Street art – Page 150 – Natural adventures

6124. Cumberland Basin

Abbie Laura Smith, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024

Abbie Laura Smith has been doing herself proud with a new series of wheatpastes in the Cumberland Basin area. I have picked up a few, but still have some others to find. Unfortunately, this one has already been dogged, so I am pleased that I got to see it in pristine condition.

There is a common theme to Abbie Laura Smith’s work, which includes black and white portraits composed in part by lettering and words. The words in this paste-up are as follows (I think):

You will stumble, you may fall

Persevere through it all

And where do I go from here, despair

But you will get there some day

I am not sure whether the words are original or a quote from a song or poem, or whether they are autobiographical, but they carry some emotional power. The piece is one of her larger ones and is truly a beautiful combination of words and illustration. Watch this space for more from Bristol’s best wheatpaster.

6123. Cumberland Basin

Mote and Mr Crawls, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2024

Some more jolly capers from Mr Crawls and Mote, who have been smashing it for months now, and continue to turn out some great and fun character pieces dotted all over the place. This pair of characters were painted on the warehouse wall in Cumberland Basin, and command a majestic view over the river.

To the left is a friendly, toothy monster by Mote whose eyes (in common with the adjacent Mr Crawls character) are simply holes in the head, creating a mask-like effect. There are some nice squiggles and doodles in the fill, something of a trademark of Mote’s work. On the right Mr Crawls has recreated one of his hatted birds, although in a stylised cartoon form that is more angular than some of his earlier work. The pair look magnificent on the white background, and are unusually large, due to the big wall they have chosen to paint.

6122. Greenbank (123)

I find myself sounding like a stuck record all too often when it comes to posting about Mr Draws’ work, in part because he has been an ever-present on Natural Adventures and continues to paint his unique style of writing and his diverse street art pieces, and I have found myself repeating myself a little, which in no way detracts from his wonderful work.

There is a freedom and joy in Mr Draws’ graffiti writing in which he concentrates on his fills, usually with hard edges between colours rather than blended transitions. He has used his customary deep drop shadow, and the whole thing is bordered with a clean white line. A fine archetypal Mr Draws piece that is a key part of the continuing culture of the whole Bristol street art and graffiti writing scene.

6121. Frome Side (36)

The day after the wedding party before… Actually I was a designated driver last night and am feeling good, apart from suffering with a sore throat from competing with some rather loud music. I feel my age on these occasions. I am pressed for time this morning, so a couple of quick posts for you.

DFC1848 paid one of his occasional visits to Bristol in May, and left a few of his hallmark character pieces behind, including this cutie under the M32. As ever it is always great to see his characters, which he has been developing over the last few years. I fully expect to see him painting at the Cheltenham Paint Festival next month.

6120. M32 Cycle path (268)

Hemper, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2024

In Bristol we are spoilt and have become accustomed to seeing extraordinary wildstyle graffiti writing from Hemper on a regular basis. This wonderful organic piece is simply the latest in an outstanding series from the talented artist.

The letters spell out HEMS and have remarkable depth to them created through both incredible design and technique using light and shade. The whole thing almost looks like a metal plate or buckle slapped onto the wall. Subtle colours, shiny light and a cool drippy border all contribute to the overall 3D effect. What a beauty.

6119. Leonard Lane (47)

John D'oh, Leonard Lane, Bristol, June 2024 — John D’oh, Leonard Lane, Bristol, June 2024

It is rather pleasing to be posting another stencil piece, there have been a rash of them lately, and especially one from John D’oh, who has been a little quiet over the last six months or so. This is one of a couple of pieces by the artist currently in Leonard Lane.

This philosophy, I am not sure if it is a quote (Update: it is a quote from the brilliant Chrisopher Walken) or a wisdom from John D’oh himself, is perhaps a message of our times and our collective obsession with consumption, upgrade and appearance. It reads:

“If you knew how quickly people forget the dead, you would stop living to impress people”.

I think that this is aimed at people with outer-directed values, a segment of our society that has ballooned since Thatcher came to power. The statement is accompanied by a skeleton character holding a spray can. Great work from John D’oh.

6118. St Werburghs tunnel (428)

A quick couple of posts today, because I am writing this in advance of my niece’s wedding party today, and have a rather squeezed timetable. There is something rather special happening with Benjimagnetic’s work at the moment, and I can’t quite put my finger on exactly what it is, but he seems to have stepped up a level recently, with some great designs and a cleaner look to his pieces.

Benjimagnetic, St Werburghs, Bristol, June 2024

This one in the tunnel is an absolute belter and the colour selection is sublime and may, in part, be what is contributing to his new level. Ordinary Benjimagnetic writes BEN, but I am struggling a little to read this piece. I am very much enjoying this strong surge of pieces from Benjimagnetic.

6117. Cumberland Basin

Solar, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, June 2024

Although I have been featuring Solar on Natural Adventures since 2021, it wasn’t until May this year that I actually got to meet him while he was painting this piece. As with pretty much all the artists I meet he is a really nice person and managed to instantly dispel some of my imagined preconceptions of members of the PLB crew, which were largely based around not having met any of them.

I would categorise Solar’s writing style as soft anti-style, meaning that while he bucks the trend of conventional graffiti writing, there is some order and consistency to his letters, nothing too chaotic or anarchic. The letters are nicely done but the star of the show is the ‘implied’ drop shadow in blue and black, which is a very clever mechanism I haven’t seen deployed before. You’d think that the colour scheme wouldn’t work, and at first that was my impression, but actually it seems to work remarkably well.

6116. Leonard Lane (46)

My sister and brother-in-law had a wonderful West Highland white terrier, or Westie as they are commonly known, called Jessie, who died a little over a year ago at a ripe old age. She was very sweet, and although I didn’t much like dogs when they first got her, I did warm to her over the years. When I saw this beautiful little stencil at the entrance of Leonard Lane by Man-X, my mind immediately turned to Jessie.

I believe that Man-X AKA Alix Lemetayer is a French stencil artist, but I can find little more information about him. This is a lovely stencil, so full of personality, and captures the animal perfectly. I believe that he may have placed another stencil in the Lane during his visit to Bristol, which I think I missed when I found this Westie, so I rather need to go back. Dogs and stencils, what’s not to love?

6115. Moon Street (106)

Ooh! This is a superb ‘extra’ stencil piece painted by Goin while he was in Bristol for Upfest. It is pieces like this that separate out the ‘circuit muralists’ from the everyday street artists. Although Goin is often a featured artist at paint festivals, he likes to paint on the streets too, which is something I like and appreciate.

This is a telling stencil piece, and I don’t think that you need to be a genius to work out what is going on. A soldier is pointing his rifle at a tiny ladybird, and the latter obviously doesn’t stand a chance in this contest. There are many ways of protesting against war, and this piece from Goin is a very powerful image making the point. The red colour of the ladybird in a strange way offers some hope and beauty to this horrific scene. Thank you Goin for this wonderful gift to Bristol.

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