UK – Page 13 – Natural adventures

Drink

Parched landscape, hard rain

oh! to hear the ground groaning

drinking a long drink

by Scooj

Yesterday my area (one of the last in the country) fell into a Temporary Use Ban (TUB), more commonly known as Hosepipe Ban. This is an administrative stage in the drought management process and is designed to slow the demand on water resources. Although the groundwater situation is generally good after a very wet winter, rivers and reservoirs are very low, and it will take a long period of persistent rain to recover them. All the while people are still using water in high volumes, hence the ban.

The sun and shade are once again my enemy in these pictures of a wonderful piece by j9449j – AKA All 4 Nothing. The colour tones are beautifully selected and matched through the whole piece, and while I have no idea what the letters spell, if there even are any, it matters not, the composition is fabulous.

j9449j, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2026

J9449j (the name of his Instagram account when I first started writing about his work) has a wonderful abstract organic life in his work, with plenty of tufts of grass or plants and the odd flower making an appearance. The piece is enigmatic and intriguing – I’ve yet to meet the elusive artist. This is a classy work.

7869. Brunel Way (367)

Fade and Dibz, Brunel Way, Bristol, July 2026

After a slow start in the spring, Dibz and Fade have run off an impressive catalogue of collaborations this summer of which this one on the side of the newish skate ramp at Dave Side is a great example.

The hot colours used in the writing are perhaps designed to conjour up the warm Mexican environment to link up with the Speedy Gonzales character Slowpoke Rodriguez. I imagine both artists had a hand in painting the character which is a brilliantly faithful representation. Some great flat lettering from Fade on the left, which is mirrored on the right by Dibz.

I have exhausted superlatives desribing Dibz’ and Fade’s work this year, and perhaps it is just better for me to let their wildstyle writing do the talking for me. And still they keep turning out more and more pieces – I struggle to keep up.

Zinso

A gallery of characters and sharp graffiti writing from Bristol artist Zinso

Instagram: @zinso.1

All photographs by Scooj

Zinso, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2026

Zinso, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2026

Zinso, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2026

Zinso, St Werburghs, Bristol, February, 2026

Zinso, Peel Street Green, Bristol, November 2025

Zinso, River Avon, Bristol, November 2025

Zinso, St Werburghs, Bristol, September 2025

Zinso, Brunel Way bridge, Bristol, January 2020

7868. Dean Lane skate park (937)

Roma and Luxe, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2026

This curved wall on the back side of a ramp in Dean Lane skate park is one of my favourite walls in Bristol. I even have a gallery of some of the pieces painted on this wall going back to April 2017, which is worth a look, just to see how a wall changes over time. The latest occupiers of the wall are Roma and Luxe (Bbygwya).

These two graffiti ladies have been super-busy this summer and I haver been finding their writings cropping up all over the place. In this collaboration they have gone for a shared colour scheme and similar designs, with a light brown occupying the middle space between them and darker brown at the top and bottom. This is a nice way to collaborate. The green bubble background works well but might have expanded outweards and upwards a little further in my view. Nice work.

7867. Elton Street (31)

Esme Lower, Elton Street, Bristol, August 2026

Straight off the back of her hugely successful stint as the featured artist/designer for this year’s Upfest, Esme Lower (Melo) continues to go from strength to strength. Her rise has been relatively meteoric and richly deserved. Her unique cartoon character style is popular and she is learning and developing all the while.

This symmetrical piece on framed board on the wall of Lost Horizons has an amusing twist running through it. A green cable/stalk runs through from left ear, with an electrical plug, to the right with a flower (resembling a fan?). Meanwhile the two characters appear to be having something of a face-off. A striking piece with strong colours – perfect for this particular spot.

7866. M32 roundabout J3 (789)

Hemper, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2026

Hemper is back to his best with this gorgeous, colourful piece of wildstyle writing on the M32 roundabout.I simply don’t really know what to say about thois piece which is a bit of a study in perfection.

Let’s start with the background which is so much more than a simple buffed grey, exposing some of the black wall that lay behind it – this is not accidental or sloppy, but entirely crafted. The letter shapes are creative and free, backed up with a slim, but strong, black border and drop shadow. It is the colour fills and patterns that steal the show in my eyes. His skuilfil blending at the interface of two colours is immaculate, the patterns largely consist of reversed out spots and stripes, and the use of the white highlights help the letters to pop from the wall. If you want to see graffiti excellence, go no further.

Mischief

Sunflower, Autumn Beauty, Redland, Bristol, August 2026

Sunflower splendour

cut short in its majesty

hungriest squirrel

by Scooj

7865. Cumberland Basin

Taboo, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2026

Although we have had an exceptional summer, it has at times simply been too hot and unnaturally so. The wall to wall sunshine experienced in late June, July and early August has also let to a disproportionate number of my photographs featuring disruptive shadows, about which I cabn do very little. The shadow on this lovely piece by Taboo gets to me every time I look at it.

The piece appears to be a tribute to… Taboo (There is a number 25, and I wonder if that reflects 25 years of graffiti writing). The letters are made up of the letters TABOO, creating a larger TABOO and incorporating some train carriages and the words ‘Train maximalist’. All a little bit confusing. The whole thing though is great to look at and set on a buffed background. Gotta love those drips.

7864. M32 Cycle path (320)

The Cat Came Back, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, August 2026

What a fantastic way to announce your return, especially when your street name is ‘The Cat Came Back’. This is quite the best piece I have seen by the artist and I believe one that might herald a golden era for them. The last The Cat Came Back piece I photographed was way back in June 2022, and activity has been slow/absent since then.

I love this cheeky piece. A decapitated head of a cat, with a distinctive single eye and long poink tongue sits on a blue bubble cloud. A piece in the true tradition of gory cartoon style, and perfectly executed and framed on a white background. A character piece like this is always very welcome and adds to the variety of street art we see in the city. Watch this space for more from The Cat Came Back.

	hitandrun1964 on 7975. M32 roundabout J3 (…
	Paul - Cawston Green… on 7973. St Werburghs tunnel…
	scooj on 7973. St Werburghs tunnel…
	scooj on 7969. Greville Street –…
	scooj on 7968. Lime Road – Upfest…

	hitandrun1964 on 7975. M32 roundabout J3 (…
	Paul - Cawston Green… on 7973. St Werburghs tunnel…
	scooj on 7973. St Werburghs tunnel…
	scooj on 7969. Greville Street –…
	scooj on 7968. Lime Road – Upfest…

Tag: UK

Drink

7870. Cumberland Basin

7869. Brunel Way (367)

Zinso

7868. Dean Lane skate park (937)

7867. Elton Street (31)

7866. M32 roundabout J3 (789)

Mischief

7865. Cumberland Basin

7864. M32 Cycle path (320)

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: