It has been a little while since I last saw some writing from Nightwayss, so it was a nice surprise to find this ‘NIGHT’ on the M32 cycle path. There is an interesting colour palette and a highly complex design, but I have to say it doesn’t quite work for me and I can’t put my finger on it.
Nightwayss, M32 cycle path, Bristol, December 2019
Maybe the lack of clear definition around the letters is a little unconventional, and the colours tend to merge a bit. Also the texture of the wall isn’t very helpful with this busy design. I fear I might protest too much, and anyway, photobombing dog seems to rather like it.
Aah, pigs swimming, but not any ordinary pigs, it looks like these might be related in some way to the uniformed kind. I absolutely love this rather surreal mural from Peter Sheridan at the Cheltenham Paint Festival 2019. It is an outrageous piece beautifuly painted.
Peter Sheridan, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
Peter Sheridan painted one of my favourite pieces of Upfest 2018 and he has carried on his brilliant work in Cheltenham. It took a while to find this piece but it was well worth the endeavour. It is not only the bizarre and humorous story of the piece, but the execution is quite exquisite.
Peter Sheridan, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
Any piece with water is always going to be a challenge, but it is one that the artist has risen to and mastered. There are two other pieces that instantly come to mind when I see this and they are; the Odeith crocodile at Upfest 2018 and the figure in water by Cosmo Sarson at Upfest 2016:
Odeith, Upfest, Bristol, July 2018Cosmo Sarson, Greville Road, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
I love the work of I Bee W, but feel a bit guilty that I haven’t posted much of his work – there is no reason for this, I just have a few pieces in my archive that never made it out. This poignant piece from the Cheltenham Paint Festival 2019 was always going to get posted as the subject matter chimes with me.
I bee W, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
There is a high-gloss quality about this piece, which is remarkable really as it has been sprayed onto chipboard. The image is a sad tale of the disappearance of wildlife through biodoversity loss and climate change, the two most significant issues facing the planet. A little red-eyed tree frog – a representative of life on earth – is saying ‘Bye then!’ as if its existence is a trivial afterthought. Although quite funny, I find this piece and all it represents very depressing. I never thought I would witness first-hand the tipping point, where slowing or reversing biodiversity loss becomes impossible, but all I see around me is an acceleration towards that eventuality. Big changes are needed urgently if we want a beautiful future.
One of the rather comforting things about the Cheltenham Paint Festival was the number of familiar Bristol-based artists who had been invited to paint, including the wonderful Mr Draws who is no stranger to Natural Adventures.
Mr Draws, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
This imaginative piece combines a toothpaste tube with mountains… who’d have thought? When I first started photographing pieces by Mr Draws, a great many of them featured mountains, so it was nice to see this retrospective piece in Cheltenham. I have previously published a gallery of his work which you can see here.
I have only once before come across the work of Buber Nebz and that was a fabulous dog piece that he painted at Upfest 2016. That dog and this fine painting of a woman listening to music could hardly be more different and demonstrates that the artist is most versatile and constantly evolving his style. On his website biography he stated that his recent works contain pixels, something he is playing with at the moment and that can be seen in the hair of this woman.
Buber Nebz, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
I think that this piece has an oblique reference to the book theme of the festival, by mentioning words in the context of music with the slogan ‘where words fail, music speaks’. I’m not sure if this is Buber Nebz’ quote or he is quoting someone else, but it seems to work well here. This is a nice clean piece with a great colour palette – a great contribution to the festival.
Consistently creative, hugely talented and generally just brilliant, Chinagirl Tile keeps on turning out the most incredible ceramic installation pieces time and time again. This clever combination piece for the Cheltenham Paint Festival 2019 features a ceramic tile girl spray painting a child-like horse with blue spots. I was lucky enough to catch up with Chinagirl Tile when she was putting this piece together – it was all a little tense as she was running low on the bonding material for glueing the tiles to the wall. While we chatted I managed to sneak a picture of her plan for the piece, and I have to say it all turned out pretty much as she had imagined it.
Chinagirl Tile, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
I think that Chinagirl Tile is unique amongst street artists in that I don’t know of any others who make such elaborate and artistic original tiles of this type. There are many installation artists, but none who do anything like this.
Chinagirl Tile, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
The girl is made up of about fifteen or more separate tiles, each perfectly crafted, glazed and fired and pieced together seamlessly. It is a painstaking process but one that yeilds such fabulous results. And… you’ve got to love that monkey on her shoulder.
Chinagirl Tile, Paint Festival 2019, Cheltenham, September 2019
At festivals, Chinagirl Tile consistently remains one of my favourite artists and any town anywhere in the world would be uplifted by one of her beautiful tile installations. The best part is that they tend to remain intact for several years, for people to enjoy.
There is something rather thrilling about coming across a new piece from a new artist and this is the perfect example. The wonderful bold wobbly woman, painted with a creative confidence that I just love is by Yoli Ward-Streeter (Yoliws) who is one third of an all female creative community in Bristol called glu (art).
Yoliws, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2019
It is high-time that we had an injection of new street art in Bristol and especially from female painters, you can never have enough. The thing I love most about this piece is the sense of freedom and fun that it exudes, there is nothing pretentious or arrogant about it and the naive style, simple outline and solid fill added together create something really rather different and special.
I look forward to seeing more from Yoli and her partners at Glu and am already aware of some small pieces down at Cumberland Basin that have been painted by this collective. All good.
Face 1st has been at it again with this beautiful piece down on the north side of the M32 roundabout. I think this must have been his last piece of 2019 and it features both a happy and a sad face which might be a reflection of the year gone by. Let’s hope that next year’s equivalent piece has two happy faces.
Face 1st, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2019
The writing in this piece is so very easy on the eye with big fat letters and subtle shading and highlights that give it a nice 3D effect. The two things that stand out for me though are the little red heart and the tears of the crying girl. Thank you Face 1st for an incredible year of art, and a lovely t-shirt to boot.
I have a feeling that although Kleiner Shames now lives and works in London, he must have friends or family in Bristol who he visits from time to time, and when he does, he takes a little time out to paint, which is lucky for us really.
Kleiner Shames, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2019
This piece is one of a couple that he painted over the Christmas break in the St Werburghs tunnel. Spelling out FOIS, this is typical of the wonderful designed style that Kleiner Shames uses. The colours and solid fills are trademarks that identify his work, but it is the hint of art influences from the 1920s that I love to see. He is an artist that will always be welcome in Bristol.
Ooh, there is so much to like about this gorgeous piece of graffiti writing from Rusk down at the M32 roundabout. The colour choices are magnificent and it is clever how the chrome/gray at the bottom of the piece matches the buffed background. The transitions between the the green/white/chrome are masterfully done, with an intermediate green to gently soften the blend.
Rusk, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2019
As always it would appear that Rusk has taken time and care to produce this tight and very clean piece. Even the attention to detail on the smaller yellow RAW and RUSK is of the highest level. This is a classic Rusk piece and showcases really well his skills. Surely it must be time for a gallery of Rusk’s work – I’ll get to it.
Natural adventures 