6323. Muriel Alleyway (11)

Yoliws, Muriel Alleyway, Bristol, August 2024
Yoliws, Muriel Alleyway, Bristol, August 2024

This is another Bristol mural collective piece painted at Bristol’s smallest street art festival at the end of July. The artist Yoliws, is no stranger to the pages of Natural Adventures, and all of her pieces have an uplifting and fun quality to them.

Yoliws, Muriel Alleyway, Bristol, August 2024
Yoliws, Muriel Alleyway, Bristol, August 2024

This light-hearted mural features some green flowers with characters frolicking among them. Everybody appears to be having fun, and there is a playful innocence about the whole scene. The piece is enjoyable and wholesome, perfect for the spot, alongside so many other wonderful murals.

6322. Dean Lane skate park (743)

Fade and Pekoe, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2024
Fade and Pekoe, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2024

I am currently enjoying a few days in Copenhagen with my mother, to celebrate, belatedly, my 60th birthday. This means that the next few posts are a little hurried, and not very in depth, distractions being what they are.

Fade and Pekoe, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2024
Fade and Pekoe, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2024

This is a gorgeous and beautifully integrated collaboration from Fade and Pekoe. There is a synergy in this that works incredibly well with both artists adding to the others’ work, where the total is greater than the sum of the parts. The letters are magnificently painted by Fade, and the ‘A’ replaced with a trademark portrait from Pekoe. There is so much to love about this striking piece, especially the rich colour palette.

6321. Cumberland Basin

Acer One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2024
Acer One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2024

By the time you read this, I should be some 35,000 feet or so in the air somewhere between Bristol and Copenhagen, so I wrote this post yesterday. I am spending a long weekend in Copenhagen with my mother who gifted me the trip as my 60th birthday present.

Acer One has been smashing it recently with a range of different ideas, including these cryptic boule writing designs that are designed to challenge the viewer to work out what is going on… visual puzzles I guess you could call them.

Acer One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2024
Acer One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2024

The gold letters along the top spell ‘Change is inevitable’ and the black letters running along the bottom of the piece spell out ‘Growth is optional’. So this piece is both a puzzle and philosophical. Great technical work from Acer One.

6320. Cumberland Basin

Abbie Laura Smith, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2024
Abbie Laura Smith, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2024

This is an absolutely wonderful new paste up from Abbie Laura Smith, the first of a new batch she recently pasted up all over the Cumberland Basin area. It is such a treat having a wheatpaster in the city, and every time she releases and new collection, I am filled with excitement, and the hunt is on. Of course I always seem to miss one or two, but each one found is like a trophy.

Abbie Laura Smith, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2024
Abbie Laura Smith, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2024

Abbie Laura Smith’s trademark work usually centres around an ink portrait of a woman, frequently with words or lyrics concealed within the work. The words ‘I wish I could buy back the woman you stole, out of control, out of control, you walk, walk, walk, walk, walk my winners’ are lyrics from a song ‘Y Control’ by Yeah Yeah Yeahs. I particularly like the incorporation of a dark blue colour around the eyes, which breaks up the two-tone look of the piece. The placement of the wheatpaste is on a utility box that Abbie Laura Smith has used before, with a remnant from her previous piece still visible. Wonderful stuff.

Abbie Laura Smith, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, December 2023
Abbie Laura Smith, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, December 2023

Stiff

A gallery of unusual alien and monster street art from Bristol artist Stiff

Instagram: @the_stiff_show

All photographs by Scooj

Stiff, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024
Stiff, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024
Stiff, St Werburghs, Bristol, June 2023
Stiff, St Werburghs, Bristol, June 2023
Stiff, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2023
Stiff, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2023
Stiff, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2020
Stiff, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2020
Stiff, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2022
Stiff, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2022
Stiff, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2022
Stiff, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2022
Stiff, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2022
Stiff, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2022
Stiff, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2022
Stiff, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2022
Stiff, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2021
Stiff, Brunel Way, Bristol, October 2021
Stiff, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2021
Stiff, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2021
Stiff, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2020
Stiff, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2020
Stiff, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2020
Stiff, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2020

6318. M32 roundabout J3 (619)

Kosc, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024
Kosc, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024

It can be a little confusing when one artist writes the name of another artist, but in this case Kosc writing Mudra was unlikely to cause misidentification due to their very different styles. I think that Mudra had been expected to join Kosc and Stivs painting this wall, but he didn’t make it, so Kosc gave him a rather large shout-out.

Kosc, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024
Kosc, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2024

Kosc’s writing style is so cleverly done, with a midline through the letters, and shading either side of it, creating an amazing 3D effect, a device used by many graffiti writers, but mastered only by a few. The grey tones create an almost metallic sheen to the letters and the starbursts around the outside add to the shiny effect. A very nice piece of writing from Kosc.

6317. M32 Spot (191)

Mr Crawls, M32 Spot, Bristol, July 2024
Mr Crawls, M32 Spot, Bristol, July 2024

Although Mr Crawls appears to enjoy painting with Mote, it certainly doesn’t stop him from going out and painting on his own. This column piece, under the M32 motorway, takes us back to some of the artist’s earlier themes, incorporation; old and new styles into the work.

Mr Crawls, M32 Spot, Bristol, July 2024
Mr Crawls, M32 Spot, Bristol, July 2024

The cartoon character is a gull or a raptor of some kind wearing a bucket hat. The piece incorporates newer design themes developed by Mr Crawls, such as the skeleton neck and hollow square eyes. You might have spotted a rare appearance by my dog, who accompanies me on most of my photographic trips. Nice work from Mr Crawls.

6316. Brunel Way (284)

Nice One, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2024
Nice One, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2024

Once you get your eye in with a particular artist, you start to see their work scattered all over the place, as well as digging their stuff out of the archives. Nice One has been painting some great stuff around Bristol in recent months, and I am trying to catch up a little with their work.

Nice One, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2024
Nice One, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2024

This column piece under Brunel Way is a fabulous portrait, modestly placed out of the way by the DIY skate park. The pastel shades are difficult to photograph especially in the dappled light, but I think these pictures give some idea of  just how good and different this sketch-like piece is. I am very much looking forward to Nice One becoming a regular contributor to Natural Adventures.

6315. Cumberland Basin

Zaenone, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2024
Zaenone, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2024

I believe that this beauty from Zaenone was another that was painted to celebrate Werm’s birthday on the long wall at Cumberland Basin. I guess the message ‘happy birthday Werm’ is a bit of a giveaway.

Zaenone, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2024
Zaenone, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2024

This is a bright and joyful piece by Zaenone, allocating a different colour to each of the letters ZAEN1. Lots of sparkles and highlights vpgive this piece a bit of energy, but it is the spotted border surrounding the whole thing that makes it feel a bit special, like a light bead around the whole thing. Very nice piece by Zaenone.

6314. Cumberland Basin

Conrico, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2024
Conrico, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2024

It has been a real pleasure to see that Conrico has been on fire this summer, both in terms of his output and the quality of his work. This piece was painted as part of a paint jam celebrating Werm’s Birthday. In his Instagram post Conrico used the hashtags #cowboy and #highplainsdrifter, which I think tells you something about the piece.

Conrico, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2024
Conrico, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2024

His graffiti writing/character combinations have been rather good lately, and this one is a great addition to his portfolio. Lots of swirls and atmosphere has been created with his paintbrush style of spraying. The cowboy is also beautifully painted.

Conrico, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2024
Conrico, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2024

There is an organic feel to Conrico’s work that is quite different from some of the more stylised and manicured characters that we see a lot of in the city. A very nice piece indeed.