3823. St Werburghs tunnel (247)

This is a rather nice little three-way collaboration from Mr Sleven, The cat came back and Pekoe, down in the tunnel, which I think was a celebration of Mr Sleven’s birthday. I love it that in the street/graffiti art world it is common to mark people’s birthdays with a paint jam – what a great way to celebrate.

Mr Sleven, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2021
Mr Sleven, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2021

On the left is a rather tidy little chrome throwie by Mr Sleven spelling out SLEV. While I like hie writing, I think I prefer his rather weird and wonderful character pieces, which makes me wonder whether I have enough to do a gallery of his work… I might just have.

The cat came back and Pekoe, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2021
The cat came back and Pekoe, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2021

To the right is yet another lovely portrait from the queen of portraits, Pekoe. The yellow face is perfectly offset by the red cheeks, lips and hair. A real stunner. Hitching a ride on the big hair is a little cat protesting for peace from The cat came back. All in all a lovely little celebratory collaboration.

3821. St Werburghs tunnel (246)

Inkie has been back in town, mainly, I think, to paint his contribution to Upfest 75×75, but he has also painted at least one commission and had some fun in the tunnel with this piece during Sunday Funday from mid-July.

Inkie, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2021
Inkie, St Werburghs, Bristol, July 2021

Inkie is inextricably linked with everything that is good about the street art scene in Bristol, and here is another wonderful piece to add to his collection. It looks like there is a bit of a birthday celebration going on with this too. I love the contrast in writing style with the inclusion of ‘BIZ in the top left of the piece.

3793. St Werburghs tunnel (245)

I have taken many photographs of the work of Alos, but not so many of them have made it onto the pages of Natural Adventures. It is a pity really, because his work really does shine a light on the spectrum of graffiti writers we see in Bristol. Normally his work is rather organic and irregular, but this piece is much more conventional and structured than we are used to seeing.

Alos, St Werburghs, Bristol, June 2021
Alos, St Werburghs, Bristol, June 2021

On the entrance to St Werburghs tunnel, this rather nice rhapsody in purple greets passers-by. It is a very nice piece that demonstrates the range of talents that Alos clearly has.

3753. St Werburghs tunnel(244)

Sometimes I am a goofy idiot, I don’t think properly in the excitement of the moment, and only upon reflection do I notice my stupidity. I took these pictures thinking that it was a collaboration between Maesyhook and Slakarts, when it was in fact a collaboration but between Stivs (to the left, off picture) and Maesyhook. No matter. This not a collaboration, but rather two pieces that are adjacent to one another.

Maesyhook, St Werburghs Tunnel, Bristol, June 2021
Maesyhook, St Werburghs Tunnel, Bristol, June 2021

On the left (and associated with a Stivs piece further left) is another delightful piece from newcomer to Bristol walls Maesyhook. Her kawaii pieces are becoming a familiar site in the popular spots around the city, and here she has painted a rather cute sheep wearing a T-shirt with ‘I ❤️ Bru’ on the front. I’m not sure what or who Bru is, but it looks nice.

Slakarts, St Werburghs Tunnel, Bristol, June 2021
Slakarts, St Werburghs Tunnel, Bristol, June 2021

To the right of the sheep in this non-collaboration is a mega tag piece from Slakarts who seems to be playing with very feint blue outlines at the moment. Is he out of black? Or is this a new thing? I can’t say I like it too much, as it doesn’t provide enough definition and looks a bit washed out. Get back to the stronger colours is my advice. It is still always nice to see his work though.

3735. St Werburghs tunnel (243)

When you get to see the work of particular artists again and again it becomes incredibly easy to be complacent or even blazé and you need to stop, think and take stock of what is in front of you. I am guilty of this day in day out because we are so spoilt with talent in Bristol. This lovely Elvs piece in St Werburghs tunnel is a case in point.

Elvs, St Werburghs, Bristol, June 2021
Elvs, St Werburghs, Bristol, June 2021

Elvs is one of those artists whose work I like to post every time, and to date I don’t think I have failed to post any of his pieces that I have photographed. This is a lovely piece, beautifully painted with his customary unique style and a lovely blend of horizontal fills from blue to white. The cartoon character is a mystery to me, but probably featured on TV during the 1990s I would guess. Altogether another outstanding work from Elvs.

3733. St Werburghs tunnel (242)

I think that this is the third MOTEL piece that I have posted from the fabulously named Dog Bless the Band. I believe he is a relatively new entrant on to the Bristol scene, but obviously an accomplished writer, so he must have been writing elsewhere before starting up in Bristol.

Dog Bless the Band, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2021
Dog Bless the Band, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2021

I love his muted, modest colours that blend into the background. There is nothing garish or showy about his work, but that is not to say it is boring. Far from it. The large organic letters are filled with a wonderful range of blended colours and subtle patterns looking more like a watercolour than a spray painted wall. Fabulous stuff.

3721. St Werburghs tunnel (241)

It would seem that with a little encouragement from Daz Cat, CD.TC has managed to get out and paint a little in the last few weeks, which is great to see, and here the two combine in this rather nice collaboration in the middle of the tunnel.

CD.TC and Daz Cat, St Werburghs tunnel, Bristol, May 2021
CD.TC and Daz Cat, St Werburghs tunnel, Bristol, May 2021

On the left CD.TC’s monster character is spraying upwards to creat the letters CD.TC and on the right a Daz Cat is dipping a piece of pizza into a can of something with GYS on the side. The cat has two left arms, don’t ask me why. I don’t know what GYS stands for in this piece, but a quick Google search revealed it can mean ‘Get your stuff’ or ‘get you some’ or ‘graveyard shift’. You can decide for yourself what you think it might mean in this context. A nice low-key collaboration.

3668. St Werburghs tunnel (240)

Pl8o who also goes by the Instagram moniker of westernmiddleages has resurfaced in Bristol after a rather quiet period, and he has come back with bigger, bolder and brighter pieces. His letter/number choice has always leant itself well to graffiti writing, but now he has added much deeper 3D shadows into the mix.

Pl8o, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2021
Pl8o, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2021

Although the St Werburghs tunnel never photographs particularly well you can see the quality and creativity in this piece. My favourite part, probably because it looks a little incongruous is the red and black dot shading… really eye-catching. Nice to see him back.

3667. St Werburghs tunnel (239)

Striking and definitely photogenic is this lovely recent portrait piece from Zake, who has been rather quiet of late. It is kind of comforting when artists who have been lying low, for whatever reason, come back and hit a wall with such gusto.

Zake, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2021
Zake, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2021

Zake is an artist who pretty much specialises in portraits and gives them loads of depth with his trademark shading around the features. This face feels like it should belong to a comic book, perhaps it is a representation from one. He has labelled the piece with DLH 21. DLH in my book is Dean Lane Hardcore, but I am not too sure what it means in this context. A decent and long-awaited return.

3665. St Werburghs tunnel (238)

At the entrance to St Werburghs tunnel, Face 1st left this beautiful trademark piece a little while back. It would seem that Face 1st has been experimenting of late with some angular block lettering which I have seen two or three times now.

Face 1st, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2021
Face 1st, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2021

As ever, there is an enormous amount of expression in the piece, something that Face 1st manages to achieve with the minimum of fuss, not dissimilar to the way Stik conveys emotion with his simple figures. I have lots of Face 1st pieces to catch up on… aargh, the backlog!