Just when you’ve forgotten all about him, Stiff turns up with another interesting piece, this one tucked away on the swimming pool wall behind the fence. Although not a green monster this time, the robot character does align with his ‘other world’ theme that he is so fond of.
Stiff, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2022
Stiff has prepped his wall well, which I like, in a dark blue, almost glossy colour which brings out the character’s red really well. The robot itself is nicely done, and is rounded off perfectly with a plasma bolt running through its head. A nice piece and reminder of the vast pool of talent we have in Bristol.
In the tunnel, alongside some of his LRS crew mates, is another wonderful MILK piece from Wxttsart. The more I see of his work, the more I want to categorise it as calligraffiti, because of the uniformity of letter style and the central line running down each letter, and it has a heraldic look to it.
Wxttsart, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2022
Every time I see the word MILK on a wall, it just makes me laugh. The word is so incongruous in the settings wher we find it and with the graffiti art form. It is a word I would more readily associate with wholesome activities, such as having a cup of tea or a bowl of cereal. Well done to Wxttsart for breaking the mould on this one.
Dott Rotten, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2022
Dott Rotten has been mighty busy in the last month or so, treating us to some really impressive large pieces, of which this is the most recent (I think). His writing is different from other writers in that his letters have a kind of flat surface, rather than a 3D effect with feature lines and shading.
Dott Rotten, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2022
The letters spell SPOILT, and the other word is ‘devine’, although I’m not sure what the reference is. The whole piece is beautifully presented on a black buffed wall with a red and pink bubble background. What you can’t really get from these photographs is the scale of the piece. Dott Rotten certainly isn’t afraid of ‘going large’.
Face 1st and Chill, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2022
Face 1st and Chill appear to be collaborating quite a lot at the moment, and it is a joy to behold. In this piece the collaboration takes the form of a merger of pieces, rather than simply painting adjacent spaces on a wall.
Face 1st and Chill, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2022
The frame of the piece, set on a pink backdrop, is the letters FACE in chrome from Face 1st, something we are familiar with seeing. What is different in this instance is that the A of FACE, instead of being one of Face 1st’s laughing girls is a fine cartoon character face from Chill. You can’t help but feel a sense of joy emanating from their work, and their friendship shines through in the collaboration. More to come from these two.
Anyone who regularly visits Bristol’s graffiti spots, can’t have failed to notice these lovely decorative floral pieces making an appearance in recent weeks. If the highly designed and beautifully presented piece resembles a transfer, that is no real surprise, as the artist, Peggy (@misspeggybrown) creates wonderful henna work… just check out her Instagram feed.
Peggy, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2022
Set on a black background, the blue stems and pink flowers are expertly painted, beautifully proportioned with crisp fills and edges. I don’t know how long Peggy has been spraying walls for, but this is a highly accomplished effort and a joy to look at. Expect more of her work to be appearing soon on Natural Adventures.
Artists like Mr Klue are the bedrock upon which this blog is built. I have been writing about his wonderful abstract work for several years, and over that time he has gone through productive periods and quiet periods, and right now he is out there painting pretty regularly.
Mr Klue, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2022
This mesmerising abstract writing piece contains several of the characteristics we would expect from Mr Klue. The wispy and smokey letters, some floating steps on the left and a coil to the right of the piece. You might need to use your imagination a little, but the letters most likely spell out KLUE. This is a pleasing piece with a great colour palette that combines really well in this fine piece from Mr Klue.
Acesartworld, New Stadium Road, Bristol, November 2022
This is an interesting dystopian character piece, painted during a paint jam a few weeks back, that definitely brightened up this rather dismal little corner of St Agnes. The character is by Acesartworld, who is an artist bubbling away just beneath the surface and occasionally popping up to create something quite unusual before disappearing again into the ether.
Acesartworld, New Stadium Road, Bristol, November 2022
As a whole, the piece stands up well to scrutiny, although it has a slightly naive feel to it. At a guess, I would say that Acesartworld is self-taught, and producing some fine work, but some of the proportions and perspectives are slightly off. I feel like I am being over-critical, because as a piece it stands out. I think what I am saying is I would like to see a lot more from Acesartworld and observe any developments and improvements.
There have been quite a few new Hemper pieces lately, but I have been slow to post them. I’m afraid, even the most talented artists are competing for my time to publish posts on Natural Adventures. Writing only two or three posts a day is very limiting, and in no way represents the daily activity of street artists and graffiti writers in Bristol.
Hemper, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2022
This is a gorgeous piece by Hemper in the tunnel, looking a little like soapy suds escaping from a washing machine or a bubbly bath. Beautifully painted in shades of blue with white highlights, the letters spell HEMS, and the piece simply adds to Hemper’s extraordinary and vast repertoire. This is outstanding graffiti writing.
John D’oh, Horfield skate park, Bristol, November 2022
Christmas has come a little early this year in the form of this great stencil piece by John D’oh at Horfield skate park. It is a strong reminder that as we head into an unusual Christmas period with the backdrop of our very own cost of living crisis, we need to be mindful that there are others facing constant troubles far worse than our own. This stencil reminds me of an answer I give to my children when they ask me what I want for Christmas and I give them the same reply every time (I am a dad after all); “all I want for Christmas is world peace”. The answer is deliberately both humorous and serious, a blend John D’oh achieves here.
John D’oh, Horfield skate park, Bristol, November 2022
This piece also reminds me of a Costah piece that I posted a few days ago from my trip last June to Porto, which represents a street artist acting as a chronicler of these troubled times, something that John D’oh excels at. Let us all wish for peace this Christmas.
This is a fine and rather unexpected collaborative wall from Mudra and Saor on a hoarding that I really love. This pair, are members of the very strong NTS crew, and when they get together to paint, the results are usually pretty awesome.
Mudra, M32 Spot, Bristol, November 2022
Mudra has been super-busy painting walls lately, and this is another in a series of outstanding pieces of graffiti writing. He has his own unique style where each letter of the word is painted in an individual format, although the whole thing hangs together really well. His pieces remind me of the Monty Python sketch about the theory of the Brontosaurus, which is that they are thin at one end, thick in the middle and thin at the other end. Great colours and a nice character skull face in the middle of the piece.
Saor, M32 Spot, Bristol, November 2022
Saor has been smashing it recently too, although, to be fair, he had been smashing it for rather a long time, prior to changing his moniker to Saor. This is a highly designed piece with smatterings of Epok and Mr Penfold in there. Spelling out SAOR, the piece contains a lovely toothy monster, which makes a return appearance from time to time. A wonderfully presented collaboration.
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