Alex Dimond, Upfest 2026, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, May 2026
Three more small boards painted during the first weekend of Upfest. Unfortunately I missed the second week of boards, because they disappear after the Saturday, and I visited on Sunday. The first is an eye catching piece by Alex Dimond. Unusual, contemporary and most compelling.
Adam Beachey, Upfest 2026, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, May 2026
Next up is a fine piece by Adam Beachy. Some rich colours in this piece that appears to have a lot of symbolism – locks, chains and an ancient stairway. Not too sure what it all means, but it is a visual feast.
Michelle Urban, Upfest 2026, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, May 2026
Finally, a most attractive stylised piece of art by Michelle Urban has two women in red bathing costumes, paddling in the sea. The caption reads “Have you ever eaten an orange in the sea”. Your guess is as good as mine.
Three great examples of beautiful art in three very different styles.
Over the years the format of Upfest has evolved, in part to accommodate so many artists descending on the city, and to manage the spike in crowds that visit. The new format has spread the festival over three weekends, and a focus on new large feature walls. Each weekend, there is an opportunity for artists, many of whom are new to Upfest, to showcase their work on small 1m x 1m boards at the Tobacco Factory. I will try to include some of these in my Upfest posts, starting with these three.
Unknown artist, Upfest 2026, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, May 2026
First up is a piece by an artist whose signature I can’t read and have tried lots of variants on Instagram and Google searches, but with no positive result. This is a fabulous illustration piece with a cartoon-style girl drawing and colouring animals, examples of which are distributed about the piece. A wonderful and fun creative idea.
Ryan Gajda, Upfest 2026, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, May 2026
Next up is a vibrant portrait by Ryan Gajda, of a woman sitting in a cross-legged position, and the sun at her back. An interesting style, with a combination of presence and absence of detail.
Andy Downes, Upfest 2026, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, May 2026
Finally, a busy portrait piece by Andy Downes, celebrating Upfest and Bristol, incorporated in the glasses. The artwork is superb, with the portrait composed of flashes of light and dark colour creating light and shade and consequently depth. Some pink and black lines frame the piece nicely.
Stephen Quick, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, February 2023
I’m not quite sure if this actually qualifies as street art, even though it is by a studio/street artist, Stephen Quick, and was hanging up outside at the Tobacco Factory. The piece was for sale, alongside three or four others, in the outdoor café area. The resolution isn’t too great because it was quite dark when I took the pictures and I had to lean over some customers rather awkwardly.
Erika 0123 9-11 Feb 2023_editeda
I am a huge fan of Stephen Quick’s work, and have enjoyed observing him grow over the years. More than that, I think I’d really like to own an original, but I think I’d better start saving up now. This piece is called ‘Crying Woman’ and is an absolute belter. Some of you might note that the background is courtesy of Paul Monsters. I think I might have to return to the Tobacco Factory soon and take some better pictures.
This was perhaps one of the lower-key pieces to be painted for the Upfest 75×75 event, tucked away in the car park of the Tobacco Factory. I don’t think I have come across Kappa V Kappa Art before, but it appears that they are a Bristol-based outfit who describe themselves as chaotic, colourful art. I am not sure of the identity of the artist(s) so have used the ‘they’ pronoun to overcome embarrassment.
Kappa v Kappa Art, the Tobacco Factory, Bristol, July 2021, Upfest 21
The piece itself, while certainly colourful, I wouldn’t describe as being chaotic, on the contrary, I think that there is a clear form to this delightful abstract piece, bursting with energy. Really rather nice, and I will be looking out for more work from Kappa v Kappa.
There is an interesting crossover with this piece from Soker in so much as it is an Upfest 75×75 piece from a Bristol graffiti writer who produces this kind of thing regularly all around the city to this high standard, without being ‘special’ event pieces. I’m not sure if I articulated that very well, but perhaps what I mean is that we are spoilt in Bristol with having so many outstanding writers like Soker.
Soker, Raleigh Road, Bristol, July 2021, Upfest 21
This is a lovely clean and colourful design from Soker, spelling SOKEM. There are two or three colour/fill themes going on through the letters and a central vanishing point for the 3D shading. This is what great graffiti writing looks like.
I first encountered Mind Control’s work at Upfest 2017, and since then, the young artist has been improving steadily. Much of his work is themed around animal rights and this piece aligns to what is obviously a strong motivation for the artist. His perseverance and hard work has been rewarded with this Tobacco Factory spot for Upfest’s 75 walls in 75 days event.
Mind Control, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, July 2021, Upfest 21
The piece itself feels a little bit threatening and menacing with a masked and hooded hunt saboteur set in front of a stark background with barbed wire strung across it. Two foxes feature in the piece, presumably freed or protected by the character. This is a piece full of passion and not a little anger and it comes across in the colours, style and subject matter. Rather different from the more mainstream fare we have been used to seeing from Upfest this year.
Many of this year’s Upfest pieces have been on large, premium walls, often over-painting previous masterpieces, but not all. There are a few standard sized boards at the Tobacco Factory car park that are the perfect size for graffiti writers. One such writer is Candie Bandita from London who specialises in script and lettering, particularly on shutters, and whose name is derived from a Commodore 64 game called Candy Bandit… not one I remember, but I was an Amstrad user addicted to Elite.
Candie Bandita, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, June 2021, Upfest 2021
The piece is a very special piece of writing in perfect colour matches with a superb metallic look to it achieved with clever use of white fills and shiny white stars. Setting it off perfectly is the neon pink Bandita glowing across the base of the piece. This is really accomplished graffiti writing and a privilege to see in Bristol. Shame that the Tobacco Factory café have elected to place a table right in front of the wall… keeping it real I suppose.
There is real craft and ability in the work of Emily Joy Rich, and her training and work as a graphic designer certainly come to the fore when you see her work. Her letters are so clean, tidy and sharp and her designer’s eye uses the space beautifully. I have only seen a handful of her pieces and like each one of them, she seems to be, in a way, upholding the art and craft of the sign-writer.
Emily Joy Rich, The Tabacco Factory, Bristol, July 2021, Upfest 21
‘You are not alone’ reminds me of the Close Encounters tag line ‘We are not alone’ but the two have very different connotations. The hashtag #youarenotaloneart, seems to be a ‘thing’ and checking it out on Instagram highlights some beautifully written murals from across the world. This one is a corker from Emily Joy Rich and I particularly like the two-tone grey shading on the word ‘Alone’, which gives it loads of perspective and lifts the word out from the wall. Highly accomplished work and another triumph for Upfest 75×75.
It was a real pleasure to find myself in the company of so many great Bristol artists at the 25 year anniversary celebrations at the Tobacco Factory, and none more so than Pelmo, whose work I have admired for some time. It was nice to meet him for the first time and to find out a little bit about how he likes to work.
Pelmo, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, May 2019
In creating this piece, featuring one of his outsized characters, he had decided to abandon his spray cans on environmental grounds and use paint and brushes, which was a first for him on a wall. Set in a skyscraper landscape, the large gentleman is posing with a ballet dancer, and there is an interesting and rather sad synergy between the two of them. I like the piece very much, but I wonder if the large amount of white space works on this scale.
We live in curious times. In the UK we have been enduring an insane paralysis brought about by Brexit, something that has irreversibly divided the nation. In the United States, the most powerful man in the world, President Donald Trump, sets an uneasy tone which resonates globally as his uncompromising ‘business man’ approach to politics destabilises all around him in his efforts to deliver an America first agenda. And yet all this pales into insignificance in the light of two of the most pressing issues in human history… climate change and biodiversity loss.
Jody, Upfest, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, May 2019
In such moments unlikely heroes arise, and none more unlikely than sixteen year-old Swedish schoolgirl Greta Thunberg. This incredible painting by Bristol’s Jody, part of Upfest’s Summer Editions programme, is a worthy tribute to a young girl whose voice speaks for millions and whose direct messages have contributed to a change in how governments listen to this narrative. Of course listening and acting are two different things, but Greta seems to be in no mood to stop campaigning just yet.
Jody, Upfest, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, May 2019
Jody, Upfest, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, May 2019
Jody spent a couple of weeks creating this piece and I saw him on a few occasions while he was painting it. We chatted briefly, and I was rather pleased to find out that he has read some of my posts on Natural Adventures. He said that my reviews of his work were kind, and I rather foolishly said that I was kind to everyone, which then made me feel like I was saying that his work was not special. Well let’s put that straight right now… his work is exceptional and of the highest quality and this will I’m sure become an Iconic image of Greta. I believe that pictures and stories about it have already gone global.
Jody, Upfest, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, May 2019
It is funny how Greta Thunberg has become a world leader in taking these issues to governments and citizens and bringing climate change up the agenda. Of course, other campaigners have been banging on about this for decades, but somehow her arrival and campaigning came just at the right time, following huge public opinion shifts around the issue of single use plastics, themselves probably prompted by the amazing work of the BBC and Blue Planet 2 and of course Sir David Attenborough.
We have reached a crossroads, and nations must decide how they are going to meet the challenges of Climate change and biodiversity loss. I would say at this point (and I apologise for pointing this out) that there is a strong correlation between Brexiteers and Trumpists (small ‘c’ conservatives) and climate change denial/apathy or even charges of conspiracy. What these people have not registered or acknowledged is that climate change and biodiversity loss will not discriminate against those people they impact upon, nobody will be immune.
We will all lose unless something is done. Large businesses and their shareholders will lose money and maybe collapse; coastal cities and towns will become battered by increasing frequency of storms and rising sea levels; insurance companies will struggle to operate models that can cope with the claims made; more people will go hungry as crops ruin, trade collapses and selfishness protects the rich.
A bleak future for all of us, and the ‘flat earthers’ who don’t want to face up to these challenges put all of us at risk by their deliberating and self-protection. Fools. Look no further than the man-made islands in Dubai and the most fantastic monuments to human folly – built on funds from fossil fuels, these islands will inundate as sea levels rise. You couldn’t make it up.
Here endeth the rant.
Jody, Upfest, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, June 2019
I thank Upfest for making this happen. I thank Jody for choosing to paint this outstanding piece. I thank Greta Thunberg for giving me hope and inspiration. I have dedicated my life to the environment personally and professionally and at last I feel we might be approaching a tipping point where public opinion influences public policy.
Jody, Upfest, Tobacco Factory, Bristol, June 2019
Let’s hope that this iconic piece and iconic young woman continue to inspire us all (even those who disagree with their message, in fact especially those who disagree with their message).
Natural adventures 