Note to self… take better photographs. This piece is something of an outlier. It is by an artist called Whos, who is known for his anti-style writing, so when I first saw this it didn’t register that it might be by him. It was only after talking to Conrico at the Cheltenham Paint Festival who confirmed that it was indeed by Whos and that Conrico, while painting to the left of this piece, encouraged Whos to push the boundaries.
Whos, Greenbank, Bristol, July 2024
This urban landscape, making up the letters WHOS, is really imaginative, and coming from an artist more used to the free from of anti-style graffiti writing, is a great effort. The dark industrial colours lend themselves very well to the piece and help to create a special atmosphere, which would not have been achieved with bright pinks and yellows etc. I really hope that Whos is encouraged by this foray into a world of opportunities is just the beginning… we’ll have to wait and see.
Dirtygypo is making his presence felt in Bristol, with his pieces appearing in various spots with some regularity. With this piece in the little tunnel at Cumberland Basin, he has abandoned his customary colours for monochrome letters with a black border.
Dirtygypo, Cumberland Bain, Bristol, July 2024
I am still struggling to read what his letters spell out. I can see an S, a couple of Is a Z and a T perhaps, I am sure the penny will drop eventually. His playful graffiti writing has a light-hearted touch to it, and I am very much enjoying finding them on my ’rounds’ with the dog.
In Dean Lane on the edge of the curved wall, Daz Cat has painted one of his trademark cats, but how his artwork has come on. In recent years, he has worked on and improved, immeasurably, his depth and features, which in his earlier work were rather flat. I guess I am saying that his work has become much more sophisticated. If you look at the image below, you will see what I mean.
Daz Cat, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2024
This cheeky cat, sporting a bit of a quiff, is licking his face, something that cats seem to delight in being able to do. While this is a bit of a quick ‘stamp’ it is nonetheless really rather good.
Epod 3000, Cheltenham Paint Festival 2024, Dunalley Street, Cheltenham, July 2024
Good morning and welcome to another brand-new week. What better way to kick off than with the third trio of pieces photographed at this year’s Cheltenham Paint Festival? One of the notable things about the festival, which I am sure I will return to at some point, is that Andy ‘Dice’ Davies and his organising team are constantly finding new walls to decorate, meaning that existing murals get to stay where they are, constantly growing the outdoor gallery, which becomes an increasing draw for visitors and inward investment. If only the festival was able to gain more confidence from funders, which I know was a real struggle this year.
Epod 3000, Cheltenham Paint Festival 2024, Dunalley Street, Cheltenham, July 2024
Fresh from his appearance at Upfest in Bristol, Epod, who is firmly on the festival circuit, produced this beauty on the side of the Holiday Inn Express, enhancing the visual value of the building tenfold at least. A stunning portrait of a beautiful woman with a sound system in her hair… and why not?
Fark, Cheltenham Paint Festival 2024, North Place car park, Cheltenham, July 2024
Next up is this very neat and tidy piece from Fark, who has become a CPF favourite and who managed to wheatpaste up his name pretty much everywhere I went in the town. A view, a rainbow and a bird – you cannot go wrong.
Wolfskulljack, Cheltenham Paint Festival 2024, Two Pigs, Cheltenham, July 2024
Finally, another favourite at the CPF is Wolfskulljack whose Gothic-style Posca pen sketches are utterly captivating and technically brilliant. Her study of animals and their form is a joy to behold, and there is always a sense of menace or threat about her work.
I’ll be posting more from Cheltenham in due course.
Speckled wood butterflies dancing, Kings Weston, Bristol, August 2024
.
A bright shaft of light
countless butterflies delight
and then they are gone
.
by Scooj
On observing one of the most beautiful natural sights I have ever seen. More than twenty Speckled Wood butterflies were chasing one another in long chains in a warm sunny spot in the woodland. As their wingtips brushed past the nettles plumes of pollen wafted into the air, like smoke. The display lasted only a few minutes until a cloud passed by, and the butterflies simply melted away into the woods. A moment that will live with me for the rest of my days. Magical.
Roo, Cheltenham Paint Festival 2024, North Place car park, Cheltenham, July 2024
So this is the second of the first three posts from the Cheltenham Paint Festival 2024. I have had to pull together three pieces in each post, simply so that I can fit them in with my regular posts of Bristol street art. Things have never been so busy, and at the end of each month I still have dozens of unposted pieces, because there is so much great art being produced out there. I can’t get close to posting it all.
Roo, Cheltenham Paint Festival 2024, North Place car park, Cheltenham, July 2024
It was a pleasure to watch as Roo finished off this wonderful piece, and catch up with her in the Two Pigs where she was selling her merch. This is a great piece that tells a fun story of a frog and a ‘no swimming’ sign. I think it might just be one of my favourite Roo piece ever.
Apparan, Cheltenham Paint Festival 2024, East car park, Cheltenham, July 2024
In the car park is this outstanding portrait piece by Apparan, who is not a stranger to Natural Adventures, having posted an Upfest piece and one from Stratford in London in the past.
The portrait is beautifully accompanied with a flower and a beguiling background, which certainly brightens up an otherwise ordinary concrete car park wall.
Codo, Cheltenham Paint Festival 2024, North Place car park, Cheltenham, July 2024
Rounding off this small selection of three pieces from the CPF is this excellent piece by Codo, who I met at last year’s festival and who was very kind to me, giving me some caps and paint. His intricate doodle work is superb, and brings out the best in the central character which is a large version of the smaller background symbols and characters. Some very nice pieces from Cheltenham. Three more to come tomorrow.
Curtis Hylton, Cheltenham Paint Festival 2024, Barnyard Close, Cheltenham, July 2024
A couple of weekends ago I managed to spend a day at the Cheltenham Paint festival, which was amazing, and organiser Andy ‘Dice’ Davies and his team should be congratulated for building the event into one of the best paint festivals in the UK, and in a town that has quite a small graffiti/street art sub-culture. I took so many pictures of pieces from this year and previous years, that I will be bunching them together in my posts of the festival, due to sheer volume of photographs in my folders.
Curtis Hylton, Cheltenham Paint Festival 2024, Barnyard Close, Cheltenham, July 2024
Here we start with a wonderful piece from Curtis Hilton on the edge of the town, with a signature piece of a bird composed of flower petals.
DFC1848, Cheltenham Paint Festival 2024, Honeybourne Line tunnel, Cheltenham, July 2024
Next up is a large piece by local artist DFC1848. How magnificently the gold colour on the diver’s helmet picks up the texture of the wall and appears to glisten. Really nice cartoon character fun.
Stephen Quick, Cheltenham Paint Festival 2024, North Place car park, Cheltenham, July 2024
Finally, for this first burst of three pieces from the festival, a stunner from Stephen Quick, a Bristol Stencil Artist, who I caught up with for a moment. He said the he left the peeling white paint on purpose to add texture and interest to the piece. Such a nice man by the way. More of these Cheltenham compilations to follow.
I met Hardie while he was painting at Upfest, and what a friendly fellow he is. Although I think I have only ever posted one or two of his pieces on Natural Adventures, he seemed to know who I was and was familiar with my blog, which was most encouraging.
Hardie, Purdown, Bristol, July 2024
The Bristol-based artist doesn’t tend to paint the streets all that often the odd shutter or wall here or there but rarely in the popular hotspots, so it was a super surprise to find two of his pieces side by side in the wartime gun emplacement. His characteristic character portraits are made up of a patchwork of crosshatches, creating a really interesting effect. As you can see from these two pieces, Hardie uses a stencil to create his faces, and it also demonstrates how using different colours can create a different look from essentially the same template. What a pleasure to come across these rarities.
Well this is a bit weird, even by Zake standards, and I am not entirely sure what to make of it. To me the piece looks a bit like a cross between an aristocrat and a spaniel, and once seen, I can’t unsee it. There is something about that pointy nose that I find quite unsettling.
Zake, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2024
Zake has been on fire for a very long time and continues to push boundaries, but also reverts from time to time to his basic round face characters. His USP is working with light and shade to create depth and texture, great example of which can be seen in the eyes and cheeks of this character. Both bizarre and wonderful work from Zake.
Dime, Jody and Turoe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2024
What a wonderful triptych piece on the roundabout which is what I would describe as a unique collaboration between Dime, Jody and Turoe. I am not familiar with Dime and am guessing that he was visiting Bristol and made contact with artists in the city to see who’d like to have a paint. That is how I imagine these kind of things happen.
Dime, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2024
The collaboration starts with a stunning piece of graffiti writing from Dime, with nicely defined letters, beautiful fill colours and a deep 3D drop shadow. The borders are nice and thin and flawless, and the letters are lifted with contrasting orange and red blobby decorations around the outside. The way I think about decorations in a piece is to try and imagine what it would look like without them – often they enrich what might have been something a little ordinary. Decorations are part of the composition, not just an afterthought.
Jody, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2024
Jody has been smashing it all over the place for a sustained period, and I understand from talking to Fade, is really enjoying himself. In this piece he provides the filling in a graffiti writing sandwich and features a cartoon style cool character striking a pose with a cloudy background. I love the sparkle on the sunglasses, a brilliant touch.
Turoe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2024
Rounding off the collaboration is a piece of writing from a Bristol legend, Turoe, although I originally thought it was by Soker it is actually a tribute collaboration to Soker who had a cycling accident recently (Thanks to Jay for the background information). If ever you want to know what outstanding graffiti writing looks like, then look no further than Turoe, and this piece demonstrates why. Perfect colour selection, superb interlocking letters without being over-engineered, a deep and contrasting 3D drop shadow and tight border. All the elements are there and they are brought together by a master of his craft. All in all, this is a fabulous and quite unexpected collaboration. We are blessed, and a fabulous tribute.
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