Purdown – Natural adventures

7308. Purdown (97)

Kool Hand, Purdown, Bristol, November 2025

I am in a conference all day today, and only twigged late last night, so I am writing this yesterday in a bit of a rush. Halloween has been well-observed by several Bristol artists this year, and this beauty by Kool Hand was painted alongside a cartoon pumpkin by Werm.

Kool Hand has gone for an orangutan – pumpkin mash-up and absolutely delivered the goods. The toothy character is nicely painted with superb solid fills and confident thick black outlines. A perfect piece for the square concrete slab.

7299. Purdown (96)

Another quick one. It is easy to forget, from his superb graffiti writing portfolio, that Werm, when he first started, used to paint a lot of characters, so to see him paint this excellent Halloween pumpkin character shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise.

The concrete slab is the perfect shape for this piece, and is beautifully framed by its surroundings. The artwork itself is very neat and tidy, with brilliant depth created in the teeth especially. A very nice pumpkin piece.

7170. Purdown (95)

We fly back to Bristol today, after a wonderful week away in Madeira. I will be in the air when today’s posts publish, so I wrote them both last night. You don’t need to know any of that, but it is late, I am tired and I don’t much want to go home.

I suppose, at least, that I will be able to go for walks with the dog again and seek out new street/graffiti art. Such as this classic piece up at Purdown, by Mr Klue. The ghostly character resembles the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland, and has an ethereal fantasy appearance. A Bristol icon from Mr Klue.

7130. Purdown (94)

Scrapyardspec, Purdown, Bristol, July 2025

I would think that even though he only visits Bristol about once a week, Scrapyardspec must be one of the most prolific artists in town. This is a welcome pair of goofy characters on the pathway that leads to the Purdown anti-aircraft battery, painted on a container that seems a little out of place.

The two characters are very much of the archetypal variety, although he includes shoulders here, building on the central face of the characters. Another change is that he is starting to shorten his signature to Scrapy rather than the full Scrapyardspec. I have easily enough pieces to start a gallery, but he might just have to wait his turn.

7099. Purdown (93)

Sam Brentnall, Purdown, Bristol, July 2005

I have only ever found a handful of pieces by Sam Brentnall, but it doesn’t take many to make a really strong impression. There is something very endearing about this simple naïve style, so clean and crisp. I think it must have been quite recently finished when I found it, because there are no mud splashes, goat damage or tagging to be seen.

The beautiful illustration is of a man with a hat playing a guitar, and to use up the space of the concrete slab, Sam Brentnall has playfully bent the neck of the guitar back on itself, in a way that only cartoon illustrations can. Refreshing and fun.

7092. Purdown (92)

It is a genuine joy to find Slakarts’ work, and this one up at Purdown is a real beauty. There was a time when Slakarts was painting very regularly, but I am guessing that the real world has caught up with him, and he tends to paint only a handful of times a year.

This is a wonderful hybrid piece, taking his stylised cartoon character and turning it into an abstract cornucopia of colour, shapes and fill designs. The piece perfectly fits the concrete slab and somehow captures the mood of an English summer’s day. More please.

7002. Purdown (91)

Jest Soubriquet, Purdown, Bristol, June 2025

The concrete slabs at Purdown can be quite challenging to say the least, the stand-alone edifices limit the scope and dimensions of the piece, and don’t lend themselves to writers. There is also the matter of a small herd of goats that tend to enjoy ‘scrambling’ around all the concrete structures. Jest Soubriquet (@likes_wan_tu) has absolutely made the most of this slab, showcasing his superb work.

Jest Soubriquet has absolutely smashed it with this colourful portrait piece, which really stands out as something special. It is great that dog-walkers, runners, families and so on, who enjoy Purdown, get to see great art like this for free, in an interesting context of WWII history, nature and street art. A supreme piece from the master of colour.

6999. Purdown (90)

When I see painted toadstools, I immediately think of Lis (Le Imposter Designs), but something held me back from posting this one under her name, because it wasn’t signed, which she usually does, and there was something that just didn’t quite fit her style. A little bit of research led me to Dobz, who also, it seems, has a bit of a thing for fungi.

I don’t know much about Dobz other than a few mushroom pieces that have appeared in the last month or so about the place. I can’t say whether they are a resident of Bristol or just passing through and dropping a few ‘shrooms en route. These day glow toadstools are beautifully presented, with great multi-tone shading and thick vibrant borders. Really eye-catching stuff up at Purdown.

6931. Purdown (89)

Only a few days ago I posted a piece by Mr Penfold, a collaboration with Mul that was at least a year old, and now I present a contemporary piece by the artist containing the same endearing character, that has a passing resemblance to Disney’s Pluto.

I love it when artists who make a living from their commissions and studio designs and illustrations, take a little bit of time out and decorate our streets. It feels like they are doing it for love and joy rather than for money, and there is something about that that is a refreshing break from the avaricious world that we live in. Thank you Mr Penfold for brightening up my day.

6884. Purdown (88)

It would seem that Daz Cat is rather partial to the concrete blocks up at Purdown, and whyever not? The spot is a wonderful oasis away from the bustle of the streets and has some stunning views over the north and east of Bristol, the dog particularly likes it up there, perhaps it is the lure of the stinky goats.

Daz Cat has switched things up a bit by painting this cat portrait upside down, which would completely goof me up, but I am not an artist, and maybe it is concepts like this that separate out the ways artists and non-artists see the world. The purple cat has a fine gold nose ring and a vapour trail from eyes to ears, which must be symbolic of something, and is an idea Daz Cat has used before. This is a fun piece from the cat supremo.

	paulh121 on 7352. Cumberland Basin
	Sheree on 7352. Cumberland Basin
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	paulh121 on 7352. Cumberland Basin
	Sheree on 7352. Cumberland Basin
	paulh121 on 7350. Hillgrove Street (9…
	Bill Bisgood on Thursday doors – 11 Dece…
	scooj on Thursday doors – 11 Dece…

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