Tag: Nol

4502. Upfest 2022 (14)

Nol is another artist who is no stranger to Upfest and appears to really enjoy himself with his lighthearted and rather geeky monsters. This year Nol introduced an element of gamification to his work. His main piece was an identification parade of four monsters, each of which could be found dotted around Bedminster, and could be ‘collected’.

Nol, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Nol, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

I managed to find three of the four monsters, and I have a feeling that the fourth had been painted over before I ever managed to photograph it, which I guess is the story of street art all over… you snooze, you lose.

Nol, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Nol, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Nol, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Nol, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Nol, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Nol, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

2858. Cheltenham 2019 (29)

One of the upsides to the Covid-19 lock down is that I get to catch up a bit on my inexhaustible archive material, and the next five posts are all from the Cheltenham Paint Festival that I visited in September of last year. This wonderful Disney influenced genie from Aladdin is by Nol.

Nol, Painnt Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
Nol, Painnt Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019

Nol is a real festival favourite and I have had the pleasure of meeting him on a couple of occasions at Upfest. His cartoon monsters in bold colours with solid fills are real crowd-pleasers and he is capable of producing small pieces to entire building walls with his characters. A gentle giant of a man whose work is greatly admired and who is popular in the street art community.

2577. Cheltenham 2019 (22)

Nol is a big personality who paints big personalities. His cartoon characters are always beautifully sprayed with crisp and clean lines and so full of charm (even the monsters). His fills are so solid, never anything coming through underneath, no cheating on the paint from Nol.

Nol, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
Nol, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019

I have met Nol on a couple of occasions and he is a hunter with Street Art Cities, like me. I think he is a bit of a festival-goer, because I have only ever seen his work at festivals and don’t recall seeing anything randomly placed in Bristol, although he is from Holland, so I guess festivals are his way of putting himself about a bit. I like the message on this one ‘Be excellent to each other’. Always cool cartoon pieces perfectly turned-out.

2535. Cheltenham 2018 (7)

Three wonderful and elaborate tags from three amigos, painted I think at the 2018 Cheltenham Paint Festival and still all looking in pretty good nick. From left to right the artists are Decay, Nol and The Agent.

Decay, Nol and the Agent, Paint Festival 2018, Cheltenham, September 2019
Decay, Nol and the Agent, Paint Festival 2018, Cheltenham, September 2019

Decay has been including ‘Chuck’ as a central character in most of his work for longer than I have known him. A former citizen of Cheltenham, he now lives in Bristol, but seems to paint pretty regularly in both places. Nol is a Dutch artist who will be familiar to anyone who has visited Upfest in recent years, his regular visits to Bristol are always more thasn welcome. The Agent is Bristol through and through and has encouraged his son to become one of the most inventive street artists in the city. His Minion pieces appear less regularly than they used to, but cometh a festival, cometh the man. A charming little triptych.

1686. Upfest 2018 (26)

It comes as absolutely no surprise at all to see Nol entering into the spirit of the theme for this year’s Upfest with a wonderful Simpsons piece depicting Sideshow Bob with a touch of Nol monsterising. Brilliant.

Nol, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018
Nol, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018

Nol managed to keep himself busy at the festival, with this being one of three pieces I know about. His work is always bright and colourful and so full of humour and joy. In a troubled world it is great to be able to walk past something like this and cheer…it is not all bad.

1435. Tropicana, Weston-super-Mare (7)

Going back a little while to the summer of 2016, I managed to find a few moments to hunt down some street art while on a day trip to Weston-super-Mare with the family. I spent a little time in the Tropicana and snapped this nice work by Nol and Edo Rath who paint together as Noodle inc.

Nol and Edo Rath, the Tropicana, Weston-super-Mare, August 2016
Nol and Edo Rath, the Tropicana, Weston-super-Mare, August 2016

The bold colours, clean lines and humorous monsters are typical of their work, which shares some similarities with Buff Monster. After taking this picture, I have since become more familiar with their work and with Nol in particular through Upfest. Always a pleasure to see their creations.

1167. Upfest 2017 (106)

There can be few better ways to honour a fellow street artist than to paint an enormous portrait of them, and this is precisely what Ian Phenna did at Upfest 2017. The portrait is of the magnificent Nol, who was himself painting during the festival.

Ian Phenna, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Ian Phenna, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

I do not know about Ian Phenna or his work, although his Upfest Biography says that he is a mixed media portrait and figurative artist originally from Liverpool. He has a dramatic approach to portraiture, often with hidden themes…

Ian Phenna, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Ian Phenna, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

I really like this piece, and especially like the additional homage to Nol…the inclusion, albeit in greyscale, of one of his little monsters in the bottom right of the portrait. There are stencilled numbers all around the piece, something that Nick Walker likes to do too, but I don’t know the significance of them.

Ian Phenna, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Ian Phenna, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

I think the whole thing is called ‘BrizNol’ which I rather like. This is a thoroughly enjoyable piece and one of my favourites from the festival.

968. Upfest 2017 (27)

This is a wonderful and very large piece by Nol from this year’s Upfest, which was sprayed on the wall of a school next to South Street park. The thing about these walls in local schools is that they are only accessible during the festival. After that is only pupils, their parents and teachers that get to see them, which makes them rather exclusive.


Last year Nol worked with Edo Rath in the car park opposite the Tobacco Factory, but Edo couldn’t make it to Upfest this time so Nol had to work solo. Edo was there in spirit though, and just to make certain, Nol had attached a face mask of Edo to the lift platform…a nice touch.


This was a large undertaking, and it was something of an accomplishment by Nol to complete this wall over the three days, given the rain interruptions. I managed to catch up with him a couple of times and asked him how much pink paint this wall would take. He said that typically a can will cover about one square metre. He used seven cans of pink for this piece. That is a lot of paint.


The phrases ‘good things come to those who wait’ and ‘fortune favours the brave’ come to mind with this piece. During Upfest, I never got to see this piece completed, which actually happened with many of the pieces this year.  However I returned during the week after, and thought I’d see whether this piece was on view still to the public. It was not. But I just happened to be there at the exact time the contract firm were collecting the lift, and blagged my way into the school yard to take some pictures of the final piece. Such luck, and there were two other pieces I got to photograph as well.


This is a bold, fun and larger-than-life work, and ideal for a school playground. Nol is a gentleman who seemed happy to talk while he was working, and this is some wall.

881. Upfest 2016 (148)

Hey, there’s a whole bunch of not very scary monsters in this work from Nol, and I think Edo Rath. Michael Nol is a rather tall Dutch artist (not that you can see from these images) and Edo Rath enjoys painting clean lines and happy characters. Together the pair have formed a collective called Noodle Inc.

Nol and Edo Rath, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Nol and Edo Rath, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

I was able to take a couple of snaps while this piece was in progress, and it is interesting to see how the piece is constructed, with a full outline, and then systematic filling from left to right.

Nol and Edo Rath, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Nol and Edo Rath, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

I have touched on this in a previous post, and I am intrigued by artists go about their business in such different ways. some add layers, some freestyle completely, some use templates, some work from the centre outwards and so on. All interesting.

Nol and Edo Rath, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Nol and Edo Rath, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

I think these guys will be making a return for Upfest 2017. Watch out for more scary monsters.