What a wonderful surprise this gorgeous portrait piece was, when I walked along the M32 cycle path shortly after my return from a week away from Bristol. I don’t think I have come across the artist, Syone MTF, before, but if this is anything to go by, I would be keen to see more.
Syone MTF, M32 cycle path, Bristol, February 2022
In a blue-scale colour palette, this modestly sighted portrait certainly grabs the attention. It is a nicely worked piece moving in the direction of photorealism, but not quite there yet. I would love to see more from the artist and sincerely hope this isn’t a one-off. Eye-catching.
Painted as part of a recent paint jam from the RBF crew (Resting Bitch Face) is this magnificent portrait piece by Pekoe, who seems to be the beating heart of the crew. The whole wall is a cheerful and bright delight and I’ll be posting other pieces in due course.
Pekoe, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, January 2022
The colour scheme is really fresh and up-beat, creating a positive vibe. As always with a Pekoe piece, the facial expression and big hair feature strongly. I’m not too sure about the hunched shoulders and short neck, but otherwise another beauty from Pekoe.
This magnificent piece, by Stinkfish, is arguably the most iconic piece of street art in Bristol. This is the second appearance of this mural in Natural Adventures, but a totally legitimate one. The original was painted by Stinkfish some years ago, and at the back end of last year the artist was brought back to the city to refresh this and another of his fine works in Mina Road, St Werburghs.
Stinkfish, Stokes Croft, Bristol, December 2021
The result of this refresh is absolutely stunning, bringing the old piece back to life and restoring a sense of pride in this extraordinary wall. Some may feel that restoring a piece goes a bit against the grain of the lifecycle of street art, but I am not amongst them. In this piece not only has Stinkfish refreshed the black and yellow elements, but he has embellished the piece with his trademark patterns that add so much more to the whole.
Stinkfish, Stokes Croft, Bristol, September 2015
For comparison I include a picture of the piece from my original post, and even then the piece wasn’t particularly new. It is wonderful to see new life breathed into the old girl.
Ok, ok, so Christmas was a little time ago now, but I am still so far behind with my posts that this delightful Christmas message from Pekoe in Dean Lane is coming to you a little later than I would have liked. The sentiment is still well-meant though and beautifully delivered.
Pekoe, Dean Lane, Bristol, December 2021
I didn’t see nearly as many Christmas pieces this year as I would have expected, so this was a sight for sore eyes. The portrait almost has a comic book look to it, especially with the speech bubble, and the dark colours used for the features add to that school of art. Something almost ‘Lictensteiny’ about it. The three TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms) at the end of the Christmas message relate to three of the places Pekoe loves to paint. This piece was the cherry on the top of a very nice Christmas break.
Happy New year to you all. I hope that 2022 brings considerably more good fortune than 2021 for people and the planet.
The best part of discovering Elton Street was, if I am honest, having a chance to see this absolute beauty from Hazard. She really has gone from strength to strength over the last year, incorporating some abstract themes into her portrait work, and I stand by the comment I made about her Wilder Street mural that she has elevated herself into the world class tier.
Hazard, Elton Road, Bristol, December 2021
The themed colours for all the pieces in Elton Street were pinks and blues (Clare Grogan would be thrilled) and Hazard has incorporated these perfectly into this portrait piece. I think that this would have to rate highly in my favourite of all pieces of 2021, alongside her Wilder Street mural. Outstanding.
Persistence is the name of the game when out looking for street/graffiti art. The digital age that we live in means that I will often see pieces on Instagram long before I ever get to discover them for myself, and sometimes they are difficult to find. The reason I label all of my posts by location rather than by artist is so that if people are surfing the Interweb or Googling for Bristol street art, they will be able to find the piece or the spot easily, from the title or the metatags.
I found this amazing wall in Elton Street on the side of The Lost Horizon Arts Centre and Bar building, by extending a dog walking (street art hunting) walk by a few hundred meters, and was very well rewarded for doing so.
Pekoe, Elton Road, Bristol, December 2021
There are about five or six panels that have been painted with a pink and blue theme, and this first one is by the ever-fabulous Pekoe. It is a lovely piece, incorporating all of her trademark elements, and working the colour scheme brilliantly. It is great to see a head and shoulders piece from her rather than just the portrait, but the space and access to a ladder or platform probably lent itself to the fuller format. A great piece and satisfying find.
It feels to me like Slakarts is taking his art to a new level and his recent pieces have shown real dynamism and creativity. This recent piece from the M32 cycle path, works on his stylised character portrait, but presents it in an entirely new way.
Slakarts, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, December 2021
The piece is made up of two portraits facing one another in subdues grey colours, with some lighter highlights that express freedom and confidence in his work. Contrast this with one of his recent colourful pieces and you see an artist whose range is wide and skills are of the highest order. A lovely ephemeral piece.
Painted alongside Rozalita and 3F fino on the Sally Army wall at Dean Lane skate park, this striking portrait is by Tao.create. I have only seen a handful of pieces by the artist and I have liked what I have seen so far, but this is the best yet and introduces her work to a larger and more engaged audience.
Tao.create, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2021
The bright portraits demands to be looked at and is big, bold and colourful. Some elements are better painted than others, the hair is very nicely done, and some of the features more developed than others (for example the nose has more work and detail than the mouth). I would like to think that Tao.create will continue to develop her obvious skills and follow in the footsteps of other Bristol portrait artists such as Pekoe and Hazard. Definitely one to look out for.
Different artists have different creative patterns or routines. Some paint the same thing over and over again, tweaking and perfecting it (for example Slim Pickings – TES), others create something extraordinary and different every time (Sled One, Tom Miller, 3Dom). Some only write, some only create characters and some combine the two. Mudra too has a modus operandi, which is either to create a character portrait or to write MUDRA cryptically incorporating characters and symbols. This piece falls into the latter category.
Mudra, Cumberland Basin, September 2021
This lovely piece from a little while back on the long wall at Cumberland Basin spells out the artist’s name, where the ‘d’ in a little breakout star at the bottom is replaced with a wonderful stylised portrait of a pink-faced, purple-nosed lady with shocking yellow hair. A wonderful and creative piece beautifully worked nice clean lines and fills.
I think that this might be one of my favourite Slakarts pieces to date. The slightly more sophisticated overall design and inclusion of great colours (reminiscent of Kleiner Shames’ preferred palette) delivers a truly pleasing work. Perhaps he was inspired while painting alongside Decay… and who wouldn’t be?
Slakarts, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, November 2021
The stylised portrait has been painted with great care, and the lines are sharp and fills solid. There are some clever elements and some fabulous fragmentation of elements, creating something of a cubist look to the piece. A beautiful piece beautifully finished.
Natural adventures 