5267. Dean Lane skate park (602)

Dibz and Cheo, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2023
Dibz and Cheo, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2023

Well, well, well, how nice to see Cheo back again painting on the streets of Bristol. I wonder what has coaxed him out from what feels like a much too long absence, but whatever it is, it is great to see some fresh work from him. This is a superb, how could it be anything else?, collaboration from Dibz and Cheo.

Dibz and Cheo, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2023
Dibz and Cheo, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2023

To fit the collaboration on this wall, Dibz has contracted his style somewhat, and I am not certain his writing says DIBZ, but I can’t quite make out what it does say. Everything about the writing is close to perfect – this guy performs miracles with a spray can. Cheo has painted one of his characters, complete with baseball hat and ski goggles. The t-shirt says Neo Geo, which is lost on me, and of course we have his signature bee – it is great to see Cheo out and about, and I look forward to seeing more from him over the summer.

5263. Dean Lane skate park (601)

Werm, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2023
Werm, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2023

It has to be said that Werm has managed, in a relatively short space of time, to create and amplify his unique style on the Bristol scene. His work is constantly improving and developing, and he is starting to work on collaborative walls with some of the more established artists in the city.

Werm, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2023
Werm, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2023

Werm is favouring a style at the moment which has extensive elaborations on the letters WERM that form the central portion of the piece, almost as though the letters are growing roots and shoots. He is also managing to fill his letters with nicely painted colour transitions, five in this instance. Werm was painting alongside the very experienced Turoe on this wall, and has picked up on a shared background of sky blue and some of the bricks of the wall picked out in a darker blue. A graffiti writer on the up.

5262. M32 Spot (164)

Kid Krishna, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2023
Kid Krishna, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2023

I simply can’t keep up with Kid Krishna at the moment, and I think I am going to have to do a ‘sweep up’ post of pieces that I haven’t posted so far this year, because all of them deserve to be featured here on Natural Adventures. Not only is he incredibly prolific, but he manages to spread himself far and wide, although mostly north of the river, to be fair.

Kid Krishna, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2023
Kid Krishna, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2023

There is nobody else like Kid Krishna, both in terms of the person and his art. His lettering, although it is often such a mash-up, spells CRIE, and you can see a little CRIE at the bottom right-hand side of the piece. The letters TPN and NKA also usually make an appearance in his work too. In recent months, the letters have been incorporating fragments of character artwork, and there is a cat incorporated here. The white letters with green and yellow accents and decorations work incredibly well on the black background. This is a magnificent work from Kid Krishna.

5261. M32 Cycle path (218)

Solar, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, May 2023
Solar, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, May 2023

Some artists manage to keep themselves very much to themselves, and that is true of most of the PLB crew, including Solar. I have been featuring Solar’s work for a few years, but have never met the artist and have never found out anything about them. That is fine and how some like to keep it, as anonymity is an important part of illegal graffiti and street art.

Solar, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, May 2023
Solar, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, May 2023

I like to post pieces by Solar because they are very different to most of the stuff you see from day to day, often writing with thick letters in a blocky style but with an organic feel to them. Solar has gone full-solar on this one, with a sizzling sun-drenched background around the strong white letters. Nice work from an artist slightly underrepresented on Natural Adventures.

5254. Greenbank (82)

Pekoe, Greenbank, Bristol, May 2023
Pekoe, Greenbank, Bristol, May 2023

This post gives you a sense of how far behind I am with my posts and how difficult it is to keep up with the sheer volume of street art and graffiti writing being painted in Bristol right now. The wonderful piece by Pekoe is from an Easter paint jam with her RBF crew friends.

Pekoe, Greenbank, Bristol, May 2023
Pekoe, Greenbank, Bristol, May 2023

Pekoe has spent this spring concentrating on her letters, and it is always great to see artists pushing and challenging themselves. I think that Pekoe may struggle a little with straight lines and that she might benefit from writing a more curvy word – there are a lot of straight lines in PEKOE. The fills are lovely and typical of her style, and the eggs a nice festive touch. More writing from Pekoe in the pipeline.

5250. Cumberland Basin

Ceus, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2023
Ceus, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2023

This is the third in a series of Ceus pieces that appear to be in a revised or reinvented style, largely around a colour scheme, and large bold and obvious letters. There are small references to some of his work from last year in the shape of a wing tip to the left of the letter C.

Ceus, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2023
Ceus, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2023

The bright blue writing set on a white background has a heavenly look and feel to it an looks very fresh – so easy on the eye. There are some lovely colour fades in the fills and the orange outline/shadow with bubbles sets the whole piece off nicely – a quality work from Ceus.

5249. Coach and Horses

Face 1st, Coach and Horses, Bristol, May 2023
Face 1st, Coach and Horses, Bristol, May 2023

Although I regularly post pieces by Face 1st, it is probably only about half of everything I photograph. He has been a consistently prolific artist in Bristol since I started writing about this stuff back in 2015 and has brought me personally a lot of joy with his constantly evolving themes and ideas, based on a face.

Face 1st, Coach and Horses, Bristol, May 2023
Face 1st, Coach and Horses, Bristol, May 2023

This is a wonderful example of Face 1st’s work, a really tidy piece with sumptuous colours that work son well together. Some of Face 1st’s throw ups can be a little untidy, but this is crisp and sharp and beautifully finished. The smiling girl with earrings has the word FACE for hair, with not a little gloop going on. This is classic Face 1st, classily painted and presented.

5248. Dean Lane skate park (600)

Vozie and Bnie, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2023
Vozie and Bnie, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2023

It is fitting that my six hundredth post from Dean Lane should feature a stunning collaboration wall from Vozie and Bnie, two of my favourite writers at the moment. There is an awful lot to like about this colourful collaboration, and the colours and style remind me of the cartoon fairground scene in Mary Poppins or the Village from the TV series ‘the Prisoner’ – the psychedelic elements probably elicit those thoughts.

Vozie, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2023
Vozie, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2023

To the left Vozie does what she does, although in this version of her name, she has written VOSE, not VOZIE which we are more accustomed to seeing. Beautiful letters, beautiful fills and a fabulous drop shadow… there is little more to say.

Bnie, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2023
Bnie, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2023

To the right Bnie has replicated the colours, fills and shadow to make this a truly collaborative piece. As with Vozie’s half, Bnie has created beautiful letters, using beautiful fills and a fabulous drop shadow. This is an exceptional piece from the RBF girls, and a bit of a fave of mine so far this year.

5245. M32 Spot (162)

Ryder, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2023
Ryder, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2023

Conrico organised a paint jam under the M32 a week or so back, and a great many of the columns there were given a fresh coat of paint, including this banging vertical piece of writing from Ryder. The slogan accompanying this fiery piece is “play with fire – get burnt”, an apt phrase for the graffiti community.

Ryder, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2023
Ryder, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2023

Some artists have pure class, which is a gift that can’t be manufactured, and Ryder has class. There is a confidence and assertiveness about his work that eclipses others around him, and this is a great example of that. The fun piece (spelling out RYDER) incorporates character faces into the letters, something Ryder does a fair bit, and has a delicious colour selection with perfect fills, and a steady black outline. This is one of the best column pieces I have seen in a long while. Simply the best.

5244. St Werburghs tunnel (368)

Wxttsart, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2023
Wxttsart, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2023

I am enjoying the regular flow of MILK from Wxttsart, and this yellow and black number from a paint jam in the tunnel a little while back is another great example of his writing that is definitely crossing-over into calligraffiti.

Wxttsart, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2023
Wxttsart, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2023

His two-tone grey letters have a mid-line running through them and a yellow 3D shadow dropping off to the left, providing some depth to the writing. Adding a little bit of interest are some lightening strikes at the base of the letters and a few highlight spots, without which the piece might appear to be a little flat. Some nice work from Wxttsart.