7790. North Street – Upfest 2026 (36)

Unknown artist, Upfest 2026, North Street, Bristol, May 2026
Unknown artist, Upfest 2026, North Street, Bristol, May 2026

Regular readers of Natural Adventures will know that I don’t much like posting pieces by unknown artists, because a part of what I do is introduce the artist and their work. I feel this even more when it comes to Upfest, because there is so much noise and material, not least from the Upfest team, that it seems almost impossible not to know who every participating artist is. In this instance, however, I have drawn a complete blank, but I felt the piece was too good to be left out.

Unknown artist, Upfest 2026, North Street, Bristol, May 2026
Unknown artist, Upfest 2026, North Street, Bristol, May 2026

The words ‘Free your soul’ are beautifully presented in a geometric block, with all the shading inch perfect. The lines couldn’t be crisper, and I watched the artist paint for a while, and the operation was painfully slow and methodical. Many hours over more than 2 days was put into this relatively small piece – time well spent in my view. The result is a work of dedication and perfection. I will strive to find out the artist’s name, and when I do will update this post.

7769. North Street – Upfest 2026 (38)

Softtwix, Upfest 2026, North Street, Bristol, May 2026
Softtwix, Upfest 2026, North Street, Bristol, May 2026

Upfest 2026, Europe’s largest street art festival (so they say), has introduced, once again, such a variety of artists, talent and style to the streets of Bristol, and we are truly fortunate to be surrounded by these magnificent pieces. In Bedminster it can sometimes feel like living in the middle of a giant art gallery. The organisers, Steve and Emma have done an amazing job this year. All that was missing was a live event in a park, but I understand there were good reasons why that couldn’t happen this year.

Softtwix, Upfest 2026, North Street, Bristol, May 2026
Softtwix, Upfest 2026, North Street, Bristol, May 2026

In the middle section of North Street is this remarkable greyscale portrait piece by Softtwix, a French visual artist and photographer-plastician known for her striking black-and-white paste-ups, collages, and urban street art. This striking piece is a paste-up – pretty much a poster – that is full of detail and intrigue. The portrait is cleverly framed with a brick archway, giving the 2d piece so much depth.

7743. North Street – Upfest 2026 (27)

Luke Smile, Upfest 2026, North Street, Bristol, May 2026
Luke Smile, Upfest 2026, North Street, Bristol, May 2026

Luke Smile has been to Bristol a few times over the years, mainly for Upfest, and this year he painted this beauty in North Street in his fantastic deep and hollow 3D block letter style.

Luke Smile, Upfest 2026, North Street, Bristol, May 2026
Luke Smile, Upfest 2026, North Street, Bristol, May 2026

This piece took Luke Smile a fair while to paint, I guess with something so geometrically focussed, there is no room for error. The letters spelling MANIFESTATION are beautifully presented in a tidy, untidy manner, if you get my drift. The colours are magnificent and the shadows too. A fascinating piece, with such depth that draws you in to take a while to enjoy it.

7712. North Street Standard – Upfest 2026 (19)

Merny, Upfest 2026, North Street Standard, Bristol, May 2026
Merny, Upfest 2026, North Street Standard, Bristol, May 2026

I am pleased that a great many artists at this year’s Upfest are local artists that managed to secure some important walls, and this piece by Merny on the wall outside the Bristol Standard is a good example of one of these.

Merny, Upfest 2026, North Street Standard, Bristol, May 2026
Merny, Upfest 2026, North Street Standard, Bristol, May 2026

Merny has a fairly provocative sense of humour that comes across in his work, and sometimes/often he is political too. In this piece, he picks up on a right wing slogan “stop the boats”, part of the illegal immigration cant, and applies it to the wealthy elites and their luxury yachts and, presumably, their tax avoidance/evasion. A clever twist, painted in his naïve art style. Cracking piece.

7703. North Street

Inkie, North Street, Bristol, May 2026
Inkie, North Street, Bristol, May 2026

I’ve been waiting a long time to photograph this shutter when it is both closed and doesn’t have a car parked in front of it. On one of my recent Upfest walks I got lucky. While Inkie is a graffiti legend in Bristol, he also has to make a living, and commission pieces like this one, however big or small, help to pay the bills.

Inkie, North Street, Bristol, May 2026
Inkie, North Street, Bristol, May 2026

Inkie has used a nice typeface for the words ‘Ashton Fruit & Veg’ which is easily identifiable as his work, but not as ‘Inkie’ as some of his pieces. Some fruit and vegetables decorate the bottom of the shutter and more Inkiesque rays and stars adorn the top. A nice jobbing piece from the artist.

7701. North Street

Stewy, North Street, Bristol, May 2026
Stewy, North Street, Bristol, May 2026

I have passed this doorway many times, but I don’t think that I have previously photographed this stencil by Stewy, which was painted in May 2024, I think. The stencil is a portrait of Mark Stewart, English singer and founding member of Pop Group, and described as ‘the godfather of Bristol music’.

Stewy, North Street, Bristol, May 2026
Stewy, North Street, Bristol, May 2026

This is the second stencil I found during Upfest 2026, because I was doing a lot of wandering around and was rather ‘trigger-happy’ with my photographs. Stewy has a wonderful style and his monochrome stencils convey his subjects in an authentic and understated way. Fine stuff.

7690. North Street – Upfest 2026 (13)

Mr Cenz, Upfest 2026, North Street, Bristol, May 2026
Mr Cenz, Upfest 2026, North Street, Bristol, May 2026

Mr Cenz is a well known British street artist based in London, whose work features portraits of women augmented with multiple layers of colour and design that are so distinctive that no signature is required on his pieces.

Mr Cenz, Upfest 2026, North Street, Bristol, May 2026
Mr Cenz, Upfest 2026, North Street, Bristol, May 2026

I love this elevated Upfest wall. Because of its aspect it can be viewed from some distance and has a great impact when walking towards it. When a spectacular piece like this one from Mr Cenz is painted there, it has a real wow-factor. Such a great artist balancing photorealism and abstract colour fusion in an outstanding way. A great Upfest piece.

7622. North Street

Dave Bain, North Street, Bristol, April 2024
Dave Bain, North Street, Bristol, April 2024

Dave Bain is a muralist whose work I have photographed in both Bristol and London. I think he is an artist who errs towards commissions, and I don’t think I can recall any ‘street work’ on illegal walls from him in my time recording street art and graffiti in Bristol. I guess that for some that earn a living from their work, crossing the line can be high risk.

Dave Bain, North Street, Bristol, April 2024
Dave Bain, North Street, Bristol, April 2024

This is a loverly piece sitting above the entrance of the Flour House cafe on North Street – which their Instagram profile states was voted the best cafe in Bristol in 2022. The mural is a contented and comforting scene in which a lady seems to be immersing herself in the atmosphere and ambience of the place. The words ‘who cares wins’ is a nice twist on the better known slogan ‘who dares wins’. An all round wholesome piece.

6607. North Street

Kid Krishna, North Street, Bristol, November 2024
Kid Krishna, North Street, Bristol, November 2024

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
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.

6422. Upfest 2024 (54)

Tymon de Laat, North Street, Bristol, September 2024
Tymon de Laat, North Street, Bristol, September 2024

Although this is one of the more awkward walls to photograph, it often hosts some of the best Upfest pieces. This year it was the turn of Tymon de Laat and he has done the spot proud with this incredible portrait piece of a Mexican man, called ‘Moon over Matalán’. It is simply beautiful.

Tymon de Laat, North Street, Bristol, September 2024

What is good about Upfest is that you will often get a chance to see the artists at work, and sometimes stop for a chat. Unfortunately the artist was busy up a scissor platform when I was passing by and I never got a chance to say hello.

Tymon de Laat, North Street, Bristol, September 2024
Tymon de Laat, North Street, Bristol, September 2024

This year I managed to get up onto the roof of the building adjacent to the wall and took some super shots of the piece as it is meant to be seen, but which most people don’t get to see. The old man has paint on his face, which is a trademark feature of Tymon de Laat’s work. There is so much character in the man’s face, and his hat captures the atmosphere of a hot Mexico.

Tymon de Laat, North Street, Bristol, September 2024
Tymon de Laat, North Street, Bristol, September 2024

Surrounding the portrait is a garland of dried corn and chillies, rounding the piece off nicely and without which the piece might feel a bit stark. This was clearly one of my highlights from this year’s festival. Bravo!