To The quickest of quick coffee breaks and then I must resume housework. Another tip trip completed and lovely hoovering with our brand new hoover (Shark)… wow, our old one was useless. So much dust and fluff! Just a moment to post this lovely piece by the returning Nightwayss
Nightwayss, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, May 2023
It is a bitter sweet experience when Bristol artists migrate away to other towns and cities, as Nightwayss has, and it is when they return that we get to reacquaint ourselves with what we have been missing. This is a brilliant portrait piece, I’m guessing of a DJ or musician, painted in shades of purple and black, with a bank of speakers behind and a record deck between. Fine work from a lost brother of Bristol.
Pieces like this are the best ones to find. I went for a dog walk with my wife last week and on the way back to our house, we came across this Inkie piece on a garage door. I don’t recall ever seeing it on social media, so for me, it was a completely new discovery.
Inkie, Bishopston, Bristol, May 2023
The portrait piece is so typical of Inkie’s style, incorporating all the design elements that one associates with the artist, with the interesting addition of a pair of yellow-tinted glasses. This piece is pure Inkie class, and possibly the closest piece of street art to where I live, and yet I have only just discovered it.
3Dom and Sled One, The Carriageworks, Bristol, May 2023
We have some very special artists in Bristol, and two of the very best are 3Dom and Sled one, and every once in a while these two combine to do something completely amazing. They like to refer to themselves when they paint something like this as the hi-vis crew, becoming invisible when they wear official-looking high visibility clothing.
3Dom and Sled One, The Carriageworks, Bristol, April 2023
I was lucky enough to be passing when these two were still painting these pieces, and it was in fact the first time I have met 3Dom properly, and I have to say what an absolutely lovely bloke he is. These arches have had some fantastic pieces painted on them over the years, and 3Dom and Sled One are continuing that great tradition. I fear that it won’t be too long before the authorities clamp down on painting this wall, but until such time we can only enjoy it.
3Dom, The Carriageworks, Bristol, May 2023
Both artists have a surreal and fantastical approach to their artwork, which in many cases it is probably best not to try and interpret. 3Dom presents a character whose head is made of a balloon filled with water and a couple of fish that might be the character’s eyes and a syringe that forms the mouth. The target and fez are details that add intrigue. Upside-down clouds and a cityscape round off the piece nicely. Brilliant.
Sled One, The Carriageworks, Bristol, May 2023
Sled One has created a portrait piece of a woman smoking a cigarette. Her skin, however, has been stripped away from the middle third of her face, exposing a cartoon-style skull. This is without doubt one of the odder pieces that Sled One has painted, but is certainly arresting and powerful. Also brilliant.
3Dom, The Carriageworks, Bristol, April 2023
If you ever wondered how these artists reach the higher bits of a wall, here is the answer. A perfect collaborative wall from the masters.
Woskerski, Lighthouse Community Garden, London, April 2023
Although Woskerski is a London-based artist, he is not a complete stranger to the pages of Natural Adventures, and indeed he visited for last year’s Upfest 2022, with an outstanding piece that I have yet to publish. I would place Woskerski in the very highest echelons of street artists in the UK.
Woskerski, Lighthouse Community Garden, London, April 2023
This is another piece from my surprise discovery of the Lighthouse Community Garden in Stratford, with plenty more to follow. Although the portrait piece looks pretty fresh, it was actually painted in July last year, and you can see in this clip how he went about it. Outstanding stuff from a brilliant artist, and another reason why my trip to London was so special.
Who knew? Vozie can do portrait pieces. I have not been following Vozie for all that long, maybe a year now, but this is the first piece that I have seen that isn’t her exquisite writing. Surprises like this are what makes photographing and documenting street art so pleasurable.
Vozie, Elton Street, Bristol, April 2023
The portrait, with psychedelic colours and designs, is beautifully structured and finished, with the hair and eyes being particular highlights. It is incredible how different artists bring different things to portraits, for example, this piece could be compared to Pekoe’s work, any yet their styles are so utterly different. Great to see something totally different from Vozie.
What a lovely and rather original piece this is from Sprat, who really doesn’t paint on our streets nearly as often as I would like to see. I think I have photographed four of his works, of which this is one, but that is over a period of a year or two. His work always makes an impression because of its originality.
Sprat, Greenbank, Bristol, March 2023
The first thought that came into my head when I saw this, was the film ‘mask’ starring Jim Carry, but the more I look at it, the more I realise how this piece is nothing like the Mask character. The overall image is striking, and the colour of the hat contrasts so well with the sickly green of the face. This is a nicely designed and stylised portrait piece, and I’d love to see more like this.
Ooh! This is a superb throwback piece from Rozalita, who used to be Rosalita, and now prefers the moniker Rohzi. I shall continue to use the name Rozalita. I say this is a throwback piece, because her earlier works were almost entirely influenced by circus or carnival characters, but this is the first one I have seen for a while.
Rozalita, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, March 2023
As always with stage makeup, one always wants to know what is going on behind the smiling facade, and Rozalita has captured this duality perfectly in this stunning portrait. I am looking at it and trying to examine the face behind the mask, is she happy, is she sad? The stylised hair adds to the deceit. What a wonderful portrait piece, and one of my favourites of the year so far.
I took these pictures a short while ago, but held back on publishing a post because I couldn’t work out who the artist was. It took me a long time to work it out, but I got there in the end. I’m not sure I have seen his work before in Bristol, but it is clear that Saik0134 is a hugely talented artist, and is welcome back anytime.
Saik0134, M32 Spot, Bristol, February 2023
Painted on one of my favourite walls in Bristol, this portrait/writing combo stands out from the crowd. The bright lettering and striking portrait are real attention-grabbers. Even though the piece is not painted on a buffed wall, it doesn’t seem to matter too much, with the piece occupying nearly all the space. The letters spelling SAIK are nicely done in yellow and orange with light blue drop shadow, but for me it is the portrait that is the trump card.
Saik0134, M32 Spot, Bristol, February 2023
The eye is drawn immediately to the woman’s glasses, reflecting the light, a clever street art technique, and she is beautifully painted in shades of blue and grey. This is a fabulous portrait piece, and I would love to see more from the artist in Bristol, or anyone else for that matter. This artist is not to be confused with another who used to paint in Bristol called Saik One.
More Merny mirth. The utterly unique style of this storytelling artist is always enjoyable, and forces the viewer to stop and think for a moment or two. Here the subject is busy, fixated on his phone. My interpretation is that he is telling himself he will go to sleep in one minute, knowing that his addiction to social media will not allow that to happen.
Merny, Greenbank, Bristol, March 2023
The naive style combined with the numbered tags are so much a part of Merny’s work, that there really is no need for a signature. Some may dismiss his work, but I consider it to be thoughtful, challenging and deliberate, and am cheered up every time I find a new piece.
This is only the second piece by Lazo that I have seen, and I was fortunate enough to meet him when he was painting this column. As with his first piece, there is something very captivating about this portrait, and the style is quite different to that which we might expect to see in Bristol.
Lazo, M32 Spot, Bristol, February 2023
Lazo’s long face is perfect for column artwork and looks amazing, especially if you crop out the yellow paint at the top of the piece. I particularly like the depth and tone he achieves with his ‘brushstrokes’. The eyes too have something rather special about them. I am looking forward to seeing more from Lazo this year.
Natural adventures 