Tag: Writer

6731. M32 roundabout J3 (652)

Hemper, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2025
Hemper, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2025

I came across Hemper while he was painting this beast, and I think that even he was wondering if he might have bitten off more than he could chew. It is a tribute to an old crew DMT, and quite unlike much of the work I am used to seeing by the artist, although there are hints of his style in the words within the DMT letters.

Hemper, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2025
Hemper, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2025

These pictures also demonstrate how the light can impact on the quality of photography. In the first picture, the sun is behind a cloud, in the second, the cloud has passed, and the sun is casting shadows of the trees onto the wall, all of this changed in the space of seconds. Hemper appears to have got his mojo going early this year, and is a very busy man, creating some superb graffiti writing.

6730. St Werburghs tunnel (474)

Haka, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2025
Haka, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2025

So many of the combination pieces painted in Bristol leave me wondering who the painted character might be portraying (there are often modern cultural references to cartoon productions of the 1970s to now), but every once in a while the character is one I am familiar with, and this is one of those moments. The character in this Haka piece is Percival Proudfoot Plugsley or Plug member of the Bash Street Kids from the children’s comic Beano.

Haka, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2025
Haka, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2025

Indeed, this is not the first time Haka has incorporated Plug into one of his pieces and other members of the comic strip. The letters are classic Haka letters, nicely overlapping and filled with two colour shades and some yellow decorations. Some nice shout-outs too, including the ever-present tribute to CK1.

Haka, Greenbank, Bristol, January 2023
Haka, Greenbank, Bristol, January 2023

6729. Dean Lane skate park

Teykem, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2025
Teykem, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2025

I made a special trip down to Dean Lane to snap up some pieces by the PWA crew on the swimming pool wall, but was rather disappointed to see that they had been swiftly painted over, but as the saying goes, ‘you snooze, you lose’. There is no mercy and no rules when it comes to painting over other people’s work, but I do wish sometimes that bombers and writers in particular were a little bit more mindful about where they painted.

Teykem, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2025
Teykem, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2025

I have never come across Teykem before, and don’t have much in the way of background about his work. This piece has all the elements of graffiti writing, some nice letter shapes, and stripy drop shadow, but I would need to see more to know if this was a good example of Teykem’s work or not. It is, however, always good to introduce new artists to Natural Adventures.

6728. Purdown (84)

Nice One, Purdown, Bristol, February 2025
Nice One, Purdown, Bristol, February 2025

A couple of quick ones today. It is the morning after my mother’s 90th birthday party, which was a hugely enjoyable event in Farnham Castle in Surrey, but we need to have breakfast, check out and then drive back to Bristol. As I said yesterday, Nice one has been smashing it with his combination pieces already this year, and this is another new piece up at the Purdown anti-aircraft battery.

Nice One, Purdown, Bristol, February 2025
Nice One, Purdown, Bristol, February 2025

At first, it might not look like a combination piece, but you can just spot the top half of his Times New Roman ‘N’ and the dot of the ‘i’ at the bottom of the piece. The First World War dogfight scene is just something you don’t see anywhere in Bristol and confirms Nice One as one of the most original and exciting artists around. Fabulous work.

6727. Greenway Bush Lane (3)

Nice One, Greenway Bush Lane, Bristol, January 2025
Nice One, Greenway Bush Lane, Bristol, January 2025

2025 has seen Nice One upping both the frequency and quality of his game. He has painted several new pieces full of imagination and something quite refreshingly different from what we are used to seeing about the place.

Nice One, Greenway Bush Lane, Bristol, January 2025
Nice One, Greenway Bush Lane, Bristol, January 2025

This piece in the new spot, Greenway Bush Lane is in two halves. Nice One teases us with his letters, which disappear behind the second part, which is a striking picture of a tall ship sailing on a choppy sea and a headland in the distance. Classy work from a nice man.

6726. M32 Cycle path (283)

Grimes, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, January 2025
Grimes, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, January 2025

In my view, Grimes has been one of the real joys of the Bristol street/graffiti art over the last year, and he is already smashing it in 2025. This is a wonderful piece on the Cycle path behind the Black Swan, and is really a beauty.

Grimes, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, January 2025
Grimes, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, January 2025

When Grimes sets about his work, it feels like he has thought very carefully about how it is going to look. The colour selection is near perfect, and the letters, spelling GRIMES have been stretched a little to fit the proportions of the wall. There is so much energy in the piece, and tons of beautiful detail throughout. Another fine piece from the artist.

6723. Dean Lane skate park (805)

Trafficity, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2025
Trafficity, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2025

Because of the frequency of my ’rounds’ around street art spots in Bristol, I try to get in three to four walks a week, I am more likely than not to bump into artists while they are painting, which usually ends up with a quick five-minute chat – enough time to build a rapport, but not too much to distract them from their painting. I was blessed to bump into Trafficity while he was painting this piece in Dean Lane, and had a good chat, with his broken English

Trafficity, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2025
Trafficity, Dean Lane, Bristol, January 2025

I learned a thing or two during our conversation. I had often wondered whether there was a hidden word on the upper level of his letters, but he confirmed that there wasn’t, and said he’d never seen it that way before. Also, he informed me that the letters spell out ZIOS – I had always thought they said ZIOM. These things are always good to know. The form of his letters remains largely unchanged from piece to piece, only his colour schemes and decorations seem to change. This is a lovely piece, especially the shout-out, which says Stephen. Even if it isn’t me, I am going to claim it. Thank you Trafficity.

6722. Cumberland Basin

Sait Bare, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, January 2025
Sait Bare, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, January 2025

Sait Bare is a wonderful graffiti writer who paints just often enough to get himself notices, and has a style of writing all of his own. He tends to present irregular letters that have an organic feel about them, as there were a live being in there somewhere.

Sait Bare, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, January 2025
Sait Bare, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, January 2025

This writing, which was painted alongside some Hire piece, has a wonderful deep, rich colour palette. The letters, spelling SAIT, merge with one another and it is the fills that drift through the piece that pick out the individual letters, but in an ephemeral way. Sait Bare’s work is really unusual and quite unlike anything else we see in Bristol.

6721. Sparke Evans Park (122)

Bbygwya, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, January 2025
Bbygwya, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, January 2025

It feels like the RBF crew have got of to a great early start this year – it must be the birthday paint jams. Bbygwa joined in the celebrations for Desi and Even in Sparke Evans Park with this lovely combination piece.

Bbygwya, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, January 2025
Bbygwya, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, January 2025

The theme for the paint jam was Studio Ghibli, a Japanese animation studio, so I am guessing that Bbygwa’s character is somehow connected to that. Her letters spell LUXE, (a corruption of FLUX – her moniker). The letters are beautifully presented, but alas, contain too much brown for my liking (regular readers will know that I am not a fan of brown in graffiti writing). Almost time for a gallery of her work – she’s in the pipeline.

6719. Greenway Bush Lane (2)

Solar, Greenway Bush Lane, Bristol, January 2025
Solar, Greenway Bush Lane, Bristol, January 2025

I love the fact that this long hoarding in Green Bush Lane is becoming a ‘spot’ having been colonised initially by Mote and Mr Crawls – great work from these pioneers. This represents the ever-changing mosaic of graffiti spots around the city, as areas become gentrified and old spots disappear, new opportunities appear.

Solar, Greenway Bush Lane, Bristol, January 2025
Solar, Greenway Bush Lane, Bristol, January 2025

This is a sensational piece from Solar, and an instant winner with me. With this piece alone, the PLB artist has raised his game to the next level. He has cleverly used the ‘clean’ hoarding as his background colour and painted his piece directly on to it. No need for any buffing. His irregular letters spelling SOLAR have an organic feel to them and are beautifully outlines with a pink border. Some fabulous decorative work, including bubbled inside and outside the piece contribute to its magnificence. A piece out of the top drawer from Solar.