This is another piece that was painted during the RBF paint jam to celebrate Bnie’s birthday and Vozie’s new baby with a Rugrats theme. It is of course by Desi, who more often writes Veil these days.
Desi, Frome Side, Bristol, November 2023
This must be one of Desi’s best pieces to date, with every element of the work coming together nicely. I believe that the character was painted by her and if it was, it is the first time I have seen her include a character, and it is brilliant. Her lines are sharp and her fills varied and interesting and one is left with an overall great piece of writing, that sits comfortably with all her RBF friends. Fabulous stuff.
Bnie and Unity, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, November 2023
So far this year I have only found one Christmas piece and this collaboration from Bnie and Unity is it. The fabulous duo were painting alongside several other members of the RBF crew during a paint jam in support of the people of Palestine. This piece is absolutely draped in Christmas good cheer.
Bnie, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, November 2023
To the left, Bnie has painted her letters in a festive silver colour with a string of Christmas lights weaving in and out of them. The Palestinian flag features prominently and Father Christmas does what Father Christmas does to the right. I think that Bnie painted him, but equally it might have been Unity.
Unity, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, November 2023
Unity has been visiting Bristol a little more frequently recently and that can only be a good thing as it means we get to see more of her brilliant work. Unity continues the themes and colours that Bnie has adopted, with the only real difference being a splash of gold in the ‘I’ of Unity. Another Palestinian flag indicates firmly that the public mood in Bristol, which this art reflects, is with the innocent people of Palestine, who played no part in the Hamas attack but are paying an unimaginably high price by the Israeli response to it. Let us hope for and demand peace in the region.
Klashwhensober, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2023
When you see the word ‘various’ for the location in the title of this blog post, you can be pretty certain that it will be a post of Klashwhensober’s work. I feel that the only way I can do him justice is to do a round up of his left-overs each month, such is his high productivity rate. Here are some pieces from November.
Klashwhensober, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2023
All the pieces spell out SOBER, but you can see simply from first inspection that some are more thought out than others and that the execution can be a little variable, probably reflecting Klashwhensober’s attitude and approach with each piece. Klashwhensober’s general development is steady, but it is not linear… meandering improvement might be a better description.
Klashwhensober, Hepburn Road, Bristol, November 2023
This blue piece is nice enough to look at, and it is clear that it was painted quickly. The paint is thinly spread, which might indicate that it is a bit of a ‘dregs’ piece.
Klashwhensober, Leonard Lane, Bristol, November 2023
Rounding off the quartet of pieces from November is this chrome piece, which is arguably the best of the bunch, painted down in Leonard Lane. There is more of a sharp feel to this one, with some nice little details and ‘dents’ in the lettering. Have no fear, there is still plenty more to come from Klashwhensober.
Dibz and Fade have been a tour de force this year and I have featured a lot of their work on Natural Adventures along the way. I think that this collaborative piece might be the last this side of Christmas, and it is yet another cracker from the duo, a Christmas cracker if you like.
Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023
Adopting their usual format for long walls of a piece of graffiti writing from each artist, positioned either side of a central feature piece by either of them or a ‘guest’ artist like Jody or Sikoh. To the left, Fade has written a lovely sharp FADER FUA in pink and green letters, either side of which are cartoon characters, although I have utterly failed to identify what film/series they come from.
Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023
On the right, Dibz has written his name in glorious gold with a sumptuous purple drop shadow and pink border, all as crisp as you’d expect from him. The character in this piece is, I think, Count Duckula, and some green gloop oozes from the piece in an evil way on the sides.
Fade and Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2023
The feature in the middle portrays a full moon with the letters FUA KREW, which is their From Up Above crew name. I don’t know which artist painted the letters, but they are 100 percent on point, in quite a challenging arrangement. Some great work from two of the tidiest artists around.
Sait Bare, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, September 2023
My train journey to London continues and the service is heaving. Christmas shopping and football matches have swelled the normal Sunday passenger numbers, but somehow I have managed to keep my unreserved seat beyond Chippenham, so I think I am safe. The above might not make much sense if it is not read in sequence from the previous two posts (5703 and 5704).
Sait Bare, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, September 2023
This is the second piece by Sait Bare that I have posted on Natural Adventures, although I think it was painted before the first. I am still acquainting myself with his work, and as he doesn’t appear to paint very regularly, I am still forming my thoughts about his style and execution. This is a fine piece of writing/character combination work, and the border lines and details are very nice and sharp. The letter fills too are really nicely done with some great fades and ‘gaseous’ patterning. The character is quite straightforward with a quirky appearance. All good, and I look forward to seeing more from Sait Bare in the New Year.
Klashwhensober, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, November 2023
A couple of quick ones from Klashwhensober who has been keeping a steady flow of pieces coming off the conveyor belt through the whole of 2023, almost unrelenting. Through that time he has been exploring a lot of new ideas and improving along the way.
Klashwhensober, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, November 2023
This one on the cycle path is really nicely finished, which can’t necessarily be said for all of his pieces. The eye is immediately drawn to the face in the middle of the ‘O’, which creates a strong focal point. The colours are interesting, and I am not sure I would have used pink against the orange, but it seems to work ok.
Klashwhensober, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, November 2023
I find I have to combine pieces by Klashwhensober, because if I didn’t i would probably never post them such is the high volume of pieces he produces. This one is more in the classic style of the artist with strong black letters with blue patterning and drop shadows. The orange and yellow spotty background helps the letters to stand out a little. There is so much more to post from Klashwhensober, so watch this space.
This year has seen the emergence of a powerhouse of collaborative graffiti writing and scenes from Dibz and Fade putting together some epic walls. Their drive and commitment has been unrelenting, and 2023 has been a special year in Bristol because of it. In this collaboration, they have been joined by Sikoh.
Dibz and Sikoh, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023
This watery piece is yet another perfect example of their collaborative style. Dibz’ letters are submerged under the waves, with just a little bit of pink breaking the surface, which is really cleverly done. there is a strong sense of swell and movement from the waves.
Sikoh, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023
In the centre is a character, which according to Sikoh’s Instagram is a water bear pig, whatever one of those is. Naturally, the water creature is holding a spray can which is squirting bubbles. The bubbles are exquisitely painted. This is something of a rare appearance by Sikoh, whose work is always superb.
Fade, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023
Rounding off the triptych is some great writing from Fade, which, like Dibz’, is largely submerged, with a little bit of pink breaking the surface. Fade has incorporated lots of arrows, perhaps indicating the fluidity of the underwater scene. A fine collaboration.
Desi, Lupa, Pekoe and Evey, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, November 2023
The Resting Bitch Face (RBF) crew have been seriously busy this year, and giving PWA a good run for their money. In this recent paint jam, the ladies have shown their support for the people of Palestine, by incorporating the colours of the Palestinian flag into the piece. There have been so many protest pieces about the war in Palestine, and as I have mentioned many times before, street art captures the mood of the moment and provides a running social commentary, which I have the privilege of photographing and recording before it disappears under ever-increasing layers of paint. This grouping of four of the artists, Desi, Lupa, Pekoe and Evey was in addition to others from RBF (posts to follow).
Desi, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, November 2023
On the left, Desi ha painted another of her VEIL pieces, and it now feels like an eternity since she last painted DESI – she appears to have well and truly moved on. Her colours are those that are adopted across the whole collaboration, namely chrome and gold, a very striking combination. This is a nice tidy piece from Desi, enhanced with some pink and purple spots and circles around the writing.
Lupa, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, November 2023
Lupa, I guess like all the RBF artists, is painting more often, and I am enjoying seeing more of her work about the place. This is a nice tidy piece incorporating her trademark ‘U’ character – her work certainly lends itself to the saying ‘less is more’, where her big fat letters with simple designs, hit home. A little bit more practice with her white boundary lines would lift the whole thing to another level.
Pekoe, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, November 2023
Pekoe has been turning out some exceptional work this autumn/winter, and this portrait is right out of the top drawer. There are minimal decorations on the face, which is a simple solid gold face with features picked out in black. The lips are painted with the Palestinian flag, and the colours are repeated as peace symbols around the portrait. The highlight of the piece for me is the bunches, studded with gold balls – it just looks brilliant and is a really memorable image.
Evey, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, November 2023
Finally, Evey, whose work has stepped up a level this year, has painted a clean and crisp piece with some fabulous features. Evey has chosen to write all her letters in chrome and to accompany them with some golden touches to bring them to life, including a crown and an exclamation mark, the dot of which has the colours of Palestine. A nice red, white and green RBF rounds off the right-hand end of this impressive wall. Bravo RBF!
Even when he paints a smaller, simpler piece, Hire puts in admirable effort, and I am not too sure that the words ‘quick one’ come into his vocabulary or thinking. In case it wasn’t obvious enough from the letters, Hire belongs to the BF crew, and occasionally substitutes his HIRE lettering for BF.
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2023
Starting with the background, Hire pretty much always paints on a prepped wall, to help his letters stand out from the surrounding graffiti ‘noise’. His chrome letters are lifted by the clever use of the green and purple patterning that sits behind them, and the fine white lines bring a little bit of definition to the piece. Fantastic, thoughtful work from Hire and a great shout out to BF.
Unity is smashing it out of the park these days, and to my huge joy, seems to be painting in Bristol a little bit more frequently than she has in the past… it is probably down to the sheer volume of RBF birthday celebration paint jams.
Unity, Frome Side, Bristol, November 2023
This Rugrats piece is simply brilliant, with Chuckie taking centre stage, along with an obligatory spray can. The character is wonderfully recreated, and the letters that Unity has written are outstanding. Polished off with a white flash, blue background and some building blocks, the whole thing is a visual feast, beautifully painted. It is a pity that it is painted in a spot where so few people will get to see it up close.
Natural adventures 