really interesting piece.

Caro Maggs, Muriel Alleyway, Bristol, August 2024

Adjacent to Ervitti’s piece is Caro Maggs’ take on the same subject, which is an altogether softer and more literal representation of the vase and flowers. While the vase appears to be a little rough around the edges, the flower, which looks like a peony, is absolutely beautiful, and definitely steals the show in my eyes. The combination of pieces offers something really special and fits the spot perfectly. Great work.

6387. Muriel Alleyway (15)

Bethcub, Muriel Alleyway, Bristol, August 2024

The mini street art festival in Muriel Alleyway at the end of July brought together artists from the Bristol Mural Collective and one or two others to decorate this back lane and its walls, garage doors and shutters. Bethcub (Beth Kirby) is a Bristol-based artist who discusses issues of the female body and the female experience through drawing, painting, murals and 3D mediums.

Bethcub, Muriel Alleyway, Bristol, July 2024

I have featured her work at least once before on Natural Adventures, but it is pretty safe to say that she doesn’t paint street pieces all that often. You can see from the picture above that Bethcub has used a sketch of her piece and upscaled it hugely.

This is a really interesting piece, because there is a lot of ‘white space’ which is so unusual to see in street murals, where often every square inch of wall is decorated. What this does is focus the attention on the subject of the piece. The observant among you might notice that she has painted over a piece originally by Rtiiika. Lovely to see work from different artists coming out to play.

Beth Kirby, Elton Street, Bristol, February 2024

6373. Muriel Alleyway (14)

Rtiiika and Mr Penfold, Muriel Alleyway, Bristol, August 2024

The Muriel Alleyway mini street art festival organised by Rtiiika at the end of July was a perfect opportunity to see the work of artists that tend only to make occasional appearances on Bristol’s streets. This piece is a lovely collaboration from Rtiiika and Mr Penfold, right at the bottom of the alleyway.

The piece is a true collaboration, a fusion of the styles of the two artists to create a whole which presents their work as one. The black bits are most likely by Rtiiika and the pink and blue bars and white spots by Mr Penfold, but actually it matters not, because the piece is by both of them. A fine abstract mural, showing off the huge spectrum of styles we see in the city.

6350. Muriel Alleyway (13)

Bloem, Muriel Alleyway, Bristol, August 2024

A rising star in the Bristol street art scene, although she probably doesn’t realise it, is Bloem, who is gaining confidence in her work and growing from day to day and piece to piece. This one was painted during Bristol’s smallest street art festival organised by Rtiiika at the end of July this year, on a gorgeously warm and sunny day.

This shutter piece, painted in the colours of Spode Italian plate tableware, is a magnificent tribute to how far this artist has come in such a short space of time. (Note to self – Bloem to be my next gallery collection). Bloem had some fun painting this piece, and left the little white circle in the middle, which had a tag saying ‘TOY’ in it, as the last bit she painted.

There are all the elements that Bloem can be associated with incorporated within the piece; a hand with long fingernails clutching a spiky chain (a motif she uses a lot in her jewellery work) and a beautiful flower in full bloem (did you see what I did there?). Wonderful stuff.

6339. Muriel Alleyway (12)

Esme Lower, Muriel Alleyway, Bristol, August 2024

The mini street art festival in Muriel Alleyway, organised by Rtiiika at the end of July was a triumph, giving exposure to artists whose work is rarely seen in some of the regular graffiti spots around town. Most of the artists present belong to the Bristol Mural Collective who primarily work in studios, so this event is a great opportunity for them to paint in a safe environment and for us to see their work.

This colourful shutter piece is by Esme Lower who has been doing some interesting street work this summer, not least her collaboration with Bloem a couple of weeks back. This is a bright and cheerful abstract piece with some character eyes breaking cover from the kind of flowery vista. I look forward to seeing where Esme Lower’s journey takes us.

6323. Muriel Alleyway (11)

Yoliws, Muriel Alleyway, Bristol, August 2024

This is another Bristol mural collective piece painted at Bristol’s smallest street art festival at the end of July. The artist Yoliws, is no stranger to the pages of Natural Adventures, and all of her pieces have an uplifting and fun quality to them.

This light-hearted mural features some green flowers with characters frolicking among them. Everybody appears to be having fun, and there is a playful innocence about the whole scene. The piece is enjoyable and wholesome, perfect for the spot, alongside so many other wonderful murals.

6312. Muriel Alleyway (10)

Billy, Muriel Alleyway, Bristol, August 2024

Bristol’s smallest street art festival in Muriel Alleyway was a joyous occasion where some twenty or so artists gathered together to decorate a row of garage doors and garden back doors, bathed in glorious sunshine. This was Billy’s contribution to the event, and completely in keeping with the positive energy generated during the day.

I think that Billy had to paint some of this over an extended period, because she and Merny were swapping parenting duties while attempting to complete their respective works. This is pure Billy, with here naïve style front and centre in the form of a portrait of a girl. Painted in bright and happy colours, this is a great example of her uplifting work.

6304. Muriel Alleyway (8)

Mind 49, Muriel Alleyway, Bristol, August, 2024

This was a bit of a red-letter day… not only was it gorgeous weather, but I got to meet Mind 49 for the first time, having been following his work for a number of years. He was painting alongside the Bristol Mural Collective at Bristol’s smallest street art festival at the end of July.

Mind 49, Muriel Alleyway, Bristol, July, 2024

This is the first shutter piece that I have seen Mind 49 paint, and although the portrait is magnificent, I’m not convinced that the uneven surface lends itself well to his style, or at least in a narrow lane, where you can’t stand back to get the overall impression of the piece.

This is one of the first times that I have seen a full face portrait piece by Mind 49, as he usually likes to paint heads from all sorts of different angles, or with obstacles hiding parts of the face, creating a sense of mystery. A very nice piece indeed from a lovely artist.

6296. Muriel Alleyway (7)

Ailish Beadle, Muriel Alleyway, Bristol, August 2024

Painted on a sunny and warm day at Bristol’s smallest street art festival, this is a debut piece (in Bristol) by Ailish Beadle, who had only moved to Bristol a few days previously. It was great to be able to chat to her and welcome her to the city and its art scene.

Ailish Beadle was refreshing/reimagining a piece that had been painted here before by Rtiiika, but which had been tagged and abused. She was able to breathe new life into the great words in her own illustration style, which as it turns out is rather good and totally in keeping with the Bristol Mural Collective’s ‘look’.

A rather nice touch, and nod to the original piece, is the incorporation of the smiley face. The words in red in the centre are complemented perfectly with an array of designs and patterns in black and a sprinkling of dots, creating plenty of energy and movement. I very much look forward top seeing more from Ailish Beadle on the streets of Bristol.

	M. on Sentencing
	wrookieschu on Sentencing
	scooj on Revel Puck Circus
	M. on Revel Puck Circus
	paulh121 on 7352. Cumberland Basin

	hitandrun1964 on Sentencing
	Sheree on 7358. M32 Spot (211)
	M. on Sentencing
	wrookieschu on Sentencing
	scooj on Revel Puck Circus

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