There are several artists that are underrepresented on Natural Adventures, and Teao One is definitely one of them. I feel that, downtime permitting, I will have to dig out more of his work from my bulging archives.
Teao One, St Werburghs, Bristol, August 2023
This upbeat piece on the entrance to the tunnel reminds me of a picnic cloth, with bright colourful square patterns inside the letters. The writing is bordered with red and black, creating a tidy finish set on a white, cloudy backdrop. The letters spell tEROK, but I don’t know what this means, but it is similar to letters he has written in other pieces. Lots of shout-outs around the piece, which is fairly typical of Teao One. Fun and happy work.
Fade, Jody and Dibz, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2023
We are blessed in Bristol to have so many outstanding graffiti artists, and I have to remind myself how privileged we are to be able to enjoy such awesome free art, that most towns and cities in the country simply don’t get to experience. Three of the best artists, Dibz, Jody and Fade combined to give us this amazing Ghostbusters triptych, alongside Ryder, whose piece I will post soon.
Fade, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2023
To the left in spooky blue and green colours is writing by Fade, but just to confuse things, he has written DIBZ in a sot of mutual respect thing going on between the artists. Underneath are the letters RDA and RFK, which, if I am honest, I don’t know what they stand for, but are presumably crew names. Great crisp clean letters with a glow of green ghostly ectoplasm.
Jody, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2023
In the middle is a piece by Jody, which convinces me that he is one of the most talented and versatile character/portrait artists in Bristol, has painted Slimer, the iconic ghost from the film franchise. The fact that this year Jody has painted a range of pieces including a demon, a hooded woman, a renaissance portrait (using brushes) Barbie and now Slime, simply demonstrates that he can turn his hand to pretty much anything.
Dibz, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2023
To the right, the letters from Dibz are as perfect as ever. Dibz has been smashing it all year long and shows no signs of slowing down. He is painting so fast that some of his pieces are getting left behind in my archive – an unthinkable state of affairs. Yet another epic wall in this year of epic walls.
Lee Roy is no stranger to Natural Adventures, nor is he a stranger to this spot on the M32 roundabout, and I have a feeling that he might have overwritten one of his own pieces to paint this one, or at least a short while after.
Lee Roy, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2023
In this piece we see Lee Roy’s free approach that touches on anti-style, full of energy and activity. The colours are rich and complementary, but the eye is immediately drawn to the skull, with red ‘lightening’ coming from its bloodshot eyes. This feels like a good old-fashioned piece of graffiti writing.
Inkie, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
You can be pretty certain that Inkie will have a presence at the Cheltenham Paint Festival, which is great. What is even better is that although this piece was from the 2022 Festival, I managed to find it this time round… only a year late, but better than nothing I suppose.
Inkie, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
The character/writing combination is along the lines that you would expect to see. A beautiful girl with long flowing hair alongside some large block writing. I am not too sure what the ‘St Pauls’ refers to. There is a St Paul’s church very near where this was painted, but it could I suppose be a reference to Bristol’s St Paul’s district. Unmistakably Inkie, the piece is still looking fresh as a daisy. Nice Tribute to Julian too.
SkyHigh, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
Each time I think that SkyHigh can’t possibly up his game, he manages to do so with what appears to be ease. I can’t imagine he has too much headroom for improvement, but hey, this is SkyHigh we’re talking about (no pun intended).
SkyHigh, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
This large piece is a perfect mash-up of characters, letter fonts and styles, seamlessly joined together to spell out SkyHigh in several combinations. The inclusion of Mickey Mouse, Pluto and Donald Duck add a sense of fun to the piece as well as being a bit weird with some additional eyes thrown in for good measure.
SkyHigh, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
One of the awesome things about the piece is how SkyHigh manages to compartmentalise each element as tight as tight can be, and yet there is a fluidity that makes sense of each of the components into an impressive whole. This is as close to graffiti writing perfection as you can get.
Smerk, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
UPDATE (2 November 2023): On posting this piece on Instagram I am informed by Smak that this piece is not by him and that the content of this post should be ignored. This happens from time to time. The piece is by Smerk, and the letters indeed spell SMERK. A forgivable mistake on my part.
I haven’t seen too much work by Smak in Bristol recently, so it was great to see this piece on the multi-story car park in Cheltenham at this year’s Paint Festival. The first thing to notice about this Smak piece is that it is really rather different from the usual style of his writing. That isn’t to say he isn’t incredibly versatile, simply that this is a small departure, and one I rather like.
Smerk, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
The letters in this piece have a slight 1920s/30s feel to them, like a modern version of something you might see at a lido or cinema, if you know what I mean. Perhaps it is the colour palette or the deep 3D shadows in red, combined with the letter shapes, I don’t know, but the overall effect is most pleasing and very easy on the eye. Unfortunately, by the time I got to the car park, Smak had already finished, but there were plenty of other artists up there to catch up with.
I would have to say that seeing new artwork pretty much every day of my life fills me with deep pleasure, but there are some artists that max out that feeling and one of them is Sled One. Possibly better known for his wild and surreal character pieces, Sled One is a fantastically accomplished graffiti writer too, as this piece on the roundabout demonstrates.
Sled One, M32 roundbout, Bristol, August 2023
I guess the thing that stands out in this beautifully crafted piece is the fill in the letters SLED1. To me the fill looks like an old stone wall with a choppy sea alongside. Whatever it is meant to be, what is remarkable is that it is contiguous throughout the letters, creating a scene to be viewed through the letters. Some mint-green flashes add further interest. This is a masterful piece of writing from one of Bristol’s best.
You can view a gallery of Sled One’s extraordinary work here
It was while he was finishing off this writing/character piece that I first met Bean, and what a decent bloke he is too. We chatted for a while, and I was impressed by his knowledge of other artists in the city, which believe me, isn’t always the case with graffiti writers or street artists, who can sometimes be locked into their own work or crew and immediate friends.
Bean, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2023
I don’t know where Bean refined his skills before coming to Bristol, but he has definitely hit the ground running with immaculately finished work. This piece combines his character skills with a lovely piece of writing in great colours. The whole thing might have benefited from buffing the wall, to help it stand out a little from the fairly busy wall beneath it. There is an awful lot to like about this piece, and indeed the others that are adjacent to it. For a short while, this stretch of wall was ‘owned’ by Bean. I am definitely enjoying what he has to offer, and look forward to more from him.
Noise has only recently come into my consciousness, but I don’t know whether that is because he is reasonably new to Bristol or whether I simply had a blind spot. Whatever the reason, I seem to see his pieces on a reasonably regular basis, which is great, because I like his rather big brash letters.
Noise, Dean Lane, Bristol, August 2023
This piece on the recently bricked up wall under one of the large Dean Lane skate park ramps spells out NOISE in great big chunky letters that take no prisoners. There is plenty of room for fills, which are beautifully done in turquoise and white, bounded by tidy black borders and drop shadow and a red outline. This is another attractive piece from Noise.
With the turnover of art in Bristol being such as it is, I get an awful lot of pieces left behind in my archives, and then I forget whether I have posted them or not. I guess that this is a bit of a first-world problem, but it troubles me a little. I was certain that I had posted this piece by Wxttsart, but it would seem as though I hadn’t. It is still in great condition, so perhaps it is relatively recent, and I am mistaking it for another similar piece. Anyhoo, it is a bit of a blinder.
Wxttsart, River Avon, Bristol, August 2023
I describe Wxttsart’s work as a bit of a blend of calligraffiti with a touch of anti-style. I’m not too sure how the artist would describe it, but it is unique and always recognisable. The red script letters spelling MILK are nicely proportioned (a feature of calligraffiti) and have been bestowed with a deep 3D drop shadow in lilac shades. The whole thing is set on a fine green cloudy backdrop which contrasts well with the letters. This is another great piece from Wxttsart.
