6663. Greenbank (146)

Lis (Le Imposter Design), Greenbank, Bristol, December 2024
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 (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).

6662. Cumberland Basin

Rowdy, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, January 2025
Rowdy, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, January 2025

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
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.

6661. Brunel Way (307)

Mr Draws, Brunel Way, Bristol, January 2025
Mr Draws, Brunel Way, Bristol, January 2025

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
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
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.

6660. Greenway Bush Lane (1)

Mote, Greenway Bush Lane, Bristol, January 2025
Mote, Greenway Bush Lane, Bristol, January 2025

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
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.

6659. Sparke Evans Park (115)

Kool Hand and Werm, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, January 2025
Kool Hand and Werm, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, January 2025

I am tired, really tired. Returning to work from a week on leave is tough, and expectations on me are high. Over the Christmas period, I was informed that I would be ‘on loan’ to another team for 2 days a week. I was given no clear instruction, there was no discussion, and today I will be finding out what the tasks expected will be. I am unhappy about the situation, and it is causing me all sorts of unnecessary anxiety, but I will of course be professional and try to do the best job I can. My biggest concern is that I was already working at maximum capacity, and I am worried about the work I will have to drop, and the ‘clients’ I will have to let down. On a more cheery note (thank God I have street/graffiti art to lean on) here is a fine Christmas collaboration from Kool Hand and Werm.

Kool Hand, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, January 2025
Kool Hand, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, January 2025

A frosty, cold background is a fine setting for both pieces, and Kool Hand has gone for some big KOOL letters which are nicely filled and have some snowy white accents to give a little bit of a 3D perspective. Very festive.

Werm, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, January 2025
Werm, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, January 2025

Werm presents his letters in the symmetrical form he has been painting throughout 2024, but it is the festive colour selection that is the talking point of this piece. The two-red colour stripes are slightly reminiscent (consciously or otherwise) of Christmas candy sticks, and the green 3D drop shadow completes the holiday mood. Some nice star bursts complete the piece very nicely indeed. A good Christmas piece in a year when there were fewer than usual around the city.

6658. Cumberland Basin

Amy Hutchings, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, January 2025
Amy Hutchings, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, January 2025

I have been aware of this piece by Amy Hutchings, a Bristol artist, for at least a couple of years, but until recently I haven’t got up close and paid attention to it, which is my loss really. The line drawing piece was originally much pinker, but some of the colour has bleached out by many days of sunshine on this exposed spot.

Amy Hutchings, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, January 2025
Amy Hutchings, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, January 2025

The beautifully illustrated piece depicts a scene from the floating harbour and incorporates several local landmarks as well as some small boats. Amy Hutchings has a lovely touch, and although I am not aware of other street art pieces, she has a fabulous Instagram account which is well worth a visit. I am kicking myself that it has taken me so very long to acknowledge this perfect piece of Bristol art in the middle of Cumberland Basin.

6657. Braggs Lane

Unknown Artist, Braggs Lane, Bristol, December 2024
Unknown Artist, Braggs Lane, Bristol, December 2024

Sometimes I have no idea who painted a particular piece but like to post it, because it is simply too good not to post. This is an unusual stencil and writing combination piece that I am assuming is by a single artist, but it is quite possible that this is the work of two people.

Unknown Artist, Braggs Lane, Bristol, December 2024
Unknown Artist, Braggs Lane, Bristol, December 2024

Of course, the point of the piece is to write a one-liner gag, which I have to admit I haven’t heard before, and it made me laugh when I saw it. There are a lot of words in this piece of writing and each of the letters has a 3D shadow, so I would say it is the work of an accomplished writer. The writing is accompanied by a stencil of a woman holding a spray can, implying that she sprayed the writing.

Unknown Artist, Braggs Lane, Bristol, December 2024
Unknown Artist, Braggs Lane, Bristol, December 2024

I have seen better single-layer stencils, but there is a charm about this one, and the whole combination, that I have slightly fallen for. My guess is that this wall was painted some time ago… I say that, because I rarely visit this area. A bit of fun for Tuesday morning.

6656. Greenbank (145)

3Dom, Greenbank, Bristol, December 2024
3Dom, Greenbank, Bristol, December 2024

It isn’t all that often that you find graffiti writing by 3Dom, and I had to do a double take when I saw this piece to remind myself what his writing looks like. One of the very first pieces I posted by 3Dom was a piece of writing not unlike this one.

3Dom, Greenbank, Bristol, December 2024
3Dom, Greenbank, Bristol, December 2024

The letters spell out the artist’s moniker and are elaborately filled with intricate patterns and incredible detail that 3Dom specialises in. The colour palette is nicely chosen and cleverly distributed within and around the letters. A wonderful surprise on one of the last walks I had before going off on my holiday.

3Dom, Princes Place, Bristol, February 2016
3Dom, Princes Place, Bristol, February 2016

6655. St Werburghs tunnel (470)

Sworm, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2024
Sworm, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2024

Today is my first day back at work after a week away, and I am bracing myself for a whirlwind of emails, and will be hearing about How I will be helping another department, which is causing me huge anxiety, as I am already working at full capacity. Inevitably, this and other future posts will be shortened until I am in a new rhythm.

I was lucky enough to bump into Sworm and also meet Omie for the first time, who was working alongside Sworm, as they painted their Christmas collaboration.

Sworm, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2024
Sworm, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2024

This piece displays Sworm’s talents really well, and although the colour scheme is fairly simple, the overall writing is complex and beautifully worked. Because I saw this piece as a work in progress, I was struck by how similar the process was to how Elvs paints his pieces. Basically, Swarm started with the white fill, and then added the outline and detail as an overlay. The result is stunning. Unfortunately, when I returned to take these pictures, Omie’s letters has been overpainted, which was a real pity.

6654. M32 roundabout J3 (650)

Sub, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2024
Sub, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2024

The Bristol City Council have continued on their mission to buff some of the popular graffiti walls, probably as a community service offer for offenders. It is a futile exercise, creating new clean backdrops for graffiti writers and street artists, let alone taggers and bombers. Sub moved in on this spot reasonably quickly, marking it out with a couple of drafts, reserving the space, before painting this large piece.

Sub, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2024
Sub, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2024

Sub is working really well to improve his work, and it is certainly paying off for him. His colour selection for this piece is wicked, his 3D drop shadow effective and his plasma cloud is a nicely worked feature, but I feel that with such large flat letters he needs to experiment a little bit more with fills or decorations. This is a fine eye-catching piece, and I fully expect to see further development this year.