Abbie Laura Smith, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024
There are two important elements to a great wheatpaste, which are; the quality of the artwork and the location. Abbie Laura Smith has nailed it on both counts with the Swiss cheese plant cut out portrait pasted onto one of the old bollards alongside the river – an immediate impact piece for those with their eyes open.
Abbie Laura Smith, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024
The black and white portrait drawing, makes great use of two-tone light and dark and is superimposed onto the leaf, before being cut out. It was so much to find this piece and some of the others she has pasted up in the area, and I hope that it encourages her and others to do more of this kind of stuff.
Abbie Laura Smith, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024
Abbie Laura Smith has been doing herself proud with a new series of wheatpastes in the Cumberland Basin area. I have picked up a few, but still have some others to find. Unfortunately, this one has already been dogged, so I am pleased that I got to see it in pristine condition.
Abbie Laura Smith, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024
There is a common theme to Abbie Laura Smith’s work, which includes black and white portraits composed in part by lettering and words. The words in this paste-up are as follows (I think):
You will stumble, you may fall
Persevere through it all
And where do I go from here, despair
But you will get there some day
I am not sure whether the words are original or a quote from a song or poem, or whether they are autobiographical, but they carry some emotional power. The piece is one of her larger ones and is truly a beautiful combination of words and illustration. Watch this space for more from Bristol’s best wheatpaster.
In recent weeks, Abbie Laura Smith and I exchanged a few messages, discussing some posts about her paste ups that I had written. During the course of the conversation, I asked whether she would be pasting up any more, as I hadn’t seen any new ones for a while. She said yes… imminently, and true to her word she released a bunch more. This is the first in her recent series that I came across.
Abbie Laura Smith, Brunel Way, Bristol, May 2024
The art of wheatpaste work is a two part process, the first part is the creation itself, usually carried out at home or in a studio, and the second part is to find the right spot to paste it up. Abbie Laura Smith manages to do both very well. This piece features a couple of portraits constructed in part by script writing, perhaps quotes or thoughts, I haven’t yet tried to untangle the words. The portraits are set on a leaf, which looks like a Swiss cheese plant leaf to me, a common motif used by artists. There is a lot of emotion in this piece, and maybe one day I’ll get to know the backstory.
Trawling through my archives in search of a particular piece definitely has some extra benefits, which mainly consist of unearthing ‘lost’ work that was either by an unknown artist at the time or simply got left behind due to the volume of photographs coming in each week. I was so pleased therefore, to stumble on this lovely wheatpaste by Abbie Laura Smith from last summer during my last rummage.
Abbie Laura Smith, Brunel Way, Bristol, June 2023
The small paste up, looks like it is slightly out of focus, but that is due to the double line outline of the portrait. I love the way that Abbie Laura Smith has placed this colourful piece on a colourfully tagged column, almost disguising it, and as I have said before, the placement of paste ups is just as important as the artwork, and she has smashed both elements with this one. I am so pleased to have been able to share this, albeit ten months late.
Abbie Laura Smith, Brunel Way, Bristol, March 2024
It is such a pleasure to have a wheatpaster in Bristol, and one who pastes her pieces just often enough to make discovering each one an exciting event. This is a small one by Abbie Laura Smith on the bridge (Ashton Avenue Bridge) that crosses the River Avon, joining the south bank with Spike Island.
Abbie Laura Smith, Brunel Way, Bristol, March 2024
The black and white portrait is beautifully drawn and conceals a whole ton of writing in the hair, which I am guessing is a poem or lyrics to a song. I can make out some phrases, but not the whole thing. I have a feeling that the piece might be called “When you can’t sleep…”, as that is the label Abbie Laura Smith gave the piece on her Instagram, although that might be a reference to when she created the portrait. All good stuff and I am looking forward to finding more.
D7606, Northern Quarter, Manchester, February 2024
I recently visited Manchester for a work meeting, the second visit I have made in a matter of a few months, and made the most of the morning before the meeting started to revisit the Northern Quarter. I spend about an hour weaving my way through all the little backstreets, snapping away at so many pieces of street art and graffiti – it was like being a child in a sweet shop. Among all the pieces, I found several wheatpastes from D7606, who hasn’t appeared on these pages for a long while. I don’t know how old some of these paste ups are, but they appear to have weathered pretty well.
D7606, Northern Quarter, Manchester, February 2024
I have met D7606 when he has been visiting Bristol for Upfest, but it is becoming increasingly difficult for wheatpasters at the festival, because the organisers have to remove posters and paste ups after the event, so they are discouraged, which is a pity.
D7606, Northern Quarter, Manchester, February 2024
Here are some wonderful post boxes, telephone boxes and old style telephones with some celebrity additions for you to enjoy. Original ideas that are executed well and replicated all over the country. Great to see some more of D7606’s work (I feel a galley coming on).
D7606, Northern Quarter, Manchester, February 2024
D7606, Northern Quarter, Manchester, February 2024
Abbie Laura Smith, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, December 2023
Vigorously waving the banner for paste-ups in Bristol, pretty much single-handedly, is Abbey Laura Smith with her intriguing black and white portraits. Regular readers of Natural Adventures will know that I am an admirer of paste-ups or wheatpastes, and will drone on about how we just don’t see many in the city these days. This niche art form must not be confused with bill posters, which in my view are a plague, driven by the selfish interests of advertising for a product or a cause – they (in my very humble view) are not art in themselves despite being illustrated in most cases by graphic designers or artists, but are tomorrow’s litter, and today’s eyesore. Well we all have opinions, and that is mine, so there!
Abbie Laura Smith, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, December 2023
Wheatpasting is as much about the siting of the piece as the art itself, and Abbie Laura Smith has done a great job in thinking about the placement of this portrait on a utility box in Cumberland Basin. The artwork itself is a clean and crisp line drawing of a pretty lady, with some nice ‘graffiti drips’ at the base. I hope that Abbie’s efforts encourage a revival of this lost art in Bristol.
Abbie Laura Smith, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023
On the side of a bin in Dean Lane, we make a return to the lone wheatpaster operating in Bristol, Abbie Laura Smith with her distinctive style of single black line drawing. The portrait piece is simple and beautiful and sits well in its location.
Abbie Laura Smith, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023
There is a lot of thought that goes into wheatpasting in both the composition of the piece and deciding on the final location, and some consideration has to go into the formulation of the glue too. Abbie Laura Smith has managed well on all counts with this paste-up. I would definitely like to see more from her, and will be keeping my eyes peeled.
Abbie Laura Smith, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2023
Paste ups are a much underused street art form in Bristol, which is a real pity, they just don’t seem to gain any traction here at all, so I am really pleased to see that we have a new wheatpaster in our midst. I have found a handful of paste ups by Abbie Laura Smith lately, and her black and white social commentary pieces. Her work contains tidy artwork and punchy messages. To see what she has to say in this one, you need to get a closer look.
Abbie Laura Smith, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2023
The portrait of a young woman, conceals the words (profanity warning) “Fuck you, I won’t do what you tell me” in the features of her face and in her hair. There is anger and attitude in the words, and sadness in the image. This is what public street art is all about, and I love it. I am constantly on the look out for more from Abbie Laura Smith.
This is an easy piece to overlook, and sometimes it is the pieces that are ‘in our faces’ that this can happen to. I’m not sure how long this paste-up by David Puck has been on this hoarding, but it is one of a few large portrait wheatpastes that he has gifted us over the year, but the first I have posted on Natural Adventures.
David Puck, Temple Way, Bristol, December 2022
Let’s hear it for the wheatpasters! This form of street art is very much the poor relation in Bristol, which is a pity, because I have always rather liked them, and it was Kid Crayon’s wheatpastes that first got me curious about street art a few years back. David Puck has created a portrait of a woman resembling Marilyn Monroe, beautifully painted with a leafy print. The words ‘Apathy to nature tells of inner style’ would appear to be a quote and may have inspired the piece. It is so good to see work like this in Bristol, and I will see if I can dig out and post some more David Puck.
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