5441. Greenbank (90)

Unity, Greenbank, Bristol, August 2023
Unity, Greenbank, Bristol, August 2023

Popular culture has had a bit of a renaissance recently with the release of the Barbie move, which I must confess left me a little cold. For all the hype, clever role-reversals, and funny one-liners, I can’t help feeling that Mattel will be laughing all the way to the bank and that their self-deprecating and rather too knowing involvement has paid off. I guess there is a failure on my part to connect with Barbie as a concept, as her world and mine never collided until now.

On the upside though, Barbie has been an inspiration in the street art world, and this piece by Unity, is one of many from an RBF- Barbie paint jam on the long hoarding at Greenbank (more from this paint jam to follow).

Unity, Greenbank, Bristol, August 2023
Unity, Greenbank, Bristol, August 2023

Unity is an artist in the RBF crew who lives in Wales and occasionally comes to Bristol to paint with her friends. I managed to have a short chat with her at the Cheltenham Paint Festival recently, and she is a lovely lady. Her working of her name in the Barbie font and colours is brilliant and very tidy indeed. She totally captures the spirit of Barbie in her own way and carries it off very well. Plenty more to come from this fun paint jam.

5440. Brunel Way (223)

Bean, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2023
Bean, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2023

It was a great pleasure to meet Bean for the first time recently, and this was one of the three pieces he has painted side by side under Brunel Way on three separate occasions. It really is important to emphasise just how good an artist Bean is, and what a significant impact he is making on the Bristol scene in such a short time, having only arrived in the spring this year.

Bean, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2023
Bean, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2023

Bean is equally comfortable with characters or writing, and here he has combined both. His original  characters are creative and imaginative and always on point. Solid fills, great shading and sharp lines contribute to well worked and finished pieces. This particular character appears to be popping out of a spray can, like a Jack-in-a-box, holding a spray can of the same colour. The letters are fabulous too, with great fills and some cool shading at the edges to give a 3D effect. Altogether this piece showcases the talents of this remarkable artist.

5438. Greenbank (89)

Waster, Greenbank, Bristol, August 2023
Waster, Greenbank, Bristol, August 2023

I really don’t know very much about Piewaster. I know that he has painted a few pieces in Bristol over the years, but never enough for me to become familiar with his work or identity. This is a recent piece from the hoardings at Greenbank.

Waster, Greenbank, Bristol, August 2023
Waster, Greenbank, Bristol, August 2023

One of the elements that I think might be common to his work is the eyes that decorate the piece. I know of at least two other pieces (probably unpublished on Natural Adventures) by Piewaster and they had the same eyes. The letters spell out WASTER in two style/colour forms, one a hollow blue line WSE, and the other solid grey letters ATR. The whole thing is beautifully painted and is the work of a talented artist.

5437. Dean Lane skate park (632)

Klashwhensober and Bean, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2023
 Klashwhensober and Bean, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2023


In my experience it is unusual to find a Klashwhensober collaborative piece, so this one painted with Bean was a bit of a treat. The letters, spelling S BER, by Klashwhensober, have been augmented with a fabulous cartoon character by Bean, replacing the ‘O’.

Klashwhensober and Bean, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2023
Klashwhensober and Bean, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2023

Altogether the whole piece is a lot of fun, and is a coming together of two artists who are rather busy with their painting at the moment. Klashwhensober’s letters are filled with a gentle blend of red and pink set on a lilac background. Bean creates some wonderful cartoon characters in a style that is both beautifully finished and recognisable. This is a wonderful collaboration from the two artists.

5436. Cumberland Basin

Werm, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2023
Werm, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2023

A couple of weeks back it was Werm’s birthday, and there was a fabulous turnout of friends and LRS crew to celebrate with a large paint jam. Werm, as usual, turned out an exceptional piece to mark the occasion, in the blue and pink theme colours.

Werm, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2023
Werm, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, August 2023

Werm is continuing with his current form of writing a small WERM at the centre of the piece with elaborate extensions to the letters creating a complex wildstyle burst of terminal arrows. His work is always beautifully designed and turned out, and has come on such a long way since his early character pieces under his Eman moniker. Happy belated birthday.

5435. Greenbank (88)

Dator, Greenbank, Bristol, August 2023
Dator, Greenbank, Bristol, August 2023

I got lucky with this piece while walking on my little circuit, taking in the long hoardings at Greenbank. This shorter hoarding is at the entrance to the development site, opposite the cemetary,  and has only recently been ‘decorated’ with graffiti. There was an artist painting a small character piece when I passed, so of course I introduced myself and struck up a conversation. It turns out that the artist was Dator, who paints with the Sunday Lovers, and the character he was painting was next to this piece of writing he had painted the day before.

Dator, Greenbank, Bristol, August 2023
Dator, Greenbank, Bristol, August 2023

Dator told me that he likes to vary his style from piece to piece, so it can be difficult to identify his work, especially as he doesn’t sign it. The letters here say S LOVERS, and is beautifully crafted. The letters have a hint of Claro_que_SSSNOH style about them, which is perhaps not a surprise, as adjacent to this is a piece by him too. The fills are skilfully worked and the whole thing is neat and tidy. Dator is a really nice man and was happy to chat for a while, long enough for the dog to get bored! Now I need to go through my archives and see if I can dig out any unattributed pieces that might have been painted by Dator.

5432. M32 roundabout J3 (503)

Soker, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2018
Soker, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2018

You’d need to go back to 2018 to remember this beauty from Soker. I don’t know how, but this piece got stranded and forgotten deep within my archive, and a quick delve has unearthed it for me to post today. Soker is one of the very best writers in Bristol, which is why it is a little surprising that I never posted this one.

Soker, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2018
Soker, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2018

The first thing to grab the attention is the classy colour palette. The fills in the seamlessly intertwined letters are of the very highest class, drifting from which, through yellow to oranges with consummate ease. The letters spelling SOKEM are pretty much perfect, and so cleanly finished. The buffed wall helps the piece to stand out and the pink and purple spots the cherry on the top. As close to perfect wildstyle writing as you will see.

5430. M32 Cycle path (224)

Bnie, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, July 2023
Bnie, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, July 2023

It feels a little bit repetitive banging on about how good Bnie’s work is, given that I say so every time that I post her work, but it is pretty much impossible not to do so. Bnie has been pretty busy this summer, not only on the streets of Bristol, but on the festival circuit too.

Bnie, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, July 2023
Bnie, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, July 2023

Bnie has played with her font a little in this piece, with a slight relaxation on the form with some arrows and pointy bits at the base of the letters. The letter fills are clever, looking almost reflective, as though dappled sunlight is bouncing off the piece. The letters are lifted with tidy 3D drop shadows and yellow and orange borders. Painted as part of an RBF paint jam.

5425. Sparke Evans Park (78)

Solar, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, July 2023
Solar, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, July 2023

Solar is definitely an artist I would like to know more about, as he is something of an enigma to me, and I have never had the fortune to meet him, or indeed most of his elusive PLB friends. His work is quite unique and touches on the anti-style, but not in a way that is similar to others who paint that way. Although he changes his fonts from piece to piece, there is a consistency about his letters within a piece.

Solar, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, July 2023
Solar, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, July 2023

The most striking thing about this work is the colour combination and contrast between the blue and black letters and the red and orange surround, set on a blue buffed background. I can’t really describe the letter forms, but can say that somehow they are typically Solar, and the gentle way he has of almost disguising his name. I will soon be able to pull together a gallery of his work which will be a great showcase of his individual style.

5423. Greenbank (86)

Haka, Greenbank, Bristol, July 2023
Haka, Greenbank, Bristol, July 2023

Haka rarely disappoints, and although he seems to have slowed down a little this summer, his work just seems to be always out there. This is a fun piece on the not-so-long hoarding on the Bristol to Bath cycle path, a hoarding that will before too long be entirely absent, as the new housing development nears completion.

Haka, Greenbank, Bristol, July 2023
Haka, Greenbank, Bristol, July 2023

Haka has an unrestrained vibe in his work and doesn’t seem to get hung up on convention, which affords him a freedom that comes across as very happy pieces. Here he has written his name alongside a ghost character from Ghostbusters (a movie that I can only think of as the original, as the glimpses I have had of the add-on films have left me cold). Always a great pleasure to see Hakka’s work.