6139. St Werburghs tunnel (430)

Zaenone, St Werburghs, Bristol, June 2024
Zaenone, St Werburghs, Bristol, June 2024

We get three main types of artists in Bristol, broadly speaking. The resident artists who paint regularly, or at least are present in the city. Artists who visit on a reasonably regular basis, but live outside the city, and whose work can appear in fits and starts, and artists who visit usually as a one-off either for a festival, or to paint in Bristol because of its reputation as a street/graffiti art hub. Zaenone fits into the second category, and it is always great to come across his work.

Zaenone, St Werburghs, Bristol, June 2024
Zaenone, St Werburghs, Bristol, June 2024

This recent piece in the tunnel is colourful and beautifully presented. It comes without the character bookends that I have become accustomed to, but it is clean and crisp, and the buffed background gives it plenty of space to shine. The letters spell out ZAEN1, and apart from the ‘E’ are beautifully filled with blended colours. A colourful drop shadow with bars completed the piece nicely.

6138. M32 roundabout J3 (584)

Bnie, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024
Bnie, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024

This wonderful piece by Bnie was painted during an interesting paint jam honouring Wispa’s birthday, even though she wasn’t present. That’s what friends are for. The theme for the paint jam was sweets and confections, I guess because Wispa is fond of such things.

Bnie, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024
Bnie, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024

Bnie has gone to town with this amazing representation of a Yorkie bar, chocolate I haven’t eaten for more than twenty years, in which she has replaced the word Yorkie with her letters BNIE, in the correct brand style. I love this kind of piece, because it stretches the artist to step outside their comfort zone, and Bnie has done a cracking job with this one. The full RBF wall is shown in the photograph below:

Bnie + RBF paint jam, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024
Bnie + RBF paint jam, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024

6137. Dean Lane skate park (725)

Jevoissoul, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024
Jevoissoul, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024

When I first met Jeviossoul, he was just starting up with his character portraits, but he promised me then that he would be hitting the city hard with his ‘slow lane’ pieces. True to his word, he has been productive, particularly on the fringe spots, but occasionally hitting some of the more popular walls like this one in Dean Lane.

Jevoissoul, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024
Jevoissoul, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024

I like to think of Jevoissoul as a bit of a diamond in the rough, who has an interesting style that he is improving. It is not only his style that is getting better, but his technique is definitely on the up too. This piece might be his tidiest yet, and features his character with an orange cap, swallowing an acid tab, with the words ‘one love’ in accompaniment. Watch this space to see how he progresses.

6136. M32 Cycle path (269)

Hypo, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2024
Hypo, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2024

Hypo has been smashing it for a while now, and not only creating some outstanding graffiti writing pieces, but also switching things up a fair bit too, in terms of style and presentation. In this piece on the M32 Cycle path, he has framed his letters within quite a tight area, and pulled it off really well.

Hypo, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2024
Hypo, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2024

The gold and silver letters are nicely designed with a kind of post-industrial weight to them, there is chunkiness and brutalism about the letters, and the red border with big drips speaks of a kind of pain, a bloodletting that comes with industrialisation. My interpretation only of course. Something a little different and challenging but also well presented by Hypo.

6135. Dean Lane skate park (724)

Cheo, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024
Cheo, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024

Well, well, well, this outstanding dragon character piece came a little bit out of the blue. It is by Cheo, one of the godfathers of Bristol street art, whose frequency of painting has declined a little in recent years, but whose work is always to be celebrated.

Cheo, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024
Cheo, Dean Lane, Bristol, June 2024

In this game, if you snooze you lose, and I arrived a littler too late to photograph the piece before it had been dogged. The blue cock and balls (one of the most ancient forms of graffiti), probably sprayed by kids, slightly ruins the flow of the piece, but takes nothing away from the enormous talent of Cheo. Every little detail is perfectly worked, such as the folds in the clothing, the dragon’s face, and the crispness of the flame sprite. The signature bee rounds the scene off nicely. So good to see, albeit a little late.

Cheo, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2024
Cheo, Dean Lane, Bristol, July 2024

I went back to Dean Lane a few days later and the blue tags had been removed, although another one appeared to the right of the piece.

Minto

A gallery of illustrated graffiti writing from the brilliant Bristol-based artist Minto

Instagram: @instaminto

All photographs by Scooj

Minto, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, September 2025
Minto, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, September 2025
Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2025
Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2025
Hypo and Minto, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2025
Hypo and Minto, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2025
Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2025
Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2025
Minto, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2025
Minto, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2025
Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2025
Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2025
Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2025
Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2025
Minto, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2024
Minto, St Werburghs, Bristol, December 2024
Minto, Greenbank, Bristol, July 2024
Minto, Greenbank, Bristol, July 2024
Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023
Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2023
Minto, M32 Spot, Bristol, July 2024
Minto, M32 Spot, Bristol, July 2024
Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024
Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024
Minto, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2024
Minto, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, April 2024
Minto, Cumberlan Basin, Bristol, April 2024
Minto, Cumberlan Basin, Bristol, April 2024
Minto, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2024
Minto, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2024
Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2023
Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2023
Minto, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023
Minto, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023
Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2023
Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2023
Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2023
Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2023
Minto, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2022
Minto, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2022
Minto, M32 Spot, Bristol, February 2022
Minto, M32 Spot, Bristol, February 2022
Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2020
Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2020
Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2020
Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2020
Minto, M32 Spot, Bristol, January 2019
Minto, M32 Spot, Bristol, January 2019
Minto, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2020
Minto, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2020
Cheo and Minto, the Lakota, Moon Street, Bristol
Cheo and Minto, the Lakota, Moon Street, Bristol
Minto, the Lakota, Moon Street, Bristol
Minto, the Lakota, Moon Street, Bristol

 

6134. St Werburghs tunnel (429)

Mr Klue, St Werburghs, Bristol, June 2024
Mr Klue, St Werburghs, Bristol, June 2024

Every year, almost like clockwork, Mr Klue springs into action and follows up with frenetic activity for a month or two before slowing down again for the autumn/winter. This piece marks an up tick in activity which has produced several gorgeous ephemeral works in his favoured spot, St Werburghs tunnel.

Mr Klue, St Werburghs, Bristol, June 2024
Mr Klue, St Werburghs, Bristol, June 2024

The abstract smokey writing style adopted by Mr Klue makes for difficult reading, but this piece is easier than some to read, and you should be able to make out the letters KLUE, if you look hard enough. I’m not sure that Mr Klue gets the credit he deserves for his unique style of graffiti writing, probably in part due top his modesty, so this is a big shout out from me for his consistently brilliant work.

6133. Upfest 2024 (30)

Uncle, Upfest 24, Luckwell Road, Bristol, May 2024
Uncle, Upfest 24, Luckwell Road, Bristol, May 2024

Wowzer! A word I rarely use, but this outstanding anamorphic piece by Uncle left me breathless, and even now, looking at the photographs, it plays tricks with your mind. This kind of anamorphic art has been around for centuries, and in its more formal settings is called trompe l’oeil, which in French means ‘deceiving the eye’, and which can be seen in cathedrals, churches, palaces and streets all over Europe (and beyond I expect). Street artists have been refining the style and are now creating some utterly mind-boggling work for all to enjoy.

Uncle, Upfest 24, Luckwell Road, Bristol, May 2024
Uncle, Upfest 24, Luckwell Road, Bristol, May 2024

One of the things about anamorphic art is that it often has to be viewed from a specific point to achieve the full effect, and the first photograph just about hits the spot. Uncle has managed to create a green box that appears to be sunk into the building, and the 3D lettering in red, white and blue is sitting within the ‘recess’. Much of the illusion is created with very clever use of light and shade and shadows cast.

Uncle, Upfest 24, Luckwell Road, Bristol, May 2024
Uncle, Upfest 24, Luckwell Road, Bristol, May 2024

I am so pleased that Upfest invited Uncle, who is from Hong Kong, to paint this piece this year, and I hope that it encourages more of this kind of awe-inspiring art in the city. You can find more of Uncle’s work on his Instagram feed, that has quite a few interesting images and reels of this piece. Outstanding work.

6132. Upfest 2024 (29)

Sepr, Upfest 24, The Nursery, Bristol, May 2024
Sepr, Upfest 24, The Nursery, Bristol, May 2024

I have mentioned before that Upfest has a blend of local, national and international artists every year, but what is noticeable this year is that many of the Bristol-based artists have been given large feature walls to paint, which is great to see, and to be able to showcase some of our own homegrown talent.

Sepr, Upfest 24, The Nursery, Bristol, May 2024
Sepr, Upfest 24, The Nursery, Bristol, May 2024

This is an outstanding mural from Sepr, who is no stranger to the pages of Natural Adventures – you can see more of his work in this gallery. The green colour palette is masterfully worked in this cartoon-style balloon ark. There is a wonderful story unfolding here of animals sharing a balloon trip (balloons, like street art, being one of Bristol’s USPs) under a warm sun. Sepr has designed the piece to work around the doors and windows of the house, which interestingly has no window above the door, allowing more mural space. In my view, this is a masterpiece of stylised cartoon street art that brings smiles to the faces of passers-by. Awesome.

Thursday doors – 27 June 2024 – Doors from Cheltenham

Doors 269 – Doors from Cheltenham, July 2023 (Part III)

Good morning from Bristol, where the mood has been lifted by a couple of wonderful warm days, although the clouds today probably signify the end of our summer! This week I bring you the final selection of doors from a visit I made to Cheltenham last July to experience the Cheltenham Paint Festival. There is not too much to say about these doors other than they are a random selection from my wanderings, I hope you enjoy them.

Double doors, one without door furniture, Cheltenham, July 2023
Double doors, one without door furniture, Cheltenham, July 2023

Typical Cheltenham door with ironwork awning, Cheltenham, July 2023
Typical Cheltenham door with ironwork awning, Cheltenham, July 2023

A new door (looks unpainted) with ironwork awning, Cheltenham, July 2023
A new door with ironwork awning, Cheltenham, July 2023

Cherrington Chambers double doors, Cheltenham, July 2023
Cherrington Chambers double doors, Cheltenham, July 2023

Grand entrance, door and fanlight window, Cheltenham, July 2023
Grand entrance, door and fanlight window, Cheltenham, July 2023

Green door, steps and wonderful fanlight window, Cheltenham, July 2023
Green door, steps and wonderful fanlight window, Cheltenham, July 2023

Door with graffiti and 'Apache attack helicopter' stencils, Cheltenham, July 2023
Door with graffiti and ‘Apache attack helicopter’ stencils, Cheltenham, July 2023

I have a busy day ahead, so that’s it I’m afraid for another week. Next time I am thinking a return to Umbria in Italy is on the cards, see you then.

If you have made it this far, you probably like doors, and you really ought to take a look at the No Facilities blog by Dan Anton who has taken over the hosting of Thursday Doors from Norm 2.0 blog. Links to more doorscursions can be found in the comments section of Dan Anton’s Thursday Doors post.

by Scooj

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