6995. Mina Road (15)

Stivs and Vane, Mina Road, Bristol, May 2025
Stivs and Vane, Mina Road, Bristol, May 2025

This wall, I believe, is owned by the householder behind it who has been happy to give permission to Silent Hobo, in the past, and more recently Stivs and Vane to decorate the wall. This recent makeover is their second collaboration here, and they have created something truly beautiful.

Vane, Mina Road, Bristol, May 2025
Vane, Mina Road, Bristol, May 2025

The art nouveau style of this two-part collaboration is not only really unusual, but arresting, and perhaps something you might expect to see on the near continent rather than in Bristol. Vane’s photorealistic portrait is engulfed in flowers and surrounded with a stunning art nouveau design, not unlike the metro signs in Paris.

Stivs, Mina Road, Bristol, May 2025
Stivs, Mina Road, Bristol, May 2025

Stivs continuers the theme, with the highly designed background and floral decoration, and also includes a portrait, although one that is perhaps slightly less photorealistic. This collaboration is as outstanding as it is unexpected. A very special piece.

3980. Upfest 2021 75×75 (68)

You may recall that earlier on this year, at the start of the Upfest 75 walls in 75 days event, several beautiful new pieces were vandalised in one night. This piece from Jody was one of the pieces. I have been holding out for a long time hoping that Jody would come back and repair the damage, but so far no dice. So my impatience has got the better of me and I am sharing the piece on Natural Adventures in its vandalised state.

Jody, Raleigh Road, Bristol, August 2021, Upfest 21
Jody, Raleigh Road, Bristol, August 2021, Upfest 21

I took the feature picture only a day or two after it had been completed by Jody. Pictures of the clean piece are a bit of a rarity, and consequently haven’t been shared much on social media. Jody is a well known Bristol artist who is an old friend of Upfest, creating some amazing walls over the years. This Samurai is a real beauty and an eye-catching piece, but I can’t help getting angry every time I see it because of the writing and the smear on the nose. Some would say that it’s a jungle out there. I would say that there are some idiots out there.

Jody, Raleigh Road, Bristol, July 2021, Upfest 21
Jody, Raleigh Road, Bristol, July 2021, Upfest 21

Even with the damage to it, this piece is utterly outstanding – and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Jody will repair it one day.

UPDATE – A day or two after I posted this piece it was repaired, so I returned and took some pictures of what the piece should have looked like:

Jody, Raleigh Road, Bristol, October 2021, Upfest 21
Jody, Raleigh Road, Bristol, October 2021, Upfest 21