There is an artist in Bristol, who occasionally hits the walls of the city with his curious creations, often in chrome. I am talking about Blimma Blamma, at least I think that is what he is called (he/she doesn’t sign his/her work).
Blimma Blamma, River Avon, Bristol, March 2024
This piece includes some letters, which I can’t make out and a character,, customarily wrapped up in clothes with only his face poking through. There is something endearing about the characters and mysterious about the work, which leaves one guessing what the story is. I think I need to do a little more research on the enigmatic Blimma Blamma.
Smak, Sled One and Oust, Coach and Horses, Bristol, March 2024
The wall on the Coach and Horses is one of the best ‘outdoor galleries’ in Bristol and often hosts some really classy work that tends to remain untagged for reasonably long periods. It probably doesn’t have the same turnover as some of the more accessible or popular walls, which means we can enjoy the artwork for longer. This collaboration is by Smak, Sled One and Oust.
Smak, Coach and Horses, Bristol, March 2024
Smak needs no introduction on Natural Adventures, being something of a staple over the years. This is a finely crafted and executed piece of writing that spells out SMAK. The colour palette is is perfect, and offset by the appearance of a black and white stripe design on some parts. The writing is wonderfully intricate without being over-fussy – clean crisp and classy.
Sled One, Coach and Horses, Bristol, March 2024
We don’t get to see enough of Sled One’s genius on our walls these days, so everything we do get to see, we ought to be grateful for. In this central panel, Sled One has painted a cat toasting a mouse on a stick over a fire, surrounded by barbed wire. There is a story here, but not one I can tell you. There is a mixture of styles, which is a bit unsettling. The cat is approaching photorealistic, but the mouse is most definitely cartoon, which confuses my brain somewhat. Brilliant artwork.
Oust, Coach and Horses, Bristol, March 2024
The right hand side of the collaboration is some unusual writing from Oust. The letters are more like constructions, with hints at industry and engineering. I haven’t come across Oust’s work before, so am a little unsure if his style is always like this or that this is a one-off. I guess Oust was visiting, and took the opportunity to paint with friends/acquaintances. There are some great colours and ideas in the piece which is full of contained energy. Fabulous collaboration.
It was a great pleasure to meet Haka, alongside Inkie and Sepr, when he was painting this piece as part of a collaborative wall last month. Although Haka had pretty much finished when I caught up with him, he did subsequently add another character to the right of the piece.
Haka, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, March 2024
Those familiar with Haka’s work will recall that he tends to paint combination pieces with his customary letters accompanied by characters from children’s books, shows or comics. When I was a kid, there were three popular children’s comic, Beano, Dandy and Beezer, and these characters come from one or other – I think that they are from the series Bash Street Kids, although the modern revised version, not the one I grew up with. The two characters here are Wilfred and Danny.
Haka, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, March 2024
There is mischief in this piece, with a bright and vibrant HAKA and the cheerful duo. I cannot think of a more appropriate place to paint these characters than in this spot, which is often frequented by real-life Bash Street Kids. Great stuff.
Bursting onto the walls in Dean Lane was this stunning and vibrant piece of writing from Kosc. Kosc is an artist who appears to be equally at home with writing or character/scenic pieces, and only a few posts ago I shared an amazing Samurai mask that he painted as part of an NTS Crew collaboration. He is a master of his styles and designs.
Kosc, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2024
This piece cries out to be seen, with its bright colours and busy letters spelling KOSC. As I look at it now, I wonder to myself whether he ran out of the orange colour for the ‘O’, or whether the letter is deliberately more yellow to create a focal point to look at. I guess I will only find out by asking him in due course. A great find, that didn’t last too long, if my memory serves me right.
Conrico has been turning out some sensational pieces lately, and what is interesting about this one is that he posted on his Instagram feed some sketches of the animated Chinese lantern before painting this wall, which goes to show how much thought goes into the pieces that artists paint.
Conrico, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, March 2024
The letters CONRICO are superimposed on what looks like an afternoon landscape with the lantern on the left and a building on the right. As ever, Conrico’s artwork looks like it is painted with a brush rather than a spray can, and I imagine he paints with lots of short controlled sprays to achieve this effect. There is character writing on the side of the building, hinting at an East Asian scene. Wonderful stylised clouds finish off this fine combination piece from Conrico.
Saor, Kosc and Mudra, M32 Spot, Bristol, March 2024
Although this outstanding collaboration from Saor, Kosc and Mudra was painted a few weeks ago, it has taken me quite a long while to get round to posting it, which is largely down to the sheer volume of new art appearing on the walls of Bristol at the moment. I would say that this winter, in spite of the appalling weather, has been one of the busiest I have know for street/graffiti art and my archives are bulging.
Saor, M32 Spot, Bristol, March 2024
Saor has made a few visits to Bristol lately, and has smashed each piece out of the park, and this is another in a succession of unbelievable artworks. In line with the overall collaboration colours, Saor has disguised his SAOR letters in an outstanding geometric design. What I love about Saor’s work is the blended of borders, which means that all of his lines have to be ultra crisp and sharp, which, of course, he excels at.
Kosc, M32 Spot, Bristol, March 2024
In the middle of the triptych is a brilliant samurai portrait piece from Kosc, unfortunately a little obscured by the street sign. There is a lot of precision in the detail of the mask and Kosc has achieved incredible depth and texture in the piece. Kosc is an artist who appears to be at the top of his game these days and is producing some outstanding work.
Mudra, M32 Spot, Bristol, March 2024
Rounding off the collaboration is this unusual piece of pixelated writing from Mudra, which seems to be playing with the letters ‘.CON’ (dot con). The skull in the middle of the letters, is a little strange, in fact I find the whole piece odd, and a bit out of kilter with the rest of the collaboration. There might be a story about the piece that I don’t know about which might explain it. Altogether though this is yet another amazing collaboration from the NTS crew.
Ooh! I love this abstract writing piece from Mr Klue. It has been a while since I last saw one of his pieces with the distinctive ethereal steps. The colours too are a slight digression from his recent penchant for purples and blues.
Mr Klue, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2024
It is almost impossible to distinguish them, but the letters Spell out KLUE, as is customary in his pieces… I will get caught out one day, I’m sure, when they spell something else. There is something that is very pleasing on the eye about this piece, and a version of it would not be out of place in an art gallery or hung on a wall. Fabulous work from Mr Klue.
Kid Crayon and SPZero76, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2024
What an absolute pleasure to see SPZero76 and Kid Crayon teaming up this spring to bring us some more EAT Crew joy. This is a fabulous collaboration celebrating the Terminator film franchise, painted in the styles of the two artists, but remaining reasonably honest to the film’s characters. The middle ‘liquid metal’ section spells out EAT.
Kid Crayon, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2024
On the left, is a brilliant rendition of a terminator robot by Kid Crayon, complete with smoking gun. The dystopian future character is menacing enough, although Kid Crayon’s soft edge style takes some of the heat out of the menace. There is some great detail in the mechanical workings of the robot, and the whole thing is finished really nicely.
SPZero76, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2024
To the right, SPZero76 adds his own twist to the motorcycle-riding Schwarzenegger character, with the inclusion of a couple of racoons that tend to frequent his pieces. There is movement and drama in the piece, which is clean and sharp, just as you’d expect to see from SPZero76.
Kid Crayon and SPZero76, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2024
All in all, it is just to see these two collaborating again, and I sincerely hope that they manage to do so more frequently this year than last. I’ll be back!
I haven’t been posting nearly enough pieces by Mr Draws as I ought to have done, especially as I consider him to be one of a small band of artists who represent the beating heart of the Bristol street art scene. My archive is full of unposted work by Mr Draws, and I might have to do a trawl and put them all into one post.
Mr Draws, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2024
This recent piece from the tunnel is really typical of his work. Some nice big letters, filled with a camouflage pattern and colour palette bounded by a thin yellow border. There are some nice white highlights with drips for good measure. A cracking piece from an artist who just keeps on plugging away.
Elvs and Rusk, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2024
This is a wonderful collaboration from two brilliant artists, Elvs and Rusk. I’m not sure I have seen these two painting together since Upfest 22, so this came as a very nice surprise indeed. Elvs has had quite a quiet year painting in Bristol and I would like to think (hope) that this piece signals a few more visits for 2024. Elvs’ writing is so incredibly unique and recognisable – I don’t think that I know of anyone that writes large block letters etched out with thin black lines in this way. Fine writing.
Elvs and Rusk, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2024
I would say that Rusk is better known for his writing or writing/character combination pieces, so this ghetto blaster hip-hop character is something of a rarity. The old-school style character has all the hallmarks of street art/hip hop culture and Rusk carries it off brilliantly. A rather nice silhouette of an urban skyline polished the collaboration off nicely. Great collaboration.
Natural adventures 