5495. St Werburghs tunnel (382)

3Dom and Goldie, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2023
3Dom and Goldie, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2023

It is not often that I receive a tip-off in advance of a paint jam, but I was fortunate to receive one for this coming together in St Werburghs Tunnel on 31 August, which included Inkie and Goldie, alongside a star-studded line-up of Bristol artists.

3Dom and Goldie, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2023
3Dom and Goldie, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2023

By the time I got to the paint jam, 3Dom had taken a break from his wasp piece, but Goldie was still beavering away. It is always a bit of a treat when Goldie comes to town, not only to see his pieces, but because his presence tends to be a catalyst or focal point for the big names to come out and play together.

3Dom and Goldie, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2023
3Dom and Goldie, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2023

Not only was the tunnel full of activity from the artists, but it was great to catch up with the likes of Paul H and DJ Perks (who I had run in to on three consecutive days – which never happens), who, like me, were there to enjoy watching the artists at work.

3Dom, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2023
3Dom, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2023

I have paired up 3Dom’s and Goldie’s pieces because there is some interaction between the two, and it seemed logical. The wasp character is so 3Dom, if that makes any sense at all, being full of creative fun and perfectly finished. The wasp’s abdomen appears to have a transparent quality, and the wing, complete with vessels, is well observed. Quite what the green ghosts/spirits are all about I am not sure, but they add o the overall story in the piece.

Goldie, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2023
Goldie, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2023

Goldie is not only famous for his music, but also for being one of the early graffiti writers in the UK, in Wolverhampton in the 1980s. This piece in quite an unusual writing style spells out Goldie, in large and small letters, with a fabulous ‘panelled’ 3D drop shadow, providing a bit of depth. In the background are some references to a Japanese landscape, and there are some more of 3Dom’s wispy ghosts. What a privilege to watch these guys at work.

5482. St Werburghs tunnel (381)

Teao One, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2023
Teao One, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2023

There are several artists that are underrepresented on Natural Adventures, and Teao One is definitely one of them. I feel that, downtime permitting, I will have to dig out more of his work from my bulging archives.

Teao One, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2023
Teao One, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2023

This upbeat piece on the entrance to the tunnel reminds me of a picnic cloth, with bright colourful square patterns inside the letters. The writing is bordered with red and black, creating a tidy finish set on a white, cloudy backdrop. The letters spell tEROK, but I don’t know what this means, but it is similar to letters he has written in other pieces. Lots of shout-outs around the piece, which is fairly typical of Teao One. Fun and happy work.

5463. St Werburghs tunnel (380)

Slakarts, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2023
Slakarts, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2023

The work of Slakarts tends to be occasional these days, rather than frequent, but in a way that makes it a little bit more special when it does come along. This double portrait piece was a lovely surprise a couple of weeks back at the entrance to the tunnel, which the council have once again, in their wisdom, buffed over.

Slakarts, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2023
Slakarts, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2023

There is a story to this piece I would think, and my guess would be that Slakarts has a dog and he is showing his love and appreciation in this piece. The quick characters piece is filled with a light white backwash and finished with strong clean black outlines, all the hallmarks of a job done in a bit of a hurry. It is nicely thought out though, and the contented couple are accompanied with the words “Man’s best m8”, which is rather sweet really. Great to see that Slakarts has managed to get out again, even if only occasionally.

5452. St Werburghs tunnel (379)

Fiva, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2023
Fiva, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2023

What a treat! Two Fiva pieces in the space of three weeks, both in the tunnel, and both reminding us of what we have missed over the last couple of years. I am not too sure why he has been absent for so long, perhaps he moved away or there were other real life events that made painting difficult, but he is back and that is what matters. At the end of the last post I wrote “I hope this isn’t a flash in the pan”. The appearance of this piece puts that worry to bed.

Fiva, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2023
Fiva, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2023

Fiva has used this overlay technique to great effect before, and it is such a clever way to tell two stories in one go. There are large block capital letters in Grey spelling out ‘FIVA’ and overlaid is a lower case, script written ‘fiver’ in pink and blue (that winning combo again). The clever part is how these interact, for example, the bevelled edge of the capital letters runs through the lower case letters, but in different shades. No self-respecting Fiva piece is fully complete without a cheeky cartoon character, and this grey chappie with a purple cap rounds off the piece magnificently. Looking forward to more from an artist who has been much missed.

5448. St Werburghs tunnel (378)

Hiccup, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2023
Hiccup, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2023

I was really struck by this piece in the tunnel recently and at first I thought it might have been by Rozalita, but on closer inspection it clearly wasn’t, and the name BLEOM was also a bit of a clue. The piece is by Bloem, who is also Hiccup, and because I have posted her pieces under the latter name, I shall be consistent and continue to do so.

Hiccup, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2023
Hiccup, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2023

The portrait piece, featuring a jester, is really neat and tidy and carries an element of treat in the form of a barbed wire circle around the head. All elements of thee piece come together well, in particular the ruff, and the jester’s expression. The letters are also very sharp and well painted. This is a classy piece from an artist relatively new to the Bristol scene, and I look forward to seeing and writing about more of her work (coming sooner than you might think).

5418. St Werburghs tunnel (377)

Fiva, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2023
Fiva, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2023

Finding this piece in the tunnel was one of the happiest street art moments of my year so far. Fiva (Fiver) has been absent from the Bristol street art scene for a long time (last seen in 2020), and I feared that he might have moved away or given up on painting altogether, so seeing this filled me with pure joy, as I am particularly fond of his work.

Fiva, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2023
Fiva, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2023

In classic Fiva style, he has painted a huge piece with large block letters that have plenty of depth and stand out from the brilliant pink buffed wall. As is customary, Fiva has painted a character looking on from the left in wonderful cartoon style. The whole thing is so refreshing after the long absence. Welcome back Fiva, I hope that this isn’t a flash in the pan.

5406. St Werburghs tunnel (377)

Raid, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2023
Raid, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2023

Observing Raid’s progress is a genuine pleasure. Each time I see his work I see some improvement, and a boldness or confidence that is growing. I also like it that he is adapting his style from piece to piece, settling for a while and then moving on.

Raid, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2023
Raid, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2023

This is a nice one in the tunnel from a few weeks back, and uses that tried and tested colour combination of pink and light blue. The letters are beautifully presented, and the fills very nicely done indeed, with a swathe of stars running horizontally through the letters and pink ‘ribbons’ at the top and bottom. A decent drop shadow and blue backdrop round the piece off perfectly.

5402. St Werburghs tunnel (376)

Mr Draws, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2023
Mr Draws, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2023

When I last met Mr Draws under Brunel Way about a month ago, he told me that he was keen to paint more pieces with an environmental or protest theme. Well with  Prime Minister who seems to be hell bent on waging war against nature and the ‘green blob’ as hard right populists tend to do, Mr Draws’ efforts have never been more timely.

Mr Draws, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2023
Mr Draws, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2023

This is a beautiful piece of the fluke from a whale breaking the surface before descending into the depths, helps to remind us about what is important on this Earth we call home. The atmospheric piece appears to capture the movement and grace of the whale, a sight we are familiar with through viewing wildlife films, but which we rarely glimpse first hand. Bravo Mr Draws, please keep up these genuine efforts to make the world a better place.

5390. St Werburghs tunnel (375)

Chill, Zake, Face 1st and Soap, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2023
Chill, Zake, Face 1st and Soap, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2023

I am writing this last night in the full expectation that I will be heading off to the Cheltenham Paint Festival this morning, which means that in a short while, Natural Adventures will be awash with fabulous pieces from Cheltenham by artists from nearby and far, far away. On to this fine collaboration from the PWA crew, Chill, Zake, Face 1st and Soap.

Chill, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2023
Chill, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2023

There is a bit of a pirate theme going on (perhaps linked to PWA – Pirate Wall Art), and Chill kicks things off perfectly with this wonderful cartoon character wearing a bandana and brandishing a cutlass and crying out ‘AAARRRGH!!!’ The scar on the cheek and terrible teeth finish the character off brilliantly. A superb piece.

Zake, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2023
Zake, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2023

Next up, Zake goes a little bit off-topic both in terms of a pirate theme and indeed the colour scheme too. His piece is fantastic and a bit of a return to the kind of faces he was painting a year or two ago. Tons of depth is achieved with clever use of shading, which is a speciality of the artist.

Face 1st, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2023
Face 1st, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2023

Face 1st duly returns us to the pirate theme with his character, complete with skull and crossbones eye patch, makes off with a treasure chest full of gold and jewellery. It is a brilliant piece full of mischief and movement and so utterly Fac 1st.

Soap, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2023
Soap, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2023

Finally, Soap sticks with his graffiti writing, and continues the pirate theme and colour scheme. The letters spell out SOAP, and the Ice King ‘O’ is wearing an eye patch. The letter fills and dynamism of the piece are perfectly presented and add a distinctive element to the quartet of styles. A truly magnificent collaboration, so full of fun and mischief.

5381. St Werburghs tunnel (373)

Mr Crawls, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2023
Mr Crawls, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2023

This is the second piece I have published by Mr Crawls, and as I said in the last post, he tends to paint the same ‘mega tag’ each time he paints. The cartoon-style bird, looking slightly worse for wear, is difficult to identify and in my own mind I have it down as a gull of some kind, but it might simply be a generic bird. This one is actually a parrot.

Mr Crawls, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2023
Mr Crawls, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2023

In this version, the Parrot is once again wearing a bucket/tourist hat, but a slightly different style. It is with the hat design that Mr Crawls has most scope for varying the piece and making it distinct from other versions. There re several more gulls in my archive, but I think I will need to collect them together into a single post, in the same way that I have done for Asre, Bogat and Klashwhensober.