4757. Upfest 2022 (54)

Snub 23, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Snub 23, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

This wall is a powerful and significant wall, reasonably new to Upfest, that although is impressive, is really difficult to photograph. Because it is high up, the bright sky behind it tends to lead to underexposure of the artwork, so I have to do a little bit of post-production work just to make these pictures reasonable.

Snub 23, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Snub 23, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

The mural is by Snub23, a regular at Upfest, and one who pretty much always gets to paint one of the premium walls. Snub23’s work these days usually features comic book-style characters, caught in a narrative and almost as if they were ripped out of the pages and stuck up on the wall. What is the rest of the story behind this magnificent piece?

Snub 23, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Snub 23, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

Technically, this piece is beautifully painted, with fabulous detail in the character’s mask and in the material around his neck. The background is a perfect, patterned backdrop for the scene, providing an almost pixelated or white noise environment, which is very effective. This is a great Upfest piece from Snub23.

4756. Upfest 2022 (53)

Sphiza, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Sphiza, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

There are some paintings at Upfest that you fall in love with at first sight and this magnificent mural by Sphiza is exactly that. From the moment I first saw it, I knew it was something rather special.

Sphiza, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Sphiza, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

In this piece, which makes extraordinary use of colours to create shadings and texture (a bit like a stencil might), Sphiza conveys an important ‘peace’ message via a portrait of a youngster drawing a peace symbol on a sheet of paper. I don’t know very much about Sphiza, and haven’t seen any of her work before, but am especially interested because she is from Porto in Portugal, and regulars will know how much I love the city.

4755. Upfest 2022 (52)

At last year’s Upfest, Cuicasolo was given a lovely wall in the Hen and Chicken café garden, this year she had to make do with one of the square boards, which she has painted expertly.

Cuicasolo, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Cuicasolo, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

Cuicasolo’s designs are nicely thought out and have a mixture of geometric discipline and abstract freedom, creating work that dances in front of your eyes. The colour selections work well together and the overall piece is pleasing, it is a pity she wasn’t allocated a wall to paint this year, but with so many artists, a large proportion of them end up painting boards,

4754. Upfest 2022 (51)

Philth, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Philth, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

In one of the prettiest backwaters immediately off North Street is the perfect street art wall. This miniature park, ‘Ebenezer Pocket Park’, has benefitted from some stunning murals over the years, and at Upfest 22 it was the turn of Philth.

Philth, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Philth, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

Philth is perhaps best known for his floral designs, one of which can still be seen in North Street Green, not far away from this piece. In this outstanding mural, which has a retro feel to it, Philth has painted a beautiful young lady in amongst an ocean of mushrooms and fungi. The ribs under the caps have been cleverly observed and recreated. What makes the piece special is the green tones that have been used and the splashes of red, lifting the whole design to another level. A truly wonderful Upfest piece.

4719. Upfest 2022 (50)

Taker One, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Taker One, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

This is definitely one for the cat lovers. Last year, the walls and shutter of ‘For the Pets’ pet shop on East street were adorned with some ultra-cute animals painted by Roo – a difficult act to follow, but Taker One has taken up the baton and excelled.

Taker One, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Taker One, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

There are three cats painted on the sides of the corner shop in a photorealistic style and using mono colour tints, creating a fabulous effect. The cats are absolutely gorgeous and full of character.

Taker One, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Taker One, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

Each cat is painted in a different colour tone, but my brain doesn’t interpret this as in any way strange, they simply look like cats. These cats definitely deserved a permanent wall, and it is reassuring to know that they will be here, most likely, until the next Upfest.

Taker One, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Taker One, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

Taker One is a mural artist from Hungary, and these cats add to his spectacular negative/positive portrait piece from Upfest 2016, which was a real hit. I sincerely hope that this extremely talented artist is able to return again to Bristol and wow us with his incredible art.

Takerone, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016
Takerone, Upfest, Bristol, July 2016

4718. Upfest 2022 (49)

Elf, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Elf, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

A noticeable difference between Upfest and the everyday street art scene in Bristol is the ratio of character pieces to graffiti writing. At Upfest I would guess that there are three character pieces to each graffiti writing piece, whereas on the street, it is much more like a 1:3, 4 or 5 ratio the other way round. This is just a brief explanation of why there are so many character pieces from Upfest on Natural Adventures.

Elf, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Elf, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

This is a rather touching piece by Elf, featuring a creature cuddling a little baby. I don’t know much at all about the artist, but her full moniker is Elfkunst, which translated from the German means Elf art, so I guess she is German speaking (German or Swiss).

The work is eye-catching and beautifully presented. All the lines are neat and tidy. The little details and patterns bring the whole thing to life. Cute, cuddly creatures, with a touch of mystery and edge.

4717. Upfest 2022 (48)

Octofly Art, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Octofly Art, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

You get to meet an awful lot of colourful characters at Upfest, both participating artist as well as other visitors. One of my favourite people to meet is Octofly, a wonderful character artist from Italy. Octofly is always up for a chat and has an infectious cheerful disposition.

Octofly Art, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Octofly Art, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

This is a witty piece featuring a dinosaur sipping on a cup of tea, entitled Tea Rex. To be witty is one thing, to be witty in a foreign language is next level. The whole piece on a rather slender board is delightfully well composed and sharp as anything. A really great piece from Octofly.

4716. Upfest 2022 (47)

J. Sharples, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
J. Sharples, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

I thoroughly enjoyed this year’s Upfest, which was made even better by my daughter accompanying me on one of the days. It is the first time that any family member has shown any real enthusiasm for my passion and I felt very supported. Fortunately there was a really good mix of works in progress and completed pieces for my daughter to enjoy.

J. Sharples, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
J. Sharples, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

This gorilla piece from Jay Sharples is a classic piece of character street art. The background is in complete harmony with the portraits which are perfectly clean and crisp. It is always a pleasure to see his work when he visits Bristol for Upfest.

4715. Upfest 2022 (46)

Korp, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Korp, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

It will take me all year to post everything I want to post from Upfest, so you will have to be patient. I have to intersperse the Upfest pieces with the contemporary work that appears on the streets of Bristol every day. This is a wonderful piece from Koop, an artist I have seen a fair bit on the Festival circuit.

Korp, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Korp, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

Korp creates these rather endearing creature characters – I think that they are worms – and this is quite the best one I have seen to date. There is something about the colours in this one that work so well. The feathers are beautifully worked and the whole piece is very neat and tidy with crisp, sharp lines. Look out for more from Korp, coming soon.

4658. Upfest 2022 (45)

Diff, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Diff, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

Diff is a Bristol street artist who is horribly under-represented on Natural Adventures, and although I have published a few of his pieces before, I still have several in my archives. I will have to dig them out. This most recent piece, for Upfest is a real winner in my view.

Diff, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Diff, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

There is something rather tender and touching about the stencil piece, and the positioning and posture of the kissing characters is just about perfect. Young love beautifully captured in a contemporary way. Such a pity this piece was only on view for two days – perhaps he could recreate it somewhere else in Bristol… hint, hint.