Kid Crayon, Upfest 2026, Stillhouse Lane, Bristol, May 2026
A tiger playing a melodica… what could be more Upfest than that? This outstanding piece by Kid Crayon is all the more remarkable for the facts that it was painted in the rain, while the artist was suffering from food poisoning.
Kid Crayon, Upfest 2026, Stillhouse Lane, Bristol, May 2026
This is an unusual piece from Kid Crayon as it doesn’t really play into his usual stylistic tropes, and had it keen unsigned, it might have been difficult to identify him from the artwork alone. There is a nice balance in the piece, with the tiger in the foreground, with a chain and hoodie, while behind home is a nighttime urban landscape and bright full moon. Pure quality and class.
Conrico has a lightness of touch and an ability to tell stories through his pieces that is almost unique in Bristol. If I were to pick another artist who has similar qualities, it would be Daz Cat. This is a wonderful piece was painted as part of a paint jam I think to mark the birthday of Benry – I don’t know who Benry is, but there was some great art produced in celebration.
Conrico, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, March 2025
The piece features a girl riding a white tiger (or some mythical feline beast), and why not, and the orange atmosphere around the characters indicates something magical is going on. There is movement, excitement and fantasy in this piece which is beautifully painted by Conrico. Great stuff.
Jest Soubirquet, Frome Side, Bristol, January 2025
When I see pieces like this one from Jest Soubriquet (@likes12_art), I wonder how incredible our brains are at normalising and making sense of a patchwork of colour (all the wrong colours) to build an image of a tiger. Our capacity to ‘fill in the blanks’ is awesome.
Jest Soubirquet, Frome Side, Bristol, January 2025
Equally awesome is Jest Soubriquet’s ability to paint a tiger portrait in a multitude of colours, and he has done a superb job in this challenging spot underneath the M32. I always find it interesting that artists come here to paint, because footfall is practically zero, and these pieces won’t be seen by many people. Perhaps this simply emphasises the point that many street artists paint for the pure joy of it.
Conrico, Acer One and Andy Council, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024
You might be able to detect that I have been rooting around in my archives again, which I like to do every once in a while, because there are so many pieces that I’d like to share, but that get left behind. How this amazing collaboration from Conrico, Acer One and Andy Council ever got omitted I’ll never know, but I am making up for it now.
Conrico and Acer One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024Conrico and Acer One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024
The three part piece is a wonderful co-creation in which all the distinctive elements come together seamlessly. The landscape background with hints of an oriental coastal scene is by Conrico and creates a wonderful setting for the letters of Acer One, that spell out WABI SABI in two sections either side of the centrepiece by Andy Council,
Andy Council, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024
The central portrait of a roaring tiger has everything you’d expect from a piece by Andy council where each of the elements of the tiger are ‘stitched’ together to form a coherent and, frankly, stunning whole. I think that the rose pink clouds emphasising the tiger head were painted by Conrico. The overall collaboration is a triumph of three very different styles coming together to create something truly excellent.
Audrey Kawasaki, Raleigh Road, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024
Upfest really is an extraordinary opportunity to see street art form all corners of the globe, and with it a huge variety of cultural styles, to add to the broad ‘school of Bristol’ street art and graffiti. This is a wonderful piece from Audrey Kawasaki, a Japanese-American artist who lives and works in Los Angeles.
Audrey Kawasaki, Raleigh Road, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024
There is a strong mix of eastern and western cultures coming together in this beautiful piece, where the tiger represents the east and the girl the west, perhaps. Audrey Kawasaki (who has a fabulous website) appears to use this styling in a lot of her work and also I detect some Art Nouveau influences in her work that makes it super-interesting.
Audrey Kawasaki, Raleigh Road, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024
Audrey Kawasaki’s composition in this mural is outstanding with the two central characters surrounded by crows and feathers and framed in a red ‘cloudy’ border. There is definitely a story in this piece, and it compels the viewer to want more. Clever and beautiful work from the visitor this year’s Upfest.
Eyesaw, Cheltenham Paint Festival 22, Cheltenham, July 2022
I was not aware of Eyesaw until Upfest this year, where he painted at least two and possibly three pieces over the festival period. I have not posted those yet, but this piece from the subsequent Cheltenham Paint Festival, is typical of his style.
Eyesaw, Cheltenham Paint Festival 22, Cheltenham, July 2022
Eyesaw’s works are painted with the colours and blur of 3D pictures, and to date I haven’t tested them with the blue and red specs that you get from time to time, because I haven’t got any (note to self – get some 3D specs). This one is of a tiger flexing its muscles. The designs are clever, but are slightly lost on me without knowing for certain that they work.
Often a photograph simply doesn’t do a piece justice, and this wonderful tiger portrait by Tack Jucker is an example of this. The light conditions on the day I went were a little tricky, and the dappled shade on the piece takes away some of the detail.
Tack Jucker, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2022
Tack Jucker seems to improve with each piece I see and is growing in confidence. This is a superb piece, and he has incorporated his trademark Smokey wisps into the piece, which act almost like a signature. The expression on the tiger’s face has been well observed and captured. Evidence of yet more great work from the artist.
For a little while I feared that Maesyhook might have abandoned Bristol in favour of some other city or country, as her work appeared to drop off, and some of her Instagram posts were not from Bristol, but thankfully it would seem that she is here, and normal service is resumed.
Maesyhook, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, April 2022
I have always really liked Maesyhook’s work as it is unlike anything else we see, which makes a refreshing change. This tiger in her preferred pink and blue colours is low-key but rather beautiful. It is very illustrative and could easily be a character in a children’s picture book ‘the pink tiger who came to tea’ maybe. It is so, so good to see maesyhook painting again.
With this extraordinary piece in St Werburghs tunnel, we get to see the diversification of work from the very talented Rozalita. Over the last few weeks, we have been treated to a range of subjects from Rozalita, but I think that this might be the first animal portrait, and what a beauty it is.
Rozalita, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2022
The tiger face, although not photorealistic, has a seriousness and sincerity about it that removes it from the cartoony style that sometimes accompanies animal pieces. There are many elements that come together well, and the mouth/tongue has been particularly well done. I believe that, as her work develops, some finer detail will improve. I think whiskers might have lifted this piece up a level. Superb work from Rozalita who is on a magnificent roll at the moment.
Natural adventures 