Writer – Natural adventures

7655. Lime Road – Upfest 2026 (1)

#DFTE, Upfest 2026, Lime Road, Bristol, May 2026

Well, this year’s Upfest has crept up on me a little. I have been very busy and not had much headspace to recognise Europe’s largest street art festival which began last weekend, and will continue until the end of May 2026. This time the festival has been spread over three weekends and is rather fragmented, with no single festival focal point, which is a pity. This approach has been implemented to spread the crowds over a longer period and avoid some of the festival shenanigans that have caused a few problems for the council in the past. It is funny how they continue to allow the Harbourside Festival to operate, and which has a terrible reputation for antisocial behaviour, but curtail the much friendlier Upfest. Some unconscious bias at work methinks.

My opener for this year’s festival is this wonderful musing by #DFTE, the master of the thoughtful slogan and repairer of souls. His message this year is short and sweet “Today will be a good day” and for most festival visitors that is probably about right. It is worth having a little look at this charming gallery of his thoughtful work.

7654. St Werburghs tunnel (582)

Mr Riks, St Werburghs, Bristol, April 2026

Although Mr Riks doesn’t paint all that often, it is always good to see his characteristic letter shapes appearing unannounced from spot to spot. This modest grey piece at the end of the tunnel almost passed me by, because I was chatting with Corupt on the opposite side of the tunnel.

It is quite difficult to make out from these pictures whether the piece is painted in chrome or grey or a combination of the two. It looks like two grey tones to me. The letters are nicely presented, and given a little bit of a lift with the application of some yellow edging with red spots.

7653. M32 roundabout J3 (772)

Bloem, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2026

Bloem is one of those artists who not only works hard at her craft, but is also naturally gifted. Her work has come on so quickly over the last couple of years, and although she doesn’t paint walls all that often, each piece feels like it is a step up from the previous one.

This wonderful piece depicts a hand with long finger nails gripping a train carriage formed of the letters BLOEM. A clever concept perfectly executed. That it is in greyscale makes it even more impressive as there is no colour to hide behind. An excellent and mature piece of work.

7652. Dean Lane skate park (923)

Dibz and Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2026

Dibz and fade have been knocking out collaborations with unstoppable pace recently, and I must confess it is stretching me just to be able to keep up with their activity.

This is an outstanding collaboration where both artists have contributed to the final offering. The letters spell addict, and I am guessing reflects their obsession with graffiti writing. A stunning fill and cosmic background show off their talent perfectly.

7650. M32 roundabout J3 (771)

Corupt, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2026

I was very pleased to find this piece by Corupt, because the fine piece by Kid Krishna that had occupied this space had been here for a very long time and the wall definitely needed a refresh, and got one courtesy of our Hungarian friend.

Using his alter ego of STICK, this is a wonderfully colourful piece of graffiti writing, with the distinctive letter shapes that Corupt likes to use, such as the club shape at the base of his ‘i’. The fills are beautifully arranged both in base colours and reversed out shapes and patterns. A classy piece of writing.

Kid Krishna, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2025

Asre

A gallery of wonderful character faces and writing from Bristol’s Asre.

Instagram: @azre_returns

All photographs by Scooj

Asre, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2026 — Asre, River Avon, Bristol, April 2026

7648. Cumberland Basin

Stivs, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2026

There is a lot of flesh in this combination piece by Stivs, an artist who is not afraid to push the boundaries when it comes to scantily clad characters. Whatever one’s views about such things, the artwork is striking and skilfully presented.

Cat woman as you might not have seen her, although DC Comics did portray her in very tight catsuits, often with little left to the imagination – Stivs has just taken things to the next level. Stivs has given Cat Woman a couple of playful tattoos saying BAD CAT, and he has corrupted the initials ACAB (All Cops are Bastards) to ACAT, just because he can. D and S in calligraffiti-style bookend this character. Great work from Stivs.Cumberland Basin

7647. Dean Lane skate park (922)

Hire and Zake, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2026

This is a rather fun collaboration between Hire and Zake in Dean Lane. I can’t remember if these two have collaborated before, they probably have, but this is still a bit of a treat from the writer and the character artist.

On the left, Hire has written his letters in a rather compact block, which is quite unusual, as he typically spreads his letters out a fair bit. The fills of orange and light blue have been nicely done and work surprisingly well together. A deep drop shadow is bordered with a drippy pink line with light highlights woven in.

I’m not too sure what to say about Zake’s character piece, as it is all a little bit strange. A bald man with a huge mouth and multiple teeth has a little finger puppet attached to the end of his long tongue. The puppet character, which looks like some kind of lizard monster is spraying pink ‘vomit’ over Hire’s piece, thus creating his drippy pink outline. A great read-across between the two pieces in this collaboration.

7645. Dean Lane skate park (921)

Over the last year or so, Cheo seems to have upped his game (if that is at all possible), certainly in the frequency of his wall decorations. Cheo is a very talented artist who has been part of the ‘establishment’ in Bristol, but never lost his contemporary edge, and appears to be equally happy with his commercial work and his ‘graffiti’ art.

This piece in Dean Lane is in a narrow section and quite difficult to photograph – where would I be without a wide angle facility on my phone? The character in the piece, wearing a LIDL T-shirt has been spraying (one assumes) a CHEO throw up in green and blue. He is holding a spray can out of which a rather surreal scene unfolds… a pink blob character, complete with a plunger stuck to his head and smoking a cigar. What!? Great work from a master craftsman.

7644. Cumberland Basin

Squire, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2026

There are a great many graffiti writers in Bristol who never make it into the pages of Natural Adventures, either because their work is not very good (in my view) or I don’t really know enough about them to feel confident enough to feature them.

Happily, although I don’t know anything about Squire, his work attracts me in some way. I think that the word he has chosen is a memorable one and lends itself to writing pretty well. These dark blue letters have been accentuated with a vibrant green/yellow surround and decorative thick blue border. An interesting piece of writing that catches the eye.

	paulh121 on 7657. Stillhouse Lane –…
	cjsmissionaryministe… on Smooth Carrion-Beetle
	hitandrun1964 on Sleek
	Sheree on 7656. Ashman Road – Upfe…
	hitandrun1964 on 7655. Lime Road – Upfest…

	paulh121 on 7657. Stillhouse Lane –…
	cjsmissionaryministe… on Smooth Carrion-Beetle
	hitandrun1964 on Sleek
	Sheree on 7656. Ashman Road – Upfe…
	hitandrun1964 on 7655. Lime Road – Upfest…

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: