One of the artefacts of the way I plan my blog posts is that I am always running a few weeks behind the time that the pieces were painted. So here we are on Sunday 21 January and I am posting a Christmas piece by Cobo.
Cobo, Brunel Way, Bristol, January 2023
This is an absolute chrome beauty by New Zealand artist Cobo, whose writing is out of the top drawer. In this piece, his wonderfully stylised letters are accompanied by a cat and a sign saying merry Christmas. I love a street art cat, and must, one day, get my act sorted out and d a gallery of street art cats. It will happen. In the mean time you’ll just have to enjoy this lovely fella.
The last couple of visits to Bristol by Logoe have resulted in only two or three pieces, which is worth mentioning, because typically we get to see a rash of five or six per visit. This piece was painted over the Christmas holiday period, I think, and bears all thee hallmarks of a great piece of Logoe writing.
Logoe, Greenbank, Bristol, January 2023
The colours are suitably subtle, and the palette nicely worked out. The dots are rather different in so much as they are running in vertical rows rather than the customary horizontal splash we usually see. The letters ‘Logoe’ are really nicely written, but if I am perfectly honest, slightly masked by number and size of dots. Another fine piece of writing.
I had a great catch up with Face 1st as he was assessing where to paint this stunning little design. He had thought about using one of the flat walls on the buildings, but instead chose this curved wall instead, and what a great choice he made.
Face 1st, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2022
Any piece on the ramps of a skate park get scuffed up pretty quickly, naturally, and when I photographed this it was only a day old, and you can see immediately how worn parts of it have become. Face 1st has painted a laughing girl’s face sliced through vertically, exposing the letters F, A and E, with the C sitting proudly on the girl’s pink bow. A wonderful piece from a lovely artist.
An artist who never gets enough ‘airspace’ on Natural Adventures is Werm. He is really prolific and has been turning out his own brand of stylish graffiti writing on a fantastically regular basis.
Werm, St Werburghs, Bristol, January 2023
This excellent gold on red piece was painted in the tunnel alongside his LRS crew mates, during the very wet spell at the start of January. The colour fade in the letters is blended perfectly and also contains a few stars and spots for good measure. The writing spells out WERM, but has a kind of symmetry about it that is rather pleasing. This is a first class piece of writing from Werm.
I suspect that I begin quite a few posts featuring Mudra’s work with the words, ‘Mudra is absolutely smashing it at the moment’ and that is probably because Mudra is absolutely smashing it at the moment.
Mudra, Brunel Way, Bristol, January 2023
His signature pieces, usually painted on black buffed walls, have been coming thick and fast over the last year, and this one features a walking character, smoking a cigarette, alongside the letters NTS, the crew he paints with. Mudra’s work is always easy on the eye, smooth curvy lines and soft fills – there is something quite laid back about their presentation. Many more to come in 2023 I’m sure.
It seems fitting that I should post a catch-up batch of Kid Krishna pieces only two days after I met the artist for the first time, while he was painting a roller piece at the entrance to St Werburghs tunnel. Although our chat only lasted a few minutes, I was able to find out so much about the artist, his work and his aspirations. Overall, turns out he is not a woman (see previous speculation) and is in fact a really nice guy.
Kid Krishna, Stapleton Road, Bristol, July 2022
There is me thinking that Kid Krishna was a new kid on the block (demonstrating how little I know) but has been around for a long time, painting with the likes of Sick Boy back in the day. He has been in his native Yorkshire for some years, but recently arrived in Bristol, and has been busy painting the streets since.
Kid Krishna, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, July 2022
Kid Krishna is a versatile artist, equally comfortable with graffiti writing as he is with painting characters, either using spray cans or rollers. He told me that he is looking at doing something quite different, and if it happens, we will all be in for a very welcome treat. Meanwhile, enjoy his incredibly unique and intricate writing in these three pieces.
Photographed under challenging light conditions, this outstanding piece by Dibz carries all the signature elements that identify it as one of his. For example, the overall diamond shape within which the whole piece sits, the perfect borders and solid 3D drop shadows… and of course the signature and shout out to Turoe (the birthday boy).
Dibz, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, June 2022
The colour selection too is close to perfection, not only in the way the colours battle for attention, but also where exactly those battles take place, bringing a focus to certain parts of the work. This is writing of the highest calibre and a sight for sore eyes. One of the best from one of the best.
So many of my recent posts of archived work from 2022 begin with a disbelief or confusion about how I managed to not post/publish the piece in question. However, that opening is becoming a little clichéd and although it is tempting, I will not begin this post that way.
Elvs, St Werburghs, Bristol, June 2022
I love this piece from Elvs – Beautiful writing and a Garfield… my life is complete. There are some pieces that speak loudly enough for themselves, and this is definitely one of those. I’ll leave you to enjoy it.
As with other prolific artists, I have had to group a bunch of pieces by Klashwhensober together to make sure that they get to see the light of day. This selection of pieces were all photographed in May 2022, although some may have been painted some time before then. It looks like I photographed the first ‘Sober’ piece before it was completed, and then again once finished (see Feature image). This was entirely accidental, and I only noticed they were different when I was putting this post together.
Klashwhensober, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2022
This red Klash writing, with squishy green bubbles, lasted rather a log time in this tunnel of the M32 roundabout as I recall.
Klashwhensober, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2022
Another Klash piece, this time in the tunnel, with some nice blue transitions and decorations in the fills. I think that I would like to see Klashwhensober start to buff his walls first, because it would give his talent more of an opportunity to shine through, but this is kind of hard core writing and that is OK.
Klashwhensober, M32 spot, Bristol, May 2022
This piece presents us with a feast of colour and explosive elements, something that Klashwhensober excels at.
Klashwhensober, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2022
Another Sober piece, again with a blue fill, but rather less frenetic than some of his work. Calm and concentrated.
Klashwhensober, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2022
Finally, another burst of energy in the tunnel, this time with the added bonus of a curious red figure peeping over the SOBER letters. I don’t know how Klashwhensober finds the energy or affords the paint for his work, but I am only glad that he does.
I’m glad I took this photograph when I did, back in April 2022, because much of this magnificent piece by Gage Graphics is now obscured with bins and advertising hoardings. The commission for Stokes Croft Takeaway is an outstanding scene featuring Disney’s Goofy character.
Gage Graphics, Stokes Croft, Bristol, April 2022
Goofy is faithfully recreated in this piece, but it isn’t just the character or the writing that makes this piece a great one, but also the magnificent tree rising high into a sunset sky. I also love the detail of the little bird sitting on the roof. Gage Graphics is one of the most versatile artists in Bristol, and one who receives some significant commissions about the place.
Natural adventures 