Stokes Croft – Natural adventures

7318. Stokes Croft

Vandalist, Stokes Croft, Bristol, November 2025

I have made a few trips into the office recently, which has both benefits and disbenefits. It is great to have some face to face meetings with ‘real people’ and good to catch up with old friends, which is always nice. The walk in, however, takes 40 minutes, effectively adding 1 hour 20 minutes of unproductive time to my day. On the upside, it is not entirely unproductive, as I get to see if there is any new art along the way. On one such walk, I found this stunning shutter and shopfront piece by Vane in Stokes Croft. It took me a little bit of detective work and luck to find out that it was Vane (Vandalist) who had created this wonder.

I was looking for an explanation of the portrait piece and found it on Vane’s Instagram feed. His words are as follows:

I was asked to paint this memorial portrait on Stokes Croft, Bristol – of the late, great Gerald Valentine Phillips.
Gerry was a pillar in the local community. Despite his history as an addict he spent 25 years clean, helping people through their own recoveries and founded a number of care based charities in Bristol including Emerge and Cherry Orchard Care

The backstory to this piece makes it all the more poignant. Painting portraits on shutters cannot be easy, and this is a technical feat as well as a visual joy. It is lovely to see how community figures can be remembered in this public way. Well done Vane.

7283. Stokes Croft

Wilko and Boxi, Stokes Croft, Bristol, October 2025

More wheatpaste action from Wilko and Boxi, in advance of their upcoming exhibition. I have a feeling that it was Wilko who has been busy pasting these up around Bristol on behalf of both of them.

Regular readers will know that I am rather partial to wheatpastes, as they bring a completely different aspect to the spectrum of street art that we see around us. Some people don’t like them, because they become scruffy when they decay or because they get pasted up in inappropriate places, or because they are against street art more broadly. Funny how such people appear to be totally at ease with the plethora of advertising we are subjected to on the streets, as if it is somehow more legitimate and less offensive…

These are nice representatives of their artistic styles with draw on many influences.

7266. Stokes Croft

Kid Krishna, Stokes Croft, Bristol, October 2025

I simply cannot fathom why it has taken me so long to post this outstanding piece by Kid Krishna in Stokes Croft, painted alongside ESKA and Hemper. It has been around since April this year, and I photographed it shortly after it was painted. These pictures are more recent, and the piece is still in great condition, looking very fresh.

The combination piece combines his CRIE letters to the right with a group of surreal cartoon-style characters, showcasing Kid Krishna’s extraordinary talent. There is a lot of colour and movement in the piece, especially the three characters on the left who appear to be having an animated conversation.

Kid Krishna is something of an enigma. He is incredibly modest about his work, has unquestionable talent, paints high-end pieces and scruffy mega-tags. I think that the overriding sense I get from him and his work is the sheer love of art and creativity. Imagination and creativity are things he has in abundance, as you can see from this awesome piece.

7258. Stokes Croft

A couple of really quick posts today, I forgot that I was going in to the office today and haven’t left myself much time. This is a wonderful mural from Silent Hobo on the newly opened Last Chance Saloon, which was revealed about two weeks ago.

Silent Hobo is wonderfully adept at painting these large murals and capturing so much that represents the young people of the city with stories and emotions throughout the piece. Two large walls beautifully painted.

Silent Hobo, Stokes Croft, Bristol, October 2025

Silent Hobo has painted city scenes and dropped clues that it is Bristol, such as the hot air balloons, but also the architecture of the buildings. The beautiful scene above the front entrance of the saloon is relevant and heart-breaking, stirring up all kinds of emotions. Brilliant work from Silent Hobo.

6963. Stokes Croft

Eska is an itinerant artist who lives a houseboat lifestyle and drifts from place to place. His stays in Bristol are always very welcome and accompanied by a number of stunning graffiti writing pieces, that bring something a little different to our streets.

This gorgeous piece is one of three high-end pieces on the hoarding around what used to be the Blue Mountain nightclub. The other pieces are by Kid Krishna and Hemper and all three are beauties. There is a lot going on in this piece, which has anamorphic writing that lifts out of the wall in a superb 3D illusion. In addition to the letters, I presume spelling ESKA, there are his tiny trademark figures, with long shadows, scattered around the ‘flat’ surfaces of the piece. There are also watery surfaces with reflections too, perhaps an oblique reference to Bristol Harbour. Eska’s work is of the highest order and I look forward to his next visit to the city.

6952. Stokes Croft

Mauro Goblin, Stokes Croft, Bristol, May 2025

I’m beginning to regret ever having said that, unlike other street art hubs in the country, Bristol is rather light on paste ups. Ever since I first made that comment, I seem to have found wheatpastes all over the place. Whether I am just seeing more because I am looking more or whether there has been an influx, I cannot say, either way, it is good news.

This is a stunning portrait piece by Mauro Goblin, an artist I believe from Valparaiso, Chile, featuring Beth Gibbons from local band Portishead. The stencil piece is sprayed on to paper which is then pasted up, hence the sharp edge around the portrait. A little bit of orange spray paint behind the piece significantly adds to the impact. What a privilege to have this piece in Bristol.

6920. Stokes Croft

Wilko, Stokes Croft, Bristol, April 2025

It isn’t all that long ago that I wrote about how Bristol, although it has a super-vibrant street art scene, is less well represented on the wheatpaste side of things. Of course, when you say something like that, life has a way of proving you wrong, and I have since found a whole bunch of wheatpastes, many of them by Wilko in the Stokes Croft area.

I haven’t come across Wilko before, but I have a feeling he might be from Birmingham. He certainly made the most of his visit to Bristol, and I will try to post more of his wonderful illustrations in due course. This orange and black piece has a feel of African-influenced art and cubism (which of course are related) about it. Great to see.

6917. Stokes Croft

Hemper, Stokes Croft, Bristol, April 2025

There are some newish hoardings at the bottom end of Stokes Croft, as the gentrification of the area once more picks up momentum. Kid Krishna has, as you would expect, pounced on these blank canvasses, but he left this space for Hemper, and what a banging piece it is too.

Overall, the piece has a copper metallic feel to it, with the highly illustrated letters spelling out HEMS. The piece is obviously an homage to DJing and to sound systems, perhaps a reference to the Blue Mountain Club that was knocked down behind these hoardings. There is too much to describe in this sensational piece, so perhaps the best way to enjoy it is to spend a moment looking at each element of it.

Of course, you can take a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink. These two are symptomatic of the world we live in, where shutting yourself off and hiding behind headphones is the norm – no effort required, no thought given to exploring the world right in front of your eyes. C’est la vie I suppose.

6894. Stokes Croft

Kid Krishna, Stokes Croft, Bristol, April 2025

There is no doubt about it, Kid Krishna has been smashing it recently, and indeed for quite a while now, and his recent spell has seen him turn out some outstanding work, including this intriguing piece in Stokes Croft. It is great to see Kid Krishna and others returning to this area (thanks to some new hoardings), which ten years ago was at the centre of the Bristol graffiti/street art scene.

This portrait/writing combination is quite extraordinary, and takes Kid Krishna’s work to another level. There is a sharpness and realistic feel to the piece that expands on his more abstract work more commonly seen. What this piece also demonstrates is his capacity to create some really high-end artwork. The portrait of a tattooed woman on the left, gazing heavenwards, is exceptional and shows off Kid Krishna’s ability to paint fie detail, depth and texture. To the right, the writing has a transparent quality and looks to be fragmenting or melting – the whole piece plays with us in this juxtaposition of character and letters. Brilliant!

6248. Stokes Croft

The world is under threat from so many different pressures, most of them man-made. Much of 3Dom’s work is dedicated to illustrating our fragile earth with a blend of catastrophe and hope, outlining the problem through the subject of his work and then painting something beautiful and inspirational. Clever stuff.

3Dom has painted this wall numerous time, but not for a very long while. Indeed, I think that my very first introduction to the genius of 3Dom was a piece in this spot. I’ll have a little rummage and see if I can find some of his earlier pieces here. Hold on a mo… yes, here they are. Brilliant stuff. Interesting to see how the bin has disappeared and then returned, and a street sign introduced… the changing face of a single wall.

	paulh121 on 7350. Hillgrove Street (9…
	Bill Bisgood on Thursday doors – 11 Dece…
	scooj on Thursday doors – 11 Dece…
	scooj on Thursday doors – 11 Dece…
	scooj on Thursday doors – 11 Dece…

	paulh121 on 7350. Hillgrove Street (9…
	Bill Bisgood on Thursday doors – 11 Dece…
	scooj on Thursday doors – 11 Dece…
	scooj on Thursday doors – 11 Dece…
	scooj on Thursday doors – 11 Dece…

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