4883. Upfest 2022 (58)

Emily Joy Rich, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Emily Joy Rich, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

Emily Joy Rich is a regular participant at Upfest and her sign writing street art amply demonstrates the breadth of talent on display at the event. I always feel like I have seen more of her art than I actually have, perhaps it is because her pieces are so strong and memorable and remain in the memory for a long while.

Emily Joy Rich, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022
Emily Joy Rich, Upfest 22, Bristol, May 2022

This beautiful piece could be adopted as a mantra for our time. For me, I keep on dreaming for an Arsenal triumph in the Premiership, or for a Government free of Tories forever. I love the way Emily Joy Rich has combined the on-point word DREAMING on a backdrop of the words ‘keep on’, written in a drippy handwritten style. This is a classy piece from a classy artist.

4880. Dean Lane skate park (550)

Saor, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2022
Saor, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2022

Another classy piece from Saor alongside his NTS friends on the long wall at Dean Lane. His work is so on-point, always neat and tidy. He achieves this without the comfort of borders, which means that all of his lines have to be cut-in perfectly, which is a terrific skill.

Saor, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2022
Saor, Dean Lane, Bristol, October 2022

The blues and yellows on a grey background work very well and are in line with the colour scheme for the whole collaborative wall. The stylised letters SAOR give way to some animation in the middle of the piece, with elements of a smiley face. This is an outstanding piece, which, to be fair, is consistent with most of his work.

4878. St Werburghs tunnel (328)

Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2022
Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2022

I think that I have posted more Hypo pieces in the last couple of months than I had for the last few years before. He seems to be going through a very productive phase, finding time to paint with his friends. I imagine that there has been a change in life circumstances that has led to this liberation.

Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2022
Hypo, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2022

This modest piece in gentle colours was painted alongside Benjimagnetic, and perhaps reflects the winter weather, with its blues and greys and drips. This is another piece to add to the collection, which is pretty much big enough for a gallery – watch this space.

 

 

4877. Brunel Way (186)

Logoe, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2022
Logoe, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2022

For once, Logoe came to Bristol and dropped only one piece, as far as I can make out. I believe he might have visited with his Mrs, whose piece lies next to this one. That is speculation based on second-hand information, and since Logoe has no social media presence, it is difficult to confirm one way or the other.

Logoe, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2022
Logoe, Brunel Way, Bristol, November 2022

Not only am I late in posting this sensational Halloween piece, but I think that Logoe was late in painting it. This has all the ingredients of a top piece of writing, with Logoes characteristically slim script letters on a fiery background and festooned with a band of colourful ovals. A rather cute ghost character tops off the piece beautifully. A great Hlloween festival piece from Logoe.

4874. Cumberland Basin

Marckinetic, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, November 2022
Marckinetic, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, November 2022


It has been a little while since I last posted anything from Marckinetic, so it is only right to resume with this stunner recently painted in Cumberland Basin. I can actually make out the letters in this one which look like MARC.

Marckinetic, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, November 2022
Marckinetic, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, November 2022

The fill for the letters is typical of the artist, offering a fantasy cosmic effect in a cluster of bright greens, oranges, yellows and blues. Angular and bold, the piece stands out from the crowd. It is nicely finished too with a bubbly surround and some white feature spots on some of the letters. Welcome back to Natural Adventures Marckinetic.

4872. St Werburghs tunnel (327)

Wxttsart, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2022
Wxttsart, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2022

In the tunnel, alongside some of his LRS crew mates, is another wonderful MILK piece from Wxttsart. The more I see of his work, the more I want to categorise it as calligraffiti, because of the uniformity of letter style and the central line running down each letter, and it has a heraldic look to it.

Wxttsart, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2022
Wxttsart, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2022

Every time I see the word MILK on a wall, it just makes me laugh. The word is so incongruous in the settings wher we find it and with the graffiti art form. It is a word I would more readily associate with wholesome activities, such as having a cup of tea or a bowl of cereal. Well done to Wxttsart for breaking the mould on this one.

4871. M32 roundabout J3 (437)

Dott Rotten, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2022
Dott Rotten, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2022

Dott Rotten has been mighty busy in the last month or so, treating us to some really impressive large pieces, of which this is the most recent (I think). His writing is different from other writers in that his letters have a kind of flat surface, rather than a 3D effect with feature lines and shading.

Dott Rotten, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2022
Dott Rotten, M32 roundabout, Bristol, November 2022

The letters spell SPOILT, and the other word is ‘devine’, although I’m not sure what the reference is. The whole piece is beautifully presented on a black buffed wall with a red and pink bubble background. What you can’t really get from these photographs is the scale of the piece. Dott Rotten certainly isn’t afraid of ‘going large’.

4870. Dean Lane skate park (546)

Face 1st and Chill, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2022
Face 1st and Chill, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2022

Face 1st and Chill appear to be collaborating quite a lot at the moment, and it is a joy to behold. In this piece the collaboration takes the form of a merger of pieces, rather than simply painting adjacent spaces on a wall. 

Face 1st and Chill, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2022
Face 1st and Chill, Dean Lane, Bristol, November 2022

The frame of the piece, set on a pink backdrop, is the letters FACE in chrome from Face 1st, something we are familiar with seeing. What is different in this instance is that the A of FACE, instead of being one of Face 1st’s laughing girls is a fine cartoon character face from Chill. You can’t help but feel a sense of joy emanating from their work, and their friendship shines through in the collaboration. More to come from these two.

4866. St Werburghs tunnel (325)

Hemper, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2022
Hemper, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2022

There have been quite a few new Hemper pieces lately, but I have been slow to post them. I’m afraid, even the most talented artists are competing for my time to publish posts on Natural Adventures. Writing only two or three posts a day is very limiting, and in no way represents the daily activity of street artists and graffiti writers in Bristol.

Hemper, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2022
Hemper, St Werburghs, Bristol, November 2022

This is a gorgeous piece by Hemper in the tunnel, looking a little like soapy suds escaping from a washing machine or a bubbly bath. Beautifully painted in shades of blue with white highlights, the letters spell HEMS, and the piece simply adds to Hemper’s extraordinary and vast repertoire. This is outstanding graffiti writing.

4864. M32 spot (152)

Mudra and Saor, M32 Spot, Bristol, November 2022
Mudra and Saor, M32 Spot, Bristol, November 2022

This is a fine and rather unexpected collaborative wall from Mudra and Saor on a hoarding that I really love. This pair, are members of the very strong NTS crew, and when they get together to paint, the results are usually pretty awesome.

Mudra, M32 Spot, Bristol, November 2022
Mudra, M32 Spot, Bristol, November 2022

Mudra has been super-busy painting walls lately, and this is another in a series of outstanding pieces of graffiti writing. He has his own unique style where each letter of the word is painted in an individual format, although the whole thing hangs together really well. His pieces remind me of the Monty Python sketch about the theory of the Brontosaurus, which is that they are thin at one end, thick in the middle and thin at the other end. Great colours and a nice character skull face in the middle of the piece.

Saor, M32 Spot, Bristol, November 2022
Saor, M32 Spot, Bristol, November 2022

Saor has been smashing it recently too, although, to be fair, he had been smashing it for rather a long time, prior to changing his moniker to Saor. This is a highly designed piece with smatterings of Epok and Mr Penfold in there. Spelling out SAOR, the piece contains a lovely toothy monster, which makes a return appearance from time to time. A wonderfully presented collaboration.