The Pirate Wall Art (PWA) crew have had a fantastic year, as individuals and as collaborators, creating some of the most memorable pieces in Bristol, and this one at the entrance of St Werburghs tunnel is as memorable as any.
The trio of Face 1st, Soap and Zake have created this fun piece, with Face 1st and Soap propping up a frog by Zake. Everything you’d want to see from these three is here, and I can’t wait to see what they come up with next year.
I think that I have posted more Hypo pieces in the last couple of months than I had for the last few years before. He seems to be going through a very productive phase, finding time to paint with his friends. I imagine that there has been a change in life circumstances that has led to this liberation.
This modest piece in gentle colours was painted alongside Benjimagnetic, and perhaps reflects the winter weather, with its blues and greys and drips. This is another piece to add to the collection, which is pretty much big enough for a gallery – watch this space.
In the tunnel, alongside some of his LRS crew mates, is another wonderful MILK piece from Wxttsart. The more I see of his work, the more I want to categorise it as calligraffiti, because of the uniformity of letter style and the central line running down each letter, and it has a heraldic look to it.
Every time I see the word MILK on a wall, it just makes me laugh. The word is so incongruous in the settings wher we find it and with the graffiti art form. It is a word I would more readily associate with wholesome activities, such as having a cup of tea or a bowl of cereal. Well done to Wxttsart for breaking the mould on this one.
Artists like Mr Klue are the bedrock upon which this blog is built. I have been writing about his wonderful abstract work for several years, and over that time he has gone through productive periods and quiet periods, and right now he is out there painting pretty regularly.
This mesmerising abstract writing piece contains several of the characteristics we would expect from Mr Klue. The wispy and smokey letters, some floating steps on the left and a coil to the right of the piece. You might need to use your imagination a little, but the letters most likely spell out KLUE. This is a pleasing piece with a great colour palette that combines really well in this fine piece from Mr Klue.
There have been quite a few new Hemper pieces lately, but I have been slow to post them. I’m afraid, even the most talented artists are competing for my time to publish posts on Natural Adventures. Writing only two or three posts a day is very limiting, and in no way represents the daily activity of street artists and graffiti writers in Bristol.
This is a gorgeous piece by Hemper in the tunnel, looking a little like soapy suds escaping from a washing machine or a bubbly bath. Beautifully painted in shades of blue with white highlights, the letters spell HEMS, and the piece simply adds to Hemper’s extraordinary and vast repertoire. This is outstanding graffiti writing.
St Werburghs tunnel is a funny spot. Sometimes you can go for long periods when not much changes, and then you go through a rush of activity, and need to be on top of it pretty much every day.
This glorious piece by Tao.create was painted with the LRS crew, only a short while after the Bnie paint jam on the opposite wall. I haven’t seen much from Tao for a long while, so this was most welcome. There is talent and a style here that we definitely need to see more of on Bristol’s streets. The portrait is captivating, and beautifully shaded in purple tones. More practice will add confidence with regard to proportions and scale of the features. Welcome back… more please.
On the day that sees England play Wales in the football world cup, I find myself a little distracted. Before the tournament started, I was indifferent about England, and was rather more concerned that all the Arsenal players involved in the tournament come home unscathed and safe, but now I find myself caring. I’d like England to do well, despite their poor performance against the USA. As I say – distracted.
This is a fine piece from Acer at the entrance to the tunnel, painted in collaboration with Benjimagnetic (post to follow). Acer One has had an exceptional year on the streets, modifying and developing his style with outstanding results.
This piece, spelling out ACER 1, has all the components that he has been working on, such as the rainbow fill in his letters, the minimalist design of his letters, and the double drop shadows that serve to give depth and perspective. A real beauty, and a lovely touch to the right with a rainbow scale bar. A classy piece.
I was rather late to the party regarding Vozie, which is embarrassing at best, but better late than never. I might have to trawl through some archives to see if I have overlooked any of her pieces from before my ‘awakening’ at Upfest this year. What is clear is that Vozie is a massively talented and accomplished writer whose work is both beautiful and compelling.
This one in the tunnel, painted as part of Bnie’s birthday paint jam, is an absolute banger. Painted in the paint jam colours, the letters VOZIE are sensationally filled with fabulous transitions between the colours and delicious accent lines and patterns on the edges of the letters. Fast becoming a fave.
Every now and then you get lucky, being in the right place at the right time. This is particularly true of finding street art on vehicles, and I was fortunate enough to see this Stinkfish piece on the side of a van parked up outside St Werburghs City Farm around a week ago.
Some readers might remember that Stinkfuish visited Bristol in October 2021 to tidy up a couple of his long-standing pieces in the City, and while he was here he left a few other little ‘surprises’ about the place. I imagine he painted this small portrait piece at around the same time, as it is still in great condition.
If you look carefully, you can just see a black line on the left where paint spilled over from the stencil used to create the black and yellow elements of the portrait. The decorative aspect I think light have been painted on with a brush, although it might be a stencil too, I am not sure. Finding pieces like this is so rewarding, and gives me the same tingle of excitement I get when I find a large shark tooth fossil on Bracklesham Bay beach, on my occasional trips to West Sussex.
I was once told that to assume something will make an ‘Ass’ of ‘U’ and ‘Me’, a very helpful tip in the communications world. The assumption here, is that this unsigned piece is by Kosc. The evidence supporting my assumption is that NTS is a crew he belongs to, and he is the only artist I can think of who produces accurate anatomical pieces.
I am no expert, but looking at this magnificent skull, I would say the dentition suggests a grazing lifestyle and the horns would lead me to think this was an ungulate (a hoofed mammal). I would plump for some kind of bovine, possibly a buffalo of some kind, maybe an African buffalo. A lovely piece, and something a little different.
Natural adventures 