Portrait – Page 10 – Natural adventures

6427. Cumberland Basin

Sait Bare and Zake, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2024

I think that Zake is not only incredibly prolific, but is also one of those artists who is happy to collaborate with anyone. Some artists are quite particular about who they collaborate with, but Zake, it would seem, just loves to paint with other artists. In this piece he has teamed up, to great effect, with Sait Bare.

The writing, spelling SA(I)T, is by Sait Bare and is typical of his non-conformist letter shapes and cloudy fills, a style that takes a little getting used to, but which is really growing on me. The ‘i’ is supplied by painted by zake in the form of one of his distinctive cartoon portraits, whose body makes up the stem of the ‘i’ and whose head is the dot on top. This is an unexpected and rather successful collaboration, and I suspect not the last from this pair.

6422. Upfest 2024 (54)

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.

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.

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.

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!

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

6385. M32 Spot (193)

Silent Hobo, M32 Spot, Bristol, September 2024

Wow, wow, wow! This is something rather different and special from Silent Hobo. Not only has he changed his style, but these pieces come as a set of three on three sequential columns under the M32 at the M32 Spot.

The three pieces appear to be snippets from a conversation, and I rather hope for Silent Hobo’s sake that they are not autobiographical. The first column has a portrait of a man declaring “Baby I’m doing my best”.

The second column is a reply from a woman saying those words that nobody wants to hear “Yes but…” Sounds like he might be in trouble. The portrait is remarkable, and really so different from the rest of his work. It is less cartoony and more realistic and has the appearance of oil on canvass.

The third column is the killer blow… “You told me you were good”. Whatever the context of the conversation, I hope all works out well,. I am full of admiration at how skilful Silent Hobo has been to get viewers to invest so much in the characters in such a limited space. I suppose we can all construct our own stories about the three columns, but the artwork, which is remarkable, speaks for itself.

6333. Montpelier Park

Nice One, Montpelier Park, Bristol, June 2024

I am taking a bit of a risk with posting this piece, because I am not 100% certain that it is by who I think it is. My guess would be that the artist is Nice One, as it certainly has the same style as other signed portraits about the place. The piece has been lurking in my archive since June, because I wasn’t too sure who to attribute it to.

I like the portrait very much, and would guess that the artist (if it is Nice One) might have had some art schooling of some kind… since, although it is rather stylised, the proportions are nicely worked. The piece was modestly ticked away in the far corner of the wall in one of the quieter graffiti spots in Bristol. Nice one is building a more than respectable portfolio and I would expect and hope to see a whole lot more coming from the artist over the next few weeks and months.

6322. Dean Lane skate park (743)

Fade and Pekoe, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2024

I am currently enjoying a few days in Copenhagen with my mother, to celebrate, belatedly, my 60th birthday. This means that the next few posts are a little hurried, and not very in depth, distractions being what they are.

This is a gorgeous and beautifully integrated collaboration from Fade and Pekoe. There is a synergy in this that works incredibly well with both artists adding to the others’ work, where the total is greater than the sum of the parts. The letters are magnificently painted by Fade, and the ‘A’ replaced with a trademark portrait from Pekoe. There is so much to love about this striking piece, especially the rich colour palette.

6320. Cumberland Basin

Abbie Laura Smith, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2024

This is an absolutely wonderful new paste up from Abbie Laura Smith, the first of a new batch she recently pasted up all over the Cumberland Basin area. It is such a treat having a wheatpaster in the city, and every time she releases and new collection, I am filled with excitement, and the hunt is on. Of course I always seem to miss one or two, but each one found is like a trophy.

Abbie Laura Smith’s trademark work usually centres around an ink portrait of a woman, frequently with words or lyrics concealed within the work. The words ‘I wish I could buy back the woman you stole, out of control, out of control, you walk, walk, walk, walk, walk my winners’ are lyrics from a song ‘Y Control’ by Yeah Yeah Yeahs. I particularly like the incorporation of a dark blue colour around the eyes, which breaks up the two-tone look of the piece. The placement of the wheatpaste is on a utility box that Abbie Laura Smith has used before, with a remnant from her previous piece still visible. Wonderful stuff.

Abbie Laura Smith, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, December 2023

6316. Brunel Way (284)

Nice One, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2024

Once you get your eye in with a particular artist, you start to see their work scattered all over the place, as well as digging their stuff out of the archives. Nice One has been painting some great stuff around Bristol in recent months, and I am trying to catch up a little with their work.

This column piece under Brunel Way is a fabulous portrait, modestly placed out of the way by the DIY skate park. The pastel shades are difficult to photograph especially in the dappled light, but I think these pictures give some idea of just how good and different this sketch-like piece is. I am very much looking forward to Nice One becoming a regular contributor to Natural Adventures.

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.

6305. Dean Lane skate park (741)

Nice One, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2024

Over the past few months some rather nice script writing has appeared all over Bristol, with the words ‘Nice One’. I had nothing more to go on about the artist, until now, when a signed portrait by the artist appeared in Dean Lane recently. Unfortunately the identity of the artist remains a mystery, and until I know more I will refer to them as Nice One.

This is a fantastic portrait piece painted in a ‘brush-stroke’ style, as if it were a charcoal sketch in a black book. The proportions and perspectives are superb, the work of a trained artist I would guess. I love the expression on the character’s face. The bold ‘e’ in the signature is something I’ll be looking out for. More to come from this Natural Adventures debutant soon.

	Dan Antion on Thursday Doors – 21 May…
	wrookieschu on Thursday Doors – 21 May…
	Wes Vinglun (aka) Ni… on Thursday Doors – 21 May…
	paulh121 on Thursday Doors – 21 May…
	Wes Vinglun (aka) Ni… on Champions

	Dan Antion on Thursday Doors – 21 May…
	wrookieschu on Thursday Doors – 21 May…
	Wes Vinglun (aka) Ni… on Thursday Doors – 21 May…
	paulh121 on Thursday Doors – 21 May…
	Wes Vinglun (aka) Ni… on Champions

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