Since he made his return, Zinso has been smashing it, and alongside Asre, who he appears to have teamed up with, is making a sizeable impression. This is one of several pieces by the pair alongside the River Avon in St Philip’s Marsh.
Zinso, River Avon, Bristol, November 2025
The letters and smiley face combination piece is vibrant and uplifting, full of movement and joy. Zinso’s letters are nicely designed, I like the upside-down ‘i’, and filled with a mixture of blue squiggles and spots. The cartoon-style animated smiley in a contrasting yellow stands out, but is linked through being the ‘o’ of Zinso. The piece is so neat and tidy and beautifully presented.
It has to be said that Mr Draws, in his own quiet and modest way, has had a banging year so far. He has been painting as frequently as I can remember and turning out some great pieces, large and small, all over the city. As well as his distinctive writing, he has also painted some of his nature and wildlife pieces recently too. Looking through his updated gallery, reminds me of just what a brilliant artist he is.
Mr Draws, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2025
This is a wonderfully colourful splash, looking great in the summer sunshine (shame about the tree shadow). The playful letters DR3WS are surrounded with some wibbly smiley acid faces, a common stamp used in street art. The words ‘good vibrations’ kind of sum up the whole piece, which exudes an uplifting summer feel. Great work from Mr Draws.
I have met Mr Draws a great many times, which is not surprising, given the frequency with which both of us are out and about in the more popular graffiti spots of Bristol. I can honestly say that he is a gentle and really decent man, who’s good nature comes out in his light-hearted writing.
Mr Draws, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, January 2025
This transition piece was painted at the end of 2024 and start of 2025 (I hope not on New Year’s Eve itself). Some nice letters spelling out DRAW, and a rather tired and emotional looking Smiley positioned in the centre of the piece, perhaps representing some exuberant celebrating and welcoming of 2025.
This is a magnificent column piece under the M32 from Bristol artist Bloem. The spiked ball and chain should come as no surprise really as these motifs appear in her work, whether her artwork or her jewellery. Bloem seems to like sharp objects and chains and is mastering the latter in particular.
Bloem, Frome Side, Bristol, November 2024
There is humour alongside the threat in this piece, with a fun smiley in the middle of the ball. What is interesting to note in this piece is the amount of depth Bloem has managed to create by using light and dark shades. This is a developing aspect to her work which was quite flat when she started painting walls. A great piece from an artist who is just getting better and better all the time.
Soker and Sled One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, September 2024
When the best get together, small miracles happen. And when I look at a collaboration between Soker and Sled One, I find myself asking (again) how do they do this? Of course, I know how they do it, but technically and creatively it becomes unfathomable.
Soker, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, September 2024
The writing to the left is by Soker, and I would like to add that it is wonderful to see him out painting a little more often these days after a prolonged quiet period. The beautifully crafted letters are filled with a stunning combination of colours that work perfectly together. This is wildstyle graffiti writing at its best.
Sled One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, September 2024
The character piece is by Sled One and features a young man (self-portrait?) gazing into a lava lamp filled with trippy smiley faces that bleed into the rest of the collaboration. Sled One not only creates these marvellous characters and scenes, but tells a whole story, which the viewer is challenged to piece together. This is a very special collaboration.
Ha ha! This outrageous portrait piece by Laic217 at the entrance to the tunnel just makes me laugh. It has all the hallmarks of his work, that takes the grotesque to a new level, softened by some superb paint craft (by which I mean tone and depth) and a brilliant background.
Laic217, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2024
I wouldn’t ordinarily associate Laic217 with St Werburghs tunnel, but it is great to see him painting here. The distorted face features an enormous toothy mouth and protruding chin, but the character seems happy enough with it. Street artists often add an edge to portraits by omitting to include pupils in the eyes, which gives a bit of a sinister appearance, unsettling for the viewer. The material of the character’s clothes is as you’d expect perfectly painted, and the backdrop of blue smiley faces on a pick background, is suitably trippy. This is a great piece from Laic217.
We are lucky that SkyHigh and Roo appear to have a strong association with Bristol – I believe that they have family here. This is good, because every time they come to visit, they drop a couple of pieces, which mixes things up nicely.
SkyHigh, Greenbank, Bristol, April 2024
This is a beauty from SkyHigh in which he has spelled out his name with several optional variations in how you choose to read it. The block letters, each in a different font/style, have loads of depth to them and are displayed in different orientations creating a kind of 3D collage effect. The tried and trusted pink and blue combination is a winner, and is augmented with some splashes of yellow in the form of smiley ‘stickers’. Tidy.
Laic217, Zake and Chill, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2024
This is an unusual collaboration from the PWA crew notable by the absence of either Face 1st or Soap, the driving forces behind the crew for some years. Not that the absence diminishes in any way this curious collection of character pieces from Laic217, Zake and Chill.
Laic217, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2024
On the left is something of a trippy throwback from Laic217, with one of his face distortion pieces that are both admirable and disturbing in equal measure. A welcome return of the bucket hat badged with a smiley face sits on top of a stretched out portrait, made up of three faces. I suspect this party animal is enjoying some hallucinations in this captured moment. Weird and wonderful stuff from Laic217.
Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2024
The middle section of the collaboration is occupied by another slightly weird character piece from Zake this time. A buxom silver-haired lady is pictured in front of a rural house, with a porch and smoking chimney. I have no idea what the story is here, but I think that Zake is enjoying pushing boundaries.
Chill, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2024
Rounding off the collaboration is a charming portrait of what looks like a Mid-West farmer from the early 20th century with a pitchfork in hand and some chickens. The piece is absolutely brilliant, and all the more admirable for being painted in its entirety in greyscale. I have tried to look for a theme that binds the three pieces but cannot find one. Perhaps the theme is having fun painting together.
Laic217, Zake and Chill, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2024
Laic217, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, September 2023
As far as I possibly can, I like to post every Laic217 piece that I find and with very few exceptions, I have managed to do that since starting Natural Adventures. Both Laic217 and I have been on an incredible journey since 2015/16, and now his steady drumbeat of outstanding artwork continues to feature in the blog, with this compelling piece from a week or so ago.
Laic217, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, September 2023
There are several of Laic217’s favourite themes incorporated in this portrait piece, returning once more to his facial distortion, where bits of flesh are stretched across the character’s mouth and teeth. The grotesque nature of Laic217’s work is certainly not everyone’s cup of tea, although it would be difficult to deny his extraordinary artistic talent. Other ’emblems’ of his work are included, such as a cap with a smiley face, tracksuit with zip and a smoking cigarette/joint. The purple mask/colouring around the eyes is something new, and the eyes themselves are particularly nicely done. As ever, I was genuinely excited to find this piece.
I feel that, having met Lupa for the second time recently at the Cheltenham Paint Festival, I should really start digging out some of her pieces from my archives, especially as we had a great chat and I felt most honoured that she not only remembered me, but also remembered my name, and thanked me for the recent post I wrote about her piece in Peel Street Green.
Lupa, Purdown, Bristol, May 2023
This is a lovely and enduring piece up at Purdown, which I photographed in May, but I think had been there already for a while and was still there when I walked the dog around the site last week. There is a charm and simplicity about Lupa’s work that makes it enjoyable to see, and she manages to give off good vibes – maybe it is the design of the letter ‘U’ with its smiley face, or the large block letters, or the vibrant colours – probably a combination of all these things. I look forward to seeing more of her work, and will continue to mine out old pieces from the archive.
Natural adventures 