Ticking over quite nicely and occasionally reminding us he is still out there is Hire with this rather rich BF piece. I believe BF is Hire’s crew name as his Instagram account is @hireonebf although I am not too sure what the letters stand for.
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2021
What appears to be rather different about this piece from his normal fare is the inclusion of a 3D shadow which really isn’t in his regular repertoire. It is a nice tidy piece, and I guess one directed as much at the crew as at the Dean Lane audience. A hardy perennial and one I wouldn’t be without.
Another artist who appears to have woken up a little of late is Veks who has teamed up several times lately with his friend and painting partner Turoe. This character portrait piece was part of a collaboration with Turoe and Teao One from a week or two back.
Veks, M32 cycle path, Bristol, April 2021
This old school style portrait would appear to be autobiographical, with the words ‘we don’t learn… 80s kids’ posted next to it… perhaps even a self-portrait of a younger Veks? The cartoony piece is very nicely done and just in case you weren’t too sure about the artist, the letters VEK are tattooed onto the characters fingers.
I recently featured Footloose for the first time on Natural Adventures and said then that I would need to post more of her work and so, true to my word, here is another recent piece from her up on the M32 roundabout.
Footloose, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2021
Her letters, spelling LEWSE, are always pretty clear to read and follow quite a standard pattern, with a long base on the L and a curl at the top of the W, so it is her colours, fills and patterns that distinguish one piece from the next. In this piece the letters are filled very nicely with different shades of blue in an array of different patterns from spots to drops to lines.
I don’t think I have ever really given Lewse nearly as much credit for her work as I ought to have done and will be trawling back through my archives when I have a bit of slack to find some older pieces.
This wall presented a dilemma for me. It is one contiguous collaboration piece and I could have presented it as that, however my photographs were compromised by extraordinarily bright sunlight and I could only get decent shots of sections of the piece rather than the whole, and so I have split it into separate posts of which this is the second.
Acer One and Andy Council, Chatterton Square, Bristol, April 2021
This panel in by Andy Council and Acer One who collaborated several times very successfully over quite a short period this spring. The two rats are by Andy Council and show his composite approach to creating creatures, where the whole is definitely greater than the sum of the parts. The geometric writing from Acer One has completely stumped me, and every time I try to decipher it my eye goes funny and the pattern goes flat – it looks like it might say A2. I am fully expecting chapter and verse from Paul H on this one (no pressure Paul).
The final effect is a stunning one and there is still more to come from this wall just across the road from Temple Meads Station.
This wonderful and rather large mural is by Ejits, a Bristol artist and is the fifth instalment of the ‘six sisters’ shop facades opposite North Street Green. Orchestrated by Upfest and Bedminster BID, each of these beauties is painted by a local female artist, showcasing the wealth and breadth of street art in Bristol.
Ejits, North Street, Bristol, April 2021
The piece is painted not with spray cans, but more traditionally with paints and brushes and features Ejits which Emily (the artist’s real name) describes as ‘a curious and playful bunch of illustrated characters created to brighten up and bring joy to your world’. Well mark this down as an outright success straight away. I will confess at this stage that I didn’t know about the artist before she painted this, but now that she is on my radar, I’ll look out for her studio work and any walls she might be decorating.
Zoe Power, Gemma Compton, Sophie Long and Ejits, North Street, Bristol, April 2021
It is probably best to finish off with Emily’s own words about the piece which she calls ‘Rumpus’, taken from her beautiful website:
‘After a long year of lockdowns, I felt it was important to bring something colourful and joyful to this piece of public art. I took inspiration from Where the Wild Things are and Keith Haring to create something with a lot of movement and energy. That’s why the title of this piece is Rumpus!
The Six Sisters are hyped to be the largest mural project in the UK designed and painted by female street artists.
It sits in a prominent and popular part of the city on North Street Bedminster and also features murals by Bex Glover, Zoe Power, Gemma Compton and Sophie Long. Lucas Antics will be the sixth and final artist to add her mural to the line-up.‘
Stivs continues to turn out some of the best calligraphy writing in Bristol and this is an absolute beauty under Brunel Way. The photographs simply don’t do this piece justice… in the context of the slightly gloomy spot, the bright blue and purple letters illuminated the space and demanded to be looked at. A real humdinger.
Stivs, Brunel Way, Bristol, April 2021
I am not even going to attempt to tell you what the letters spell out, although I was thinking of having a go, I can tell you however that it is not his customary STIVS. I think the really clever touch lies with the thin bright blue outline on the black background that gives the whole thing a little lift. A nice piece.
This extraordinary piece from Acer One has been on my hit list for quite a while, but I never quite knew where it was, and being an independent, stubborn and rather proud individual I didn’t really want to ask anyone about its whereabouts.
Acer One, Bedminster, Bristol, April 2021
Unfortunately the sun was a little bit unkind being directly behind the piece on the day I took a walk into deepest Bedminster. The large piece is not like the geometric work that Acer One has been churning out lately, but one of his cityscapes. The whole thing is a little bit like a Dan Kitchener piece in its urban scene with lights, but there the comparison ends.
Acer One, Bedminster, Bristol, April 2021
I suspect the piece depicts a street scene somewhere in Bristol, but I can’t quite be sure where. The blurred lights give the impression of cars in the night photographed with a long exposure. This is an amazing piece and so well worth a visit if you can find it.
I don’t understand what is going on in Bristol at the moment, but some truly magnificent pieces are being painted over far too quickly. Maybe we have too many artists (is that a thing?) or maybe we don’t have enough ‘safe’ walls (probably), whatever the reason, there is a lot of great art that has a very short lifetime. This collaboration from Hemper and Benjimagnetic is one of these ephemeral pieces.
Hemper, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2021
The artists have worked really well together here and their pieces appear to be a bit of a fusion, each mimicking the other one’s style. They have matched the colour scheme across the two pieces, and on the left is this exquisite HEMS (difficult to see) so skilfully crafted.
Benjimagnetic, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2021
To the right is the Benjimagnetic half spelling BEN and equally expertly sprayed. It would seem that in working together on this, both artists have raised their game, particularly Benjimagnetic, whose work at the moment is entering a new level. This is simply a beautiful collaboration.
Hemper and Benjimagnetic, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2021
This piece has quenched my thirst a little. Over the last year I haven’t seen too many Rusk pieces, and although he was never a ‘once a week’ artist, I would expect to see more from him in a normal year. Of course this is not a normal anything.
Rusk, Brunel Way, Bristol, April 2021
This is quite a large burner, on a wall I hate to photograph because of the light reflections and poor light quality. Rusk has written a beautifully finished intertwining set of letters with magnificent fills along with a bonus character of Mighty Mouse, although he has swapped his customary red cape for a blue one. Really nice stuff from Rusk.
In life, you just know when something special or significant has happened, there is that supernatural sense that kicks in, the one that heightens your senses and gets the adrenaline pumping. For me, I would class finding this masterpiece (a word I rarely use on Natural Adventures) by Laic217 was one of those special moments.
Laic217, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2021
Adding to this special sensation was that I didn’t know the piece was here and I hadn’t seen any posts on social media – it felt like a proper discovery rather than seeking a piece out.
Laic217 has smashed it. The familiar skeleton figure is set on a sumptuous red background with a fine yellow border framing the piece nicely. A bucket hat with a yin yang emblem and a blue dragon made of smoke dancing round the skeleton’s head. The cherry on the top of this extraordinary piece is the short-sleeved shirt. Laic217 is known for his incredible portrayal of different materials and fabrics and here he has taken it to another level. The black shirt with its creases and two dragon designs is utterly awesome, and I love the vest poking through the vee of the shirt.
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