I am having way too much fun skiing to write comprehensive posts this week, and am completely worn out when I do have a moment. So this is a quickie.
Aspire, Mina Road, Bristol, February 2025
I have known about this stunning Octopus piece by Aspire for a while, but simply haven’t found myself an a situation where I could park up and photograph it. A little late to the party, but I made it in the end. Aspire used to keep us very happy in Bristol when he lived here with his regular bird pictures, but he does come back from time to time, and obviously still has contacts in the city. I guess that this was a commission for the restaurant below. Superb artwork.
It is always great to see the familiar chunky letters painted by Noise. I wonder whether Noise might be a bit of a ‘fair-weather’ artist, as he hasn’t been out painting much over the winter period, or maybe he has had other commitments that have kept him busy elsewhere.
Noise, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, February 2025
Noise has compressed the letters a little to fit into the space, which makes them look even more chunky than usual. The rather dour colour and disposition of the letters is uplifted by the rather crude pink crosses, without which I think the graffiti writing could be a bit lost. A nice end result.
There is no question about it, Hemper has found a new level of energy, the likes of which I haven’t seen since around Covid lockdown, when he was pretty busy also. Barely a day goes by when there isn’t a new piece by this exceptionally gifted artist. One of the most notable things about Hemper is that every piece he paints is new and creative, he rarely, if ever, revisits old designs and copies them, each one is utterly unique.
Hemper, Cowmead Walk, Bristol, February 2025
This outstanding piece is like a ‘sampler’ where each letter shows off his astonishing technique and gift for colour, shapes, patterns, design and can control. Spelling out HEMS, the H, E and S all have white accents which provide depth and a 3D effect, whereas the E is much flatter and hugs the wall. There is so much to enjoy in this piece, that it is probably wiser not to describe it, but to let you enjoy it at your leisure. I rarely use the word genius, because it is in my view overused – in this case, however, I believe it to be appropriate.
Shab, North Street, Bristol, June 2019Shab, St Michael’s Hill, Bristol, November 2017Shab, St Michael’s Hill, Bristol, November 2017Shab, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2017Shab, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2017Shab, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017Shab, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017Shab, Wade Street, Bristol, June 2017Shab, Wade Street, Bristol, June 2017Shab, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2017Shab, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2017Shab, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2017Shab, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2017Shab, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016Shab, North Street, Bristol, September 2015Shab, Magdalene Place, Bristol, June 2016Shab, St Michael’s Hill, Bristol, September 2016Shab, St Michael’s Hill, Bristol, September 2016Shab, Picton Lane, Bristol, April 2016Shab, Picton Lane, Bristol, April 2016Shab, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2017Shab, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2017
Yet another debut on Natural Adventures, despite seeing the artist’s work about the place for quite some time now. This character piece is by Weas, or at least, that is what the letters say. The reason I haven’t posted any other pieces that I have photographed is that Weas hasn’t included letters before nor a signature, so I never knew how to identify the artist.
Weas, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2025
The character is most recognisable for the little ‘doughnut’ mouth, which is common to all Weas’ pieces. The character is reasonably simple in design and execution, probably taking only a few minutes to paint. I expect the blue blob was painted first, followed by the pink shadow and then the black outline and detail last. Expect to see more from Weas, now that I have started the ball rolling.
This post has been written in advance, because I will be making an early start today departing for our skiing holiday to the French Alps. I will try to post every day while I am on holiday, but it all rather depends on how things go. Meanwhile, I’d like you to enjoy this beauty from Hire.
Hire, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, February 2025
Although Hire’s work has been difficult to decipher from to time, the letters are always there, however, I have noticed that there he is drifting into a kind of abstract presentation, and this piece isn’t unlike some of Ments’ pieces, which I used to describe as organic/abstract. I love the colour selections, the shapes of the letters and the neon glow of the border green in this writing. First class stuff from Hire.
Hemper and Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2025
Hypo and Hemper have been super-busy this February, Hemper in particular. This collaboration has taken up quite a lot of space on the long wall on the northern side of the M32 roundabout, and it is a really impressive production piece.
Hemper, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2025
Hemper has produced a stunning piece of writing to the left spelling out HEMS. He has a vibrant colour horizontal gradient running through the letters, and his subtle white trims and flashes give it all a super depth and lifts it away from the wall. I think that the B boy character is also by Hemper along with the urban landscape behind.
Hypo, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2025
Hypo, who often paints with Hemper continues the colour scheme bringing balance to the production. This might just be one of the best pieces I have seen from Hypo. The depth of his letters is great, and the graded fills perfectly done. I particularly like the interstitial spots between the letters. There is a superb ‘old school’ vibe about this collaboration.
Mr Crawls, Kool Hand and Daz Cat, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2025
This is something of a rarity, a character collaboration. Often you get combinations of characters and graffiti writing in small or large collaborative efforts, but exclusively character pieces is unusual and just how brilliant is this collection from Mr Crawls, Kool Hand and Daz Cat?
Mr Crawls, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2025
Mr Crawls has hit the ground running this year with some outstanding pieces and a slight change in direction or modification of his characters. He is always looking to move things forward and adding new ideas around his central theme of a bird wearing a hat. This most recent phase I would describe as stylised cartoon work.
Kool Hand, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2025
Another artist who has been busy over the winter is Kool Hand, and what a good artist he is, I have just updated his gallery and there are some really fine pieces to enjoy there. This piece features a three-quarter profile of his famous orangutan character, this time in green. Crisp and clean and really well presented.
Daz Cat, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2025
An artist whose work has become more sophisticated and complex over the last few years is Daz Cat. In the early days his cat pieces were fairly two-dimensional, and although fun to find, had plenty of headroom for improvement. Now Daz Cat is operating at an entirely different level, turning out first class portrait pieces (mostly of cats) with every outing. This smiling cat is a perfect example of his work, so full of character and detail and a enjoy to behold. Below is an example of his early work to give you an idea of what I am talking about. This is a very fine character collaboration.
I mentioned in my last post (Mr Draws chromie in the tunnel) that the colours blue and pink make perfect bed fellows. It is a bit of a cliché, but it is also true. DJ Perks has used the two colours to great effect in this recent piece in Lawrence Weston. I guess to be more accurate, this piece is pink and mauve, but the same applies.
DJ Perks, L Dub, Bristol, February 2025
DJ Perks has produced some very flat letters and by that I mean he hasn’t tried to give the letters depth with accent lines, instead preferring a straight forward drop shadow to project the letters out from the wall. The graffiti writing is accompanied by the letters ABC (Art Beat Crew). As ever top drawer stuff.
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