6776. River Avon (79)

Grimes, River Avon, Bristol, February 2025
Grimes, River Avon, Bristol, February 2025

Grimes is my graffiti writer of the moment. He is turning out some quite miraculous pieces that are bursting with energy and colour. As if to prove that he is far from a ‘one-trick pony’, he has produced this rather more sober piece, squeezed into a tight space alongside the River Avon.

Grimes, River Avon, Bristol, February 2025
Grimes, River Avon, Bristol, February 2025

The beautifully designed letters spell out GRIME, and have taken on some earthy colours; greens, browns and greys. Grimes has included some cool fills on some of the letters, but generally the decoration is toned-down. There are no highlights, and so the letters remain flat on the wall and there is little 3D effect achieved. This is a well executed piece, which may well have been a ‘quick one’ by the artist, but is beautifully finished nonetheless.

6769. River Avon (78)

Sub, River Avon, Bristol, February 2025
Sub, River Avon, Bristol, February 2025

Alas, we leave France today, our skiing adventure over for at least another year, but it will be good to get home and reunite with our son who has returned from his travels in Thailand. I haven’t left myself much time to write today’s posts, as we have an early transfer down the mountain to Chamberis airport. I will start with this piece from the ever-improving Sub.

Sub, River Avon, Bristol, February 2025
Sub, River Avon, Bristol, February 2025

Big bold black letters (only three of them) have customary deep drop shadows in grey, creating a chunkiness Sub specialises in. Some random pink splatters break up the large black surfaces. A wispy blue background finishes the piece nicely, with a few subtle spots mixed in. Sub is a very busy boy.

6688. River Avon (77)

Biers, River Avon, Bristol, January 2025
Biers, River Avon, Bristol, January 2025

There are some artists in Bristol that I simply take for granted, in so much as I expect to find their work on a reasonably regular basis, while others may paint in fits and starts. Biers is one of those whose presence is always out there, and it is not difficult to stumble upon new work by him that I haven’t seen before.

Biers, River Avon, Bristol, January 2025
Biers, River Avon, Bristol, January 2025

These rather nice WD40 letters in pink work really nicely on the green background, and the letters have been a little bit compressed into his short-form. When Biers incorporates characters to create combination pieces, the letters tend to sprawl out a little bit more. Some interesting fills, and a smattering of inverted crosses finish the piece off nicely.

6668. River Avon (75)

Grimes, River Avon, Bristol, January 2024
Grimes, River Avon, Bristol, January 2024

Another piece from the archives, and it is one from Grimes that I must have photographed before I knew who the artist was, and held back as I rarely post unattributed work. This one was taken back in January last year, and may have been the first time I became aware of his outstanding graffiti writing work.

Grimes, River Avon, Bristol, January 2024
Grimes, River Avon, Bristol, January 2024

The fruity colours are ones that he really seems to enjoy using, and I have to say that it is the colour palette decisions that he makes that have drawn me into his work, that and the energy that emanates from his pieces. There is a busyness about this piece with the colours and all of the fill patterns, but somehow he gets away with it and it doesn’t feel like hard work viewing it, which can happen sometimes with busy pieces. Nice work from Grimes, who incidentally is a really lovely bloke.

6664. River Avon (75)

Werm, River Avon, Bristol, January 2025
Werm, River Avon, Bristol, January 2025

This is a neat and tidy piece of Winter writing from Werm painted in his symmetrical theme design. What is particularly attractive about this piece is that the proportions work really well, and it is really tight.

Werm, River Avon, Bristol, January 2025
Werm, River Avon, Bristol, January 2025

Orange and green are common colour combinations in graffiti writing and are colours that work extremely well together. It looks like Werm too his time with this piece, as all the lines are nice and straight, the fills accurate and the highlights very nicely placed. First-class writing from Werm.

6643. River Avon (74)

Solar, River Avon, Bristol, December 2024
Solar, River Avon, Bristol, December 2024

While this is far from my favourite piece by Solar, and not the easiest to photograph, even on a wide-angle setting, I have included it in the name of completeness and documentation. I think it is only honest to post work by artists, warts and all, if and when possible. All too often such pieces get deselected, but during the Christmas and winter period there is lower turnover and I can post more of what I see.

Solar, River Avon, Bristol, December 2024
Solar, River Avon, Bristol, December 2024

In this piece the letters SOLAR are stretched out, and difficult to notice when walking along the narrow pathway. Painted in subtle shades of grey with tints of duck-egg blue, the unruly letters touching on anti-style, are actually quite nicely done. I sense that this writing has been here a long while, but that I haven’t noticed it before.

6635. River Avon (73)

Klashwhensober, River Avon, Bristol, December 2024
Klashwhensober, River Avon, Bristol, December 2024

This is a curious piece by Klashwhensober, painted alongside Sworm on a low wall that supports one of the bridges over the River Avon – a bridge that doesn’t actually lead to anywhere. It looks like this might have been a bit of a dregs piece, because there are a few colours involved, that don’t necessarily complement one another, and the light blue and yellow look rather thin, and perhaps were running out.

Klashwhensober, River Avon, Bristol, December 2024
Klashwhensober, River Avon, Bristol, December 2024

Klashwhensober has been painting a lot of character/writing combination pieces over the last year, and as a general rule of thumb, the more time he spends on a piece, the better the outcome. While all the design elements are present in this piece, it feels a little rushed and rough around the edges. The character on the left is a bit strange, and slightly divorced in style and colour from the writing. Overall, this is an interesting piece, but not one of Klashwhensober’s finest.

6624. River Avon (72)

Endz, River Avon, Bristol, December 2024
Endz, River Avon, Bristol, December 2024

It is funny how once you register a new artist, you start to see their work about the place, when before you might have missed their pieces altogether. This throw up by Endz is a great example of this phenomenon.

Endz, River Avon, Bristol, December 2024
Endz, River Avon, Bristol, December 2024

I happened to glance up at this piece alongside the River Avon, and did a double-take having realised that I hadn’t long since met the artist. The style is quite different to the first piece which I posted a little while ago, but nonetheless the work of a talented artist. Looking forward to finding more Endz work in 2025.

6621. River Avon (71)

Nips, River Avon, Bristol, December 2024
Nips, River Avon, Bristol, December 2024

I am happy to include a piece by Nips before we see the year out, as her work has been a highlight for me in 2024. Her letters have a strong identity, and an assuredness about them, being a vehicle for her brilliant and dynamic fills.

Nips, River Avon, Bristol, December 2024
Nips, River Avon, Bristol, December 2024

As ever, her colour selection for this piece of graffiti writing shows her highly developed skills in crafting something that works well and looks beautiful. I am very much looking forward to a repeat in 2025.

6616. River Avon (70)

Sworm, River Avon, Bristol, December 2024
Sworm, River Avon, Bristol, December 2024

To use Sworm’s own words, this was a bit of an odd one. I know this, because I happened to meet him while he was painting in St Werburghs tunnel yesterday alongside Omie. This piece was painted with Klashwhensober on the pathway between Sparke Evans Park and Temple Meads Station… a nice walk if you have the time to do it.

Sworm, River Avon, Bristol, December 2024
Sworm, River Avon, Bristol, December 2024

On first inspection this piece looks like a quick throw up, but the swirly pattern in the letters is a deliberate fill rather than what could look like thin paint over a patterned background. The pink border and drop shadow is an essential ingredient in helping the letters to stand out on the black background. Although not his best piece, this is a rather nice work from Sworm.