The Hass, North Street Green, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024
The Hass is an exceptional street artist whose talents never cease to amaze me, and he has knocked it out of the park with this extraordinary piece for Upfest this year. The long wall is at the back of the brick building on North Street Green, and I believe that this is the first year it has been ‘commandeered’ for the festival.
The Hass, North Street Green, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024
I think I got lucky with the gorgeous weather on the day I photographed this piece, because the colours of the grass and sky are reflected in the artwork. The whole piece is a mash-up of stunning portraits and a peacock and peacock feathers.
The Hass, North Street Green, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024
The Hass has made a clever play with the eye patterns on the feathers and the eyes in the portraits, quite deliberately I’m sure. Not only does the piece blend perfectly with some abstract shapes and patterns, but there is also some incredible detail throughout the work. It is unbelievable that the whole thing is painted using spray cans. Outstanding work.
The Hass, North Street Green, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024
Faye Rai, North Street, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024
There has been a concerted focus at this year’s Upfest to create permanent or long-life pieces on existing and new walls, at the expense of the rather more ephemeral boards and festival atmosphere of previous events. I suspect that the festival element is more expensive and difficult to organise, and has been dropped this year, which is a pity. However, we are left with a plethora of outstanding pieces across South Bristol to enjoy, such as this beauty from Faye Rai.
Faye Rai, North Street, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024
I believe that Faye Rai is reasonably local, being based in Gloucester, and is an artist with a background in illustration. She has not been painting on the streets for very long, but appears to have made the transition very successfully, if this piece is anything to go by. She favours natural history in her work, and this portrayal of a purple heron is outstanding.
Faye Rai, North Street, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024
Now that she has a taste for street art, it would be wonderful to see more of her work about the place, and I am left wondering whether she might be painting at the Cheltenham paint festival later on this year. I have just checked her Instagram feed and note that she was at Cheltenham last year, and I have some pictures of her work, which alas I haven’t yet uploaded on to Natural Adventures, such is my backlog. These are surely the halcyon days of street art.
M. Oldhues, Ashton Road, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024
I think that this year, Steve and Emma, the organisers of Upfest, have definitely focused their efforts on securing more permanent walls in Bedminster for even more high-end artists from around the world to come to Bristol and leave their mark. There is an immediate and positive impact of the buildings and their surroundings when a new ‘marquee’ piece goes up.
M. Oldhues, Ashton Road, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024
This is an absolute beauty from Megan Oldhues, who is based in Toronto, Canada, and who describes her work as traditional realism, which I think it is the perfect description for this outstanding piece. I have been writing about street art and graffiti for almost ten years now, and I can honestly say that this still life piece ranks right up there with my all-time favourites. Not only is the piece magnificent in every way, but the transformative effect it has had on this unexceptional terraced building is quite extraordinary.
M. Oldhues, Ashton Road, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024
Somehow when looking at this mural, the brain completely shuts out the windows, which before the building was painted, were the only features to see, breaking up the monotony of the wall. Although I usually immerse myself in ‘everyday’ graffiti writing and street art, it is awe inspiring to see impressive murals like this one from time to time. Megan Oldhues is welcome in Bristol any time.
Rob Wass, The Spotted Cow, North Street, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024
To be honest with you, I am not sure whether this piece by Rob Wass, in the yard of the Spotted Cow pub, is from this year’s Upfest or whether it was already there before. It looks pretty fresh, and I know the artist has painted for the festival before, so I imagine it is a 2024 piece. (Update: it was painted for Upfest 2024)
Rob Wass, The Spotted Cow, North Street, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024
Rob Wass, who is a fine artist and designer, occasionally paints murals like this one, which are very much an upscaling of his studio work. He uses brushes rather than spray cans, which give him the opportunity to add in so much fine detail. This is a gorgeous piece with a flamingo at its heart and an array of decorative ‘peacock’ feathers fanned from the centre. An intricate and interesting piece, well worth hunting down.
Abraham.O, North Street, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024
Wow! This is an utterly awesome portrait piece from El Salvadorian artist Abraham.O who is now based in London. He is well-known for his greyscale portrait pieces, and this is what I would describe as ‘high-end’ street art, the kind of thing that makes you gasp in amazement.
Abraham.O, North Street, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024
I understand the piece is a portrait of his wife, and what a wonderful way to demonstrate your love and affection. In photographing street art every day, one gets used to ‘street furniture’ getting in the way f things, and the gate across the right-hand edge of this one is annoying, but no more than that, as the piece stands out irrespective. The flower petals with the faintest hint of blue is a wonderful touch.
Abraham.O, North Street, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024
Abraham.O, Dean Lane, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024
At Upfest, artists often leave behind little ‘extras’ and I believe this one in Dean Lane skate Park is by Abraham.O. There is a nice little biography of the artist on the Upfest artist pages of their website.
Sled One, Greville Smyth Park, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024
Although this is the second weekend of Upfest, there are only a few completed pieces dotted around the place, although I expect that by the end of the festival period, there will be an overwhelming array of pieces for me to photograph. This piece is by another Bristol artist, Sled One who is one of the leading writers and most creative artists in the city. This piece is a bit of a change from his usual style, but demonstrates just how incredibly talented and versatile he is.
Sled One, Greville Smyth Park, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024
The crazy character piece is painted on the walls of the bowling club in Greville Smyth Park, and looks absolutely fantastic. The cartoon-style piece depicts a man on a bicycle smelling the flowers. It is beautifully designed and frames in a loose pink border and as well as the central character, there is a lot going on throughout the piece to let the eye settle on. As ever, an outstanding piece from Sled One. You can see more of his work in this gallery.
Maybe, Merrywood Road, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024
Right, strap in! Upfest 2024 is in full swing in Bristol. For those who don’t know, Upfest is a street and graffiti art festival which has been running intermittently for a decade or so and is touted as Europe’s largest festival of its kind, bringing local national and international artists to the city to show off their talents. The format this year is a little different from pervious years, where there is no central ‘festival’ element with music, food and hundreds of artists spraying boards in one of Bedminster’s parks. Instead, over three weekends (this being the middle one) more than 200 artists will be painting selected walls of south Bristol. I will try to include as many as I can in Natural Adventures, but alongside the everyday painting in Bristol, this will be a serious challenge.
Maybe, Merrywood Road, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024
First up is this piece by a local artist Maybe (@maybepaints), who has been rather quiet on the streets over the last 12 months. This is a classic, incorporating all the elements he has been fine-tuning over the years, such as his incredible planets and starry space. Humour plays a large part in his work, and a moon face eating a banana fits the bill nicely. This is a wonderful piece that fits the spot perfectly. You can see more of his work in this Maybe gallery.
Andrew Burns Colwill, Queen’s Road, Bristol, August 2023
This absolutely sensational piece by Andrew Burns Colwill, is another from the paint jam celebrating 650 years of Bristol, and is the one that probably most closely follows the brief. The idea behind the paint jam was to celebrate Bristol, to paint with brushes (no spray cans), and to paint in a Renaissance style. Andrew Burns Colwill manages to nail it with this outstanding mural.
Andrew Burns Colwill, Queen’s Road, Bristol, August 2023
These pictures somehow got stuck in my pipeline system for publication, and were prompted (rediscovered) by yesterday’s Martin D’Acy piece, which is pretty much adjacent to this one. The elephant in the room with these pictures is the rather unfortunate and prominent street furniture, in the form of scooters and bins. I thought long and hard about waiting to get some ‘clean’ pictures of the piece, but felt publishing them ‘warts and all’ was probably more authentic, and the scooters in particular are directly referenced in the work. I will return however and get a clean shot to post here in due course.
Andrew Burns Colwill, Queen’s Road, Bristol, August 2023
The piece is in two halves, split vertically down the middle, with the left-hand side being the old city and to the right the modern city. His soak stain technique creates a washed appearance and extraordinary atmosphere. The old city, painted in light optimistic hues, is prosperous and on the up, and alludes to its merchant connections and seafaring trade. There is beauty in the characters, oxen and architecture that Andrew Burns Colwill has captures perfectly.
Andrew Burns Colwill, Queen’s Road, Bristol, August 2023
Contrast this with the right-hand side of the piece, which is a little darker in shade and mood. There is an impersonal sense that prevails as individuals rush from one place to another on their scooters, emblematic transport of our time. Like so much of his work, Andrew Burns Colwill tells a story here, and it is not all good. The optimism and vibrancy of our past has not ended with the social progress and cohesion we might have expected, but with an almost dystopian present.
The story is clear, and most beautifully painted. If you happen to visit Bristol, take a moment to seek out this piece and spend time looking at it and feel the history of the place.
Although I don’t recall seeing any of his work in Bristol, I am aware of Martin D’Acy and his outstanding murals, having seen some of them in Weston-super-Mare, which to my shame, I haven’t yet published on Natural Adventures. This piece was painted as part of the Bristol 650 year celebration and paint jam, curated and coordinated by Upfest and Bristol BID.
Martin D’Acy, Queen’s Road, Bristol, August 2023
The stunning and tranquil scene, which has been painted on some extraordinarily tricky door panels, depicts manicured parkland and a beautiful stillwater. There is a sense of a designed country estate with attractive follies, something deeply entrenched in British culture. I am not too sure what happened on the bit of wall between the windows and the doors, but it looks like the piece is perhaps unfinished. Nonetheless, this is a truly excellent mural that many may ignore, perhaps assuming it is one of those stick-on plastic pictures that blight shop windows on our streets. My advice to those who don’t open their eyes… put your phone down and look around you.
Aspire is no stranger to the pages of Natural Adventures, indeed, when he was still living in Bristol his outstanding bird paintings were a regular feature on the blog. Sadly, for us, he left for London, and now is just an occasional visitor to the city and to street art festivals in and around the Bristol area.
Aspire, Queen’s Road, Bristol, August 2023
It is so good that Apire was invited to take part in the Bristol 650 years celebration paint jam in partnership with Upfest and Bristol BID, and he has done a great job with this magnificent bird piece. The four-panelled mural shows that Aspire is equally good with brushes as he is with spray cans and he has captured the renaissance theme well with the addition of a piece of red material draped from a plant. The Kingfisher and Peregrine are, as you might expect, perfect and both incorporate the pixelation Aspire adopts in his work.
Aspire, Queen’s Road, Bristol, August 2023
The kingfisher is absolutely stunning and is a bird that many artists paint, probably on account of its beautiful blue and gold plumage. Unless Aspire pays Bristol a visit to see friends etc, I can’t imagine we’ll see him again until next year’s Upfest.
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