Well this was something I was not expecting to find. More of a poster than a wheatpaste, Mr Sleven has been at work with a sketch and then decided to stick it to a column on the north side of Cumberland Basin.
Mr Sleven, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2026
This is a rather nice creation, emphasising peace and love, but the face itself has a glimmer of menace about it that is slightly unsettling. Great to see that Mr Sleven is active though. I realise that I have several of his recent pieces in my archive and shall strive to dig them out and post them.
Softtwix, Upfest 2026, North Street, Bristol, May 2026
Upfest 2026, Europe’s largest street art festival (so they say), has introduced, once again, such a variety of artists, talent and style to the streets of Bristol, and we are truly fortunate to be surrounded by these magnificent pieces. In Bedminster it can sometimes feel like living in the middle of a giant art gallery. The organisers, Steve and Emma have done an amazing job this year. All that was missing was a live event in a park, but I understand there were good reasons why that couldn’t happen this year.
Softtwix, Upfest 2026, North Street, Bristol, May 2026
In the middle section of North Street is this remarkable greyscale portrait piece by Softtwix, a French visual artist and photographer-plastician known for her striking black-and-white paste-ups, collages, and urban street art. This striking piece is a paste-up – pretty much a poster – that is full of detail and intrigue. The portrait is cleverly framed with a brick archway, giving the 2d piece so much depth.
Hugo Flores, Jamaica Street, Bristol, December 2025
Some pieces are notable for their rarity and others for their presentation, this wheatpaste by Hugo Flores is a combination of both. I know little of the artist, but know that he is from Madrid, and he even states as much in this piece. He has obviously made a visit to Bristol, and created this bespoke wheatpaste to celebrate the event.
Hugo Flores, Jamaica Street, Bristol, December 2025
When first I saw this piece from a distance, I thought it might be a piece by our very own Creamylines, because it is cluttered and busy. As I got closer, I could see who it was by and all the wonderful fusion of letters, flowers, characters and buildings. Closer still and I could see it was a paste up which had been beautifully stuck to the wall. A vibrant piece, great location and welcome addition to the Bristol street art scene from Hugo Flores. I hope he returns and gifts us more of his lovely art.
Looking back again over 2025, we were privileged to have another visit by French wheatpaster Tian, in the spring, around the East Street, Dean Lane and North Street areas of Bedminster.
Tian, East Street, Bristol, April 2025
Although I posted several of these wonderful wheatpastes at the time, on going back through my archive I found these three that I had not previously posted.
Tian, East Street, Bristol, April 2025
I have always liked Tian’s work, it is so different from most of the street art we see in Bristol. His themes and ideas are interesting and his execution always suitable. Wheatpastes may not be to everyone’s taste, and often the owners of the walls on which they are posted get pretty fed up, but they are ephemeral and prone to becoming dislodged in our damp climate. I look forward to his next visit to the city.
Wilko and Boxi, Stokes Croft, Bristol, October 2025
More wheatpaste action from Wilko and Boxi, in advance of their upcoming exhibition. I have a feeling that it was Wilko who has been busy pasting these up around Bristol on behalf of both of them.
Wilko and Boxi, Stokes Croft, Bristol, October 2025
Regular readers will know that I am rather partial to wheatpastes, as they bring a completely different aspect to the spectrum of street art that we see around us. Some people don’t like them, because they become scruffy when they decay or because they get pasted up in inappropriate places, or because they are against street art more broadly. Funny how such people appear to be totally at ease with the plethora of advertising we are subjected to on the streets, as if it is somehow more legitimate and less offensive…
These are nice representatives of their artistic styles with draw on many influences.
Wilko and Boxi, Cheltenham Road, Bristol, October 2025
Wilko (Sgt Wilko) who hails from Birmingham has recently been rather busy in Bristol pasting up his designs all over the city, particularly in the Bedminster area, in advance of an exhibition of his work at That Art Gallery at the top of Christmas Steps from 18-23 November, with fellow wheatpaster Boxi. While I have seen Wilko’s work before (the first, middle and last pieces on this shopfront in Cheltenham Road) This is the first time, I think, that I have seen anything by Boxi (second and fourth pieces).
Wilko and Boxi, Cheltenham Road, Bristol, October 2025
Both artists appear to take some inspiration from African art, and other influences such as cubism. There is a lot more to wheatpastes than simply sticking up posters. There is the original composition, the cut-out and equally importantly the positioning of the pieces, both in terms of the location and arrangement. Wilko and Boxi have set up a nice little gallery in this instance. Their wheatpasting is not to everyone’s taste, and they have caused a bit of a stir in East Street, where some of the shop owners whose shops have been targeted are less than happy. The ‘edge’ of street art.
More paste-up magic from Tian in East Street. The French artist has left a trail of pieces on each of his visits to Bristol, and it is so much fun following his footsteps trying to locate each one. On previous trips he has occupied North Bristol, but this most recent one was concentrated in the East Street area.
Tian, East Street, Bristol, April 2025
The wonderful work in sepia tints and blue is a cut-out from a stencil. I imagine Tian first works on the stencil, and then once completed, prints dozens of copies, which he then cuts out and takes on his travels to paste up where he can. I have never seen his work outside Bristol, but I expect a trip to France would probably sort that out.
Following my last post featuring a couple of wheatpaste drawings by Bethcub recently, I had a nice Instagram message from the artist, who had read the post and told me a little bit more about these wheatpastes. Bethcub confirmed that they are one-off charcoal drawings from her life drawing class, which she fixes and pastes up straight after the class. It is always great to know a little bit more about the art on our streets.
Bethcub, King Square Avenue, Bristol, June 2025
In this sketch, the model is perching (rather awkwardly) on a stool as if in transition. Some lovely curves, and an unusual position, make this a fascinating study. Seeing things like this, make me excited about retirement and a pledge I have made to myself to start art lessons. Why wait? You might ask – not enough hours in the day, I might reply.
It looks like wheatpastes are having a mini-surge in popularity in Bristol, and these are a couple of little cut-out sketches in Jamaica Street by Bethcub. What I particularly like about these is that they look like original pencil sketches, which somehow gives them a high One-off value (in my eyes).
Bethcub, Jamaica Street, Bristol, June 2025
Bethcub is an artist who is known for her studies, particularly of the human body, but occasionally ventures out onto the streets to paint, and now, it seems, to leave some wheatpaste gifts for us to enjoy. I am no art critic, so I don’t really know what I am talking about, but these line sketches are so beautiful, and capture the poise of the subject perfectly.
To find these little paste ups absolutely made my day, and I was sorely tempted to try and peel one off to keep as a piece of original artwork, but that would be against everything I stand for – public art for all. I’ll be looking out for more from Bethcub in future, and have at least one other of her recent pieces to share… watch this space.
Natural adventures 