It would seem that Hire has returned to a fairly regular rhythm, having not painted very much during the lockdowns. This is, of course, great news, and the work he is presenting at the moment is as good as it has ever been.
Hire, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2022
This stunner was painted a couple of weeks ago, and Hire has achieves a certain amount of symmetry in this piece, although a closer look will reveal that it isn’t symmetrical at all, it just looks that way. Hire has created a very clever piece indeed and it is beautifully presented and executed. So good to see him painting regularly.
Mena is obviously a popular lady, and the turnout for her birthday paint jam was exceptional. This contribution from Stivs is an absolute beauty and a fitting tribute to Mena. The writing that spells out Menas is in his wonderful calligraffiti style and this one in particular really stands out.
Stivs, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, April 2022
The colour selection is nothing short of brilliant and possibly quite brave, where the letters, picked out in orange, pink and purple Are complemented by the turquoise surround. Stivs has picked out the 3D shading perfectly with a ‘suggestion’ of colour and stripes. Overall a superbly crafted high-quality piece of writing.
Unusual and unexpected, this writing in Dean Lane is an untypical piece from Inkie that appeared about a week ago, at the same time as a Rusk piece on a nearby wall (coming soon). At first glance, the writing is not obviously Inkie’s and certainly doesn’t have many of his trademark elements.
Inkie, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2022
Take a closer look though and certain motifs are there. The quality of the piece is outstanding and although it might look a bit busy and eclectic, everything that is there is carefully placed, like the green hoops, the purple bubble writing around the edges and the shout-outs. This is a skilfully painted piece designed to look a bit raw, and Inkie has carried it off perfectly.
Wxttsart is an established member of the Bristol LRS crew, and when there is an LRS paint jam, he is usually there. His work is easily identified as he is the only artist who writes ‘MILK’, to my knowledge. But of course, it isn’t just his letters that mark out his work, but the style too.
Wxttsart, L Dub, Bristol, April 2022
Wxttsart has created a decorative piece of graffiti writing, verging on calligraffiti, with cream letters and a red 3D shadow. For me, though, the whole thing is brought to life by the blue feathering surrounding the piece, and the white highlights on the letters, both of which lift this piece significantly.
Although this masterpiece has been around for a little while, I have only recently photographed it. What an absolute stunner, it is amazing what Kosc is doing these days and I really feel that he has raised his game massively into the top half of the top division, and all this has happened over just a few years.
Kosc, Picton Lane, Bristol, April 2022
His pieces pretty much always stand out and completely command attention. How can you not look at something like this and not say ‘wow’ (or some other more contemporary exclamation). The crispness of the writing, repetition of background patterning, bright orange ribbon and sharp portrait are all elements that brought together have a huge impact.
Kosc, Picton Lane, Bristol, April 2022
I think that this ranks as my favourite piece by Kosc so far. There is something quite cheeky and up-front about it. Confident and assured, this is an absolute jewel that deserves accolades from all who take an interest in street art. Bravo Kosc!
Conrico, or Conrico Steez to give him his full name, is going through a bit of a purple patch and is both painting alone and collaborating in spots all over North Bristol at the moment. This Chinese dragon character intertwined with the word Conrico harks back to a dragon piece I photographed in August 2019 (pre-Covid, remember that?).
Conrico, St Werburghs, Bristol, March 2022
I say this every time I write about Conrico’s work, but he has a certain quality and style that makes his work look like it has been painted using a brush rather than a spray can, there is a certain texture and depth that he manages to get that is fairly unique. There is much to admire in this piece, and I am enjoying his high productivity at the moment.
Solar is an artist who is horribly under-represented on the pages of Natural Adventures. I have dozens of photographs of his graffiti writing, but very little of it has seen the light of day. I have no idea why this has happened, because in my mind’s eye it feels like I have posted a lot of his work.
Solar, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2022
Solar is one of those ‘it does what it says on the tin’ artists who spells out Solar in most, if not all, of his pieces. His letters are quite boxy and the holes in the ‘o’ and ‘a’ are distinctively low and squished. This is a rather fun throw up that uses the space well. I really must dig out more of his work and share it.
It was while he was just setting up to paint this piece that I met Klashwhensober for the second or third time… I came back a couple of days later to photograph the final piece. This is another classic from the artist who never stops, and features his ‘Klash’ variant of letters.
Klashwhensober, Moon Street, Bristol, April 2022
I am guessing that Klashwhensober has painted these letter forms so many times that the interest comes from the fills, and here he has added interest with some touches of red and orange at the top left and bottom right and connected them with ribbons of red. I’m not sure what it all represents, but it is a nice irregular effect. When we spoke, he told me about another of his pieces in a hoarding opposite, so I have included it here for good measure.
Klashwhensober, Moon Street, Bristol, April 2022
I believe that Klashwhensober had painted a piece here before, but it had been overpainted, so he returned to claim back the spot. This piece spells out SOBA and once again the interest here is in his use of fill patterns. The three horizontally graded colours are augmented with stars, circles, rods and little curved bars. There is so much more to share with ypou from this artist, but I don’t know how I’m going to squeeze him in. I’ll have to find a way.
Just because this is the first appearance from Tes (Slim Pickings) for quite a long while, it doesn’t mean that he hasn’t been painting much recently. On the contrary, there are many of his pieces in my archives that I haven’t managed to post, such is the stiff competition at the moment. It is a crying shame that so many outstanding pieces may never see the light of day on Natural Adventures, but it just indicates the quantity of artists out there at the moment.
Slim Pickings (Tes), Sparke Evand Park, April 2022
These are quite recent works by Tes and they show a playful reversal or mirror image of his usual mega-tag. Well if you’ve only got three letters, you have to find some way of switching it up a little, and this is just the ticket.
Slim Pickings (Tes), Sparke Evand Park, April 2022
These pieces were painted alongside some No Frills crew friends during a paint jam, that included Bags, Turoe and Biers in early April. Both pieces are nicely executed, as one would expect, and demonstrate that even with quite a formulaic approach, Slim Pickings manages to bring variety to his work through colour selections and details.
In one of his favourite stretches on one of his favourite walls, Corupt brings another in a series of fabulous of graffiti writing pieces in his beautiful style that is so unique to this particular artist. I almost missed this piece, thinking that it was one of his previous ones in the same spot, which goes to show that it is so important to look carefully and not to make too many assumptions.
Corupt, M32 roundabout, Bristol, April 2022
Writing Korupt, with a K, which is one of his variants, he has chosen a superb colour palette of browns and oranges set on a blue background, the whole, being festooned with gorgeous fill decorations. A very classy piece indeed.
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