For most of last year Biers kept his WD40 pieces going with some rhythm and regularity, but the combination character/writing pieces dropped off significantly. Is is almost as if he lost inspiration for his characters, which is a pity, because I believe they complement his letters nicely.
Biers, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, December 2024
This tidy piece of writing is nicely presented and uses the red, white, black and grey combination of colours that work so well in graffiti writing, and which Decay used to good effect for many years. The No Frills crew have been well represented in 2024, and long may that continue into this new year.
When I say that this piece is in North Street, I wouldn’t want to send people off to Bedminster unintentionally. This is the North Street that is part of the A38 that branches off the Bear Pit roundabout. The piece by Kid Krishna is on the hoarding outside what used to be the Blue Mountain.
Kid Krishna, North Street, Bristol, November 2024
The combination piece contains the usual cryptic writing from Kid Krishna, spelling CRIE, and the character aspect is in the form of a partial skull. I think that there is some special part of Kid Krishna’s brain that is able to visualise and create these pieces, which are really quite different from much of the other stuff on the streets of Bristol. Often his characters are partial or hinted at, rather than being overt full-on, which makes it all the more intriguing.
Kid Krishna is a very versatile artist whose portfolio includes the simplest roller-painted pieces through to complex graffiti writing with the inclusion of characters and objects, blended to perfection. This piece is one of his more complex pieces and speaks of a very busy mind – there is a lot going on here.
Kid Krishna, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2024
The cryptic writing spells out CRIE, although I confess that I have difficulty seeing it. The colour palette, as always is thoughtfully put together, and the whole piece has an organic feel to it. Even the background is treated to a bit of ‘cracked-wall’ magic. I have noticed that of late he has been including a ‘No Frills’ stamp on his work, and I guess he is now a welcome addition to the crew. It is difficult to convey what a superb piece of graffiti writing this is, largely because it is unconventional and doesn’t really obey any rules.
Anyone who knows me will know that I am not a fan of ‘over-celebrating’ Halloween. The festival is so commercialised and has veered away from the modest affair that it used to be when I was a child. It is a generational thing, I know, but it doesn’t really ‘do it’ for me. One aspect that I am prepared to get excited about, rather predictably, is the Halloween-themed street art that always appears around this time of year, starting with this ghostly piece by Biers.
Biers, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2024
Biers has been writing his WD40 moniker quite a lot recently, although without his accompanying characters, which is a bit of a pity, because his combination pieces are part of his USP. The graffiti writing is accompanied on this occasion by a cute-looking ghost who looks a little embarrassed, judging from his red cheeks. The whole piece is nicely finished and achieved without the need for borders, which is great to see.
I am pretty sure that these pieces from Minto and Bags are part of a collaboration, rather than ones painted in isolation that happen to be next to one another. There is definitely some interaction from the Bags piece that overlaps onto the Minto side, but not necessarily vice versa.
Minto, M32 Spot, Bristol, July 2024
Unlike most of his recent ‘deconstruction’ pieces, Minto has opted for a full size portrait, with the only writing being the ‘Minto’ on the subject’s hat. It comes across as a bit of a quick one, and may have been a dregs piece, because the fills aren’t particularly solid. Certainly this is Minto showing a slightly different side to his work, and for some reason it is a very memorable – maybe it is the green, maybe the hat… who knows?
Bags, M32 Spot, Bristol, July 2024
Bags is a woefully underrepresented artist in Natural Adventures, and I think the only way I could rectify that would be to go through my archives and present several mini-galleries, just to catch up a bit. I think that Bags enjoys collaborating a lot, especially with his No Frills friends such as Biers and Slim Pickings. His letters are always recognisable and presented in roughly the same format, with the fills representing the main differences from piece to piece.
Biers (or WD40 as he writes these days) has been on fire this winter, producing a series of fine writing and character pieces. The formula is a winning one, and the balance between the writing and the character is usually spot on. There are also loads of additional elements that feature in his work and contribute to the overall look and feel.
Biers, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2023
I am not sure who the cartoon pig is, but will do a very quick Google search to see if I come up with anything… nope, I have drawn a blank. So we have a pig with a bandage – there is a story there I am sure. This is a nice piece to round off the year with for Biers, and I hope he keeps up his frequency and consistency into the New Year.
Biers has had a very busy couple of months, producing some rally nice work along the war. This is a fabulous WD40 piece on the M32 Cycle path, following his usual formula of his letters accompanied by a character, although this time the character is at the right-hand end, rather than peering through the hole of the ‘0’.
Biers, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, December 2023
The chrome writing is very nicely presented, although unless you knew it said WD40 is, in my view, very difficult to read. The character has defeated me, except I wonder if he is one of those little characters from Star Wars – Jawas I think they are called. Probably not, but my knowledge of popular culture is limited. May I wish you a very pleasant and restful Christmas Eve.
Slim Pickings (Tes), Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2023
There was a time, when turnover was slower and the number of artists was fewer, that I would post every piece by Slim Pickings (TES) that I saw. Now, I have an embarrassingly large number of his pieces sitting in my archive, so I have a feeling that I might have to round them up and do a special post of his work from the last couple of years. This is indicative of the up tick in activity these days.
Slim Pickings (Tes), Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2023
This recent TES was painted on a sloping surface, and not the easiest to photograph – at times like this, a little drone would come in very handy. Nicely done in blues with pink splats and drips. The more observant viewer might notice another TES in the background, just beneath the letters DLH (which stands for Dean Lane Hardcore – an annual music/graffiti/skating/booze event held in the skatepark). Sorry for the neglect Slim Pickings.
This wall is a little tiresome to photograph, especially as my camera doesn’t have a wide angle setting. The wall is in a narrow space opposite the wall of a ramp on the skate park, meaning that getting decent shots of anything painted here is a challenge. Biers, AKA WD40 has set me the challenge on this occasion.
Biers, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2023
With his WD40 letters, Biers has incorporated a cartoon character, and I have to say I have drawn a blank on this one, so if you have any idea who he is, please feel free to drop his name in the comments. This is a particularly tidy piece from Biers, who can sometimes be a little rough around the edges, but not here, this is clean and on-point. A really lovely piece by Biers.
Biers, has been doing some brilliant pieces recently, and this one in Dean Lane really tickled me. My mother and I often discuss Mr Magoo, and our own age-related comical mishaps, a conversation that I expect not many people have these days, as Mr Magoo is probably quite unknown to younger audiences. I can’t help thinking that he was central to the creation of Rowan Atkinson’s Mr Bean.
Biers, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2022
The piece has been really beautifully finished and it would seem that Biers put a lot of time and effort into this one. Some of his other ‘quicker’ pieces can look a little untidy. The fills and colours have been done well, but it is the Mr Magoo character that steals the show for me, appearing in the 0 of the WD40 letters.
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