Urban – Page 98 – Natural adventures

6511. St George’s Road

Jody, St George’s Road, Bristol, October 2024

I happened to glance up at the right time when I was driving past this piece by Jody. First the pink caught my eye, and then the distinctive signature led me to stop the car (pulling over safely). The board is in a really unusual spot, attached to the wall on the side of Triodos Bank, and very close to the building where I work, and not a place you’d expect to find street art.

The piece is a commission for the organisation called One Question, and this is the information I could find on the Interweb:

One Question is a global advisory organisation that seeks to understand how societal forces impact businesses. In Bristol, One Question launched a pilot project in September 2024 to explore the question, “Who is responsible for our mental health?”. The project involved a conversation with businesses, policymakers, the local community, and institutions. The conversation was intended to share challenges, find common ground, and explore new ideas.

Regular readers will know that I am not all that keen on advertising street art, but with this piece I am trying to see beyond the corporate identity and promotion and focus on Jody’s wonderful artwork which presents some wonderful themes and scenes from Bristol. An unusual piece in an unusual place, which demonstrates how commissions contribute to the overall street art scene.

6510. M32 roundabout J3 (636)

Smak, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2024

It is easy to become complacent, living in Bristol, when it comes to street and graffiti, and to take it for granted that we have something rather special, that most cities in the country or the world, simply don’t have. The graffiti sub-culture is thriving and grows both local talent and attracts artists form far and wide to get out there and paint walls. Artists like Smak, who are at the top of their game, are not a rarity, but common, such is the strength and depth of the field of artists.

This is a beautiful combination piece of outstanding writing accompanied by a comedy cartoon skull wearing a graffiti crown. The letters, which are easy to pick out, are beautifully proportioned and designed, and painted in prime colours, which you don’t see all that often. A wonderful piece from a gifted artist.

6509. Cumberland Basin

Kid Krishna, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2024

Like many artists, Kid Krishna goes through phases of low and high activity, and recently we have been enjoying one of his productive periods, with a plethora of his pieces in various styles in all parts of the city. This colourful piece is painted on the long wall at Cumberland Basin.

The letters, as always, spell CRIE, not that you’d necessarily work that out without help. The turquoise letters stand out well against the black, pink and yellow colours of thee background. There is something quite strongly anti-style about this one and a little bit of attitude too. The slightly untidy finishing would indicate that it was probably a quick one, painted in the moment, because when you are as good as Kid Krishna, you simply can.

6508. Greenbank (138)

Nice One, Greenbank, Bristol, October 2024

I recently met Nice One for the first time, although he said that we had met before (I think that must have been before he was painting as Nice One), which I felt a bit bad about, because I like to try and remember these things. We had a great chat about all sorts of things, and I was able to tell him how much I was enjoying his work, and the superb way he combines his writing with characters and scenes – this piece being a perfect example of what I mean.

This piece wouldn’t look out of place in a gallery, but here it is for the citizens of Bristol to enjoy. The concept is beautifully executed, a landscape with moody clouds above a tree-lined lake, and the letters, in Times New Roman font emerging like monoliths from the horizon. This is a fascinating piece that demonstrates Nice One’s modest talent. One of the most memorable pieces of the year in my view.

6507. Dean Lane skate park (775)

Sled One, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2024

Sled One has made a few appearances on Natural Adventures recently, but this Halloween piece, painted on 30 October, trumps the lot of them. It isn’t often that this whole wall is painted – lots of ladder-work, so when it is you can expect something pretty special.

The piece is painted on a jaunty angle, which is unsettling in itself. The backdrop is a gloomy street scene, with cars dimply lit under some street lights. The star of the piece is the scary pumpkin character, the unconventional shape of which adds to the sense of unease and edge. Shaped like a skull, the melting pumpkin face is dropping seeds like teeth falling out, and resembles the lanterns left out to rot after the Halloween festival itself. A wicked piece that doesn’t give in to the sentimental portrayal of a pumpkin, but turns it into an evil protagonist.

6506. M32 Spot (196)

Creamylines, M32 Spot, Bristol, October 2024

I am baffled that I have posted fewer than 200 pieces from the M32 Spot – it feels like an awful lot more than that. I am very much an admirer of Creamylines’ work, and simply don’t see enough of it. His original pieces always remind me of stained-glass windows in the use of colour and the segmentation of different elements as if separated by leading.

In this column landscape/seascape/riverscape piece, Creamylines offers a bright and optimistic view of people and nature beneath a bright sun and patchy clouds. There is lots of detail, and naturally I am drawn to the fish in the middle section. There is so much to enjoy in this uplifting piece. I definitely would like to see much more from Creamylines.

6505. Peel Street Green (35)

Sub, Peel Street Green, Bristol, October 2024

The wall at Peel Street Green is naturally broken into sections and each one is quite large, offering lots of space for artists to show off their work. I think that this presents SUB with a bit of a problem, because his letters, only three of them, end up being so large, and it becomes difficult to keep the fills interesting.

Sub writes with large letters that he typically fills with single or multiple horizontal fills. He is still developing his style, and is improving from piece to piece, but I think that to lift his work to the next level he might think about how he treats his fills, or perhaps varies his letter shapes. Having said that, I admire anyone with talent and determination getting out there and decorating walls, Sub included.

6504. St Werburghs tunnel (456)

Ayup, St Werburghs, Bristol, October 2024

I was lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time when Ayup was about midway through painting this piece. I believe he was visiting from Bournemouth (I think that is what he said) although he is originally from Derbyshire, hence the name AYUP. He usually writes highly designed letters, completely different from this piece, and his Instagram feed is well worth a look.

There is a lot of humour in this cartoon character piece, which is beautifully finished, with strong fills and clean lines. The gold tooth was a point of interest for a young child and his mother when I passed through the tunnel a few days later. The boy was mesmerised by the tooth and kept asking his mum why it was gold/yellow. I would love to see Ayup return to Bristol, and perhaps drop one of his letter pieces on the curved wall i Dean Lane – that would be spectacular.

6503. Lower Approach Road (14)

Sled One, Lower Approach Road, Bristol, October 2024

This piece of graffiti writing by Sled One greets visitors and passengers travelling through Bristol Temple Meads station. I am not too sure how long the piece has been there, but I imagine for quite a while as turnover in this spot is pretty slow.

Such is the talent of Sled One, that I imagine he ran this one off with ease straight off the top of his head, which is generally how he rolls. He has painted some nice SLED1 letters with a fill theme bleeding across all the letters and then added a deep 3D drop shadow (which itself has a further shadow) in contrasting red orange and yellow vertical stripes. A fine piece from a brilliant writer.

6502. M32 roundabout J3 (635)

Daz Cat, M32 roundabout, Bristol, October 2024

Like sentinels guarding the gate to Rivendell, well not exactly, but sentinels nonetheless painted naturally by Daz Cat. The character on the left is definitely a cat, but I am a little unsure about the creature on the right and am going to assume it is a dog. Cats and dogs are appropriate for this spot, because when it rains heavily, this tunnel floods, and you can see it is partially flooded in this picture.

Daz Cat has been reasonably quiet this year, but these quick ones have brought him front of mind once again. The cat painted in steel blue tones is looking a little vexed. It is great to see how much depth Daz Cat works into his characters compared to the flat cat portraits he was painting when he started.

The dog? portrait on the other side reflects the same colours as the cat and also has a certain amount of depth to it. This is not the first time Daz Cat has painted on either side of the tunnels here. Let me see if I can dig out a previous example…

	hitandrun1964 on Cocoon
	scooj on 7422. Stapleton Road
	scooj on Thursday doors – 22 Janu…
	scooj on Thursday doors – 22 Janu…
	scooj on Thursday doors – 22 Janu…

	hitandrun1964 on Cocoon
	scooj on 7422. Stapleton Road
	scooj on Thursday doors – 22 Janu…
	scooj on Thursday doors – 22 Janu…
	scooj on Thursday doors – 22 Janu…

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: