Another piece from the archives, and it is one from Grimes that I must have photographed before I knew who the artist was, and held back as I rarely post unattributed work. This one was taken back in January last year, and may have been the first time I became aware of his outstanding graffiti writing work.
Grimes, River Avon, Bristol, January 2024
The fruity colours are ones that he really seems to enjoy using, and I have to say that it is the colour palette decisions that he makes that have drawn me into his work, that and the energy that emanates from his pieces. There is a busyness about this piece with the colours and all of the fill patterns, but somehow he gets away with it and it doesn’t feel like hard work viewing it, which can happen sometimes with busy pieces. Nice work from Grimes, who incidentally is a really lovely bloke.
Andrew Burns Colwill, Greville Smyth Park, Bristol, January 2024
I found this piece, by Andrew Burns Colwill, in my archives and I can’t for the life of me understand why I haven’t posted it before. His work is so good that every time I photograph it, I try to post it on Natural Adventures. Something went wrong with the system here, but at least I am putting things straight now.
Andrew Burns Colwill, Greville Smyth Park, Bristol, January 2024
I have a feeling that the incredible mural may have been painted as an Upfest piece back in 2022, but I only photographed t in January 2024, so not only am I slow in posting it, I was also very slow in finding in in the first place. As with all of Andrew Burns Colwill’s pieces there is a strong story happening here, and my interpretation is that mankind is running out of time on this beautiful Earth. There is a deep sadness in the piece which is extremely powerful. As ever Andrew Burns Colwill reminds us of our fragile relationship with the place we call home.
Sometimes the simplest of pieces can be as pleasing as the most complex, and this is definitely a case of less is more. I find it quite difficult to date this piece by Mote, because it is the kind of piece he was turning out a year or two back, but it looks reasonably fresh and I don’t recall seeing it before.
Mote, Louisa Street, Bristol, December 2024
The monster character is about as basic as you can get. Some features, a double border and minimal fill patterns. There is a charm and clarity in the piece that warrants its inclusion in Natural Adventures, that, and the fact that I am a fan of his work and will always try to include it if I can. Nice, clean, fun piece.
Northbanksy, Hornsey Road, North London, December 2024
More from our friend Northbanksy in the railway tunnel adjacent to the Emirates Stadium, home of the mighty Arsenal football club. The tunnel has become a hall of fame for Arsenal players, and a but of a gallery for the artist, with phenomenal footfall on match days. The first piece if of Kai Havertz (not a great likeness), a player who didn’t do too well at Chelsea, but has improved greatly since joining Arsenal. The words ‘waka waka, eh eh’ are a reference to ‘his’ song which reverberates around the stadium when he scores or performs well, as follows:
“Tsamina, eh, eh, Waka waka, eh, eh, £60 million down the drain, Kai Havertz scores again”
The lyrics are a corruption of Shakira’s hit record ‘Waka waka’.
Northbanksy, Hornsey Road, North London, December 2024
The second player featured in Northbanksy’s faux stencil style, is Leandro Trossard, who is a bit of a super-sub, and scores a lot of goals considering the amount of game time he gets. This picture captures Trossard’s binocular goal celebration. The picture is accompanied by a typical football fan pre-match. More to come from Northbanksy.
This is a neat and tidy piece of Winter writing from Werm painted in his symmetrical theme design. What is particularly attractive about this piece is that the proportions work really well, and it is really tight.
Werm, River Avon, Bristol, January 2025
Orange and green are common colour combinations in graffiti writing and are colours that work extremely well together. It looks like Werm too his time with this piece, as all the lines are nice and straight, the fills accurate and the highlights very nicely placed. First-class writing from Werm.
Lis (Le Imposter Design), Greenbank, Bristol, December 2024
It is an interesting discussion to try and determine what constitutes graffiti or street art, and I don’t intend to go into a long essay about it right now. Within the community, there are all kinds of tribal differences, between graffiti writers, stencil artists, wheatpasters, character artists, muralists and studio artists. My take is that if it is on the street, then it all comes under the banner of street art, and I am always happy to feature it here on Natural Adventures. I’ll leave it to others to argue the finer points. I mention this because of an emerging talent, Lis (formerly Le Imposter Design), whose hand painted mushroom pieces are causing a little bit of a stir.
Lis (Le Imposter Design), Greenbank, Bristol, December 2024
Lis’ illustrative style is so very different from anything else we see on the street and, in my view, adds to the richness of the street art culture in Bristol. Her talent as an illustrator is obvious, and I love the way she is occupying small spaces on walls all over the city, treating us to interesting fungus-scapes. These orange mushrooms are accompanied by some smaller toadstools and plants as well as some little white symbols around the piece. Great work from Lis and a taste of more to come in 2025 (I dearly hope).
A little while back, it looks like Ryder and Rowdy had a bit of fun in the north side of the Cumberland Basin area, with lots of small pieces dotted about the place. I am assuming this column piece was part of that session.
Rowdy, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, January 2025
This is so Rowdy… three crazy colourful cats, looking a little bit like children’s drawings. The colours work incredibly well on the pinky red colour of the column. A piece full of mischief and joy from one of the most established street artists in Bristol.
Many times in the past, I have described Mr Draws as being the beating heart of the Bristol street/graffiti art scene. Regular and dependable, his artwork could not be described as ‘high end’ and there is nothing pretentious about what he does, and there is a Bristol charm lurking in his work.
Mr Draws, Brunel Way, Bristol, January 2025
This piece is obviously inspired by the latest Aardman Wallace and Gromit film that was screened over Christmas, and featured the penguin villain ‘Feathers’. The combination of chrome writing and the penguin character surprisingly combine rather nicely, and Mr Draws has done a great job.
Mr Draws, Brunel Way, Bristol, January 2025
I haven’t seen the movie, but I am guessing that the diamond has some significance in the plot line. Great fun from Mr Draws.
Time flies. I can’t believe that it was November 2023 when I went on tour with my daughter to check out potential universities. Since that time she decided to go to Leeds and has just successfully completed her first term there. I have to say that I was quite taken with Sheffield, a city I hadn’t been to before, and would have been quite happy if she had accepted a place there. As it is, Leeds is my paternal ancestral home and I am very happy that she is there.
The doors this week were snapped up during the short visit we made, and unlike most of my city doorscursions, this is a one-off post from Sheffield, which I hope you enjoy:
Modern green door on an Art Deco style building – the balcony door is original, Sheffield, November 2023
Green doors on an Art Deco style building, Sheffield, November 2023, Sheffield, November 2023
Back street door with tags and stickers/paste ups (skeleton by D7606), Sheffield, November 2023, Sheffield, November 2023
Raven Silverware Co Ltd door, Sheffield, November 2023, Sheffield, November 2023
Red electric meters door, and interesting stone surround, Sheffield, November 2023, Sheffield, November 2023
Leader House black door, Sheffield, November 2023
Fine black door and steps, Sheffield, November 2023, Sheffield, November 2023
The Sheffield School of Gin sounds fun – two black doors, Sheffield, November 2023, Sheffield, November 2023
Mount Zion gate and doors, Sheffield, November 2023, Sheffield, November 2023
So that’s it for another week. May I wish you a very happy weekend.
If you have made it this far, you probably like doors, and you really ought to take a look at the No Facilities blog by Dan Anton who has taken over the hosting of Thursday Doors from Norm 2.0 blog. Links to more doorscursions can be found in the comments section of Dan Anton’s Thursday Doors post.
This is the first time I have visited this spot, and it looks like a fairly new one, with a long hoarding that is mostly in mint condition. So far, it looks like Mote and Mr Crawls are the first to ‘colonise’ it. This is a wonderful character piece from Mote, who has had a quiet Winter so far, but appears to be kicking into gear now.
Mote, Greenway Bush Lane, Bristol, January 2025
This monster piece, by Mote, resembles a cat who looks both sad and scary in the same moment. The state of the cat reminds me a little of the feral cats that can be found everywhere in Marrakesh (still fresh in my mind and nourishing me). It must feel rather nice being the first to a new spot and painting some ‘virgin’ boards. It will be interesting to see if this becomes a recognised spot, or just occasional. I don’t know what the letters WYWH stand for, but will try to find out.
Natural adventures 