Writer – Page 86 – Natural adventures

6081. Greenbank (120)

Although I have found quite a few of his pieces, Zeks, as with so many Bristol artists, is a little underrepresented on Natural Adventures. One day I will try to right these wrongs, but not until I can recover a bit more time in my rather busy life. A word that I would use to describe Zeks work is a word I very rarely use, but it somehow fits his style, ‘cute’ – but I don’t mean in the cuddly puppy sense, more in the clean and joyful and sweet way.

Here Zeks has painted his letters in shades of pink and white, with nice interlocking patterns, and accompanied the letters with a rather cool teddy bear. What really helps this piece, and it can be said for so much graffiti writing, is the buffed background, which helps the piece stand alone from the surrounding visual noise. A very nice piece by Zeks.

6079. Dean Lane skate park (721)

Fade, Jody and Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, May 2024

Just because I have been paying quite a lot of attention to Upfest 2024 recently, id doesn’t mean that the world of Bristol street/graffiti art has stood still, on the contrary, it continues at the same ridiculous pace as usual. At the vanguard of high quality high productivity are the machine that is Dibz and Fade, and in this instance Jody too.

This ET tribute triptych is typical of the classy collaborations these artists have been churning out for well over a year now, since Fade returned to Bristol. On the left is a beautiful and perfectly presented piece of graffiti writing from Fade, that is notable for the drop shadow lifting upwards, which makes it feel like the letter block is moving downwards, if that makes sense – clever stuff.

The filling of the sandwich has been created by Jodi and portrays the most iconic scenes of the movie and possibly one of the most iconic images of the early 1980s. Not only has Jodi recreated Elliott and ET, but also the amazing landscape and moon shot. I like the way that the artists have put their signatures onto the box which ET is sitting in, as if they were written in felt-tip.

Rounding off the collaboration is a perfect piece of writing from Dibz which mirrors Fade’s writing on the other side. The drop shadow that Dibz uses is more conventional and acts as a counterbalance to Fade’s. This is an awesome ET collaboration, worthy of great praise.

6078. Upfest 2024 (15)

Fyonafinn, North Street, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024

One of the interesting aspects of this year’s Upfest has been the large number of typographic writers/sign writers that have been invited, which is really quite unusual for a street art festival. Because of the format changes, and virtually no temporary hoardings being available, the other major change has been a massive reduction in the number of graffiti writers, so there is a very different ambience to the festival this time round.

This is a wonderful piece of stylised writing from Fyona Finn, a Bristol-based artist who has painted a few walls in the city in the past, but most of whose work is design. She describes herself as a lettering activist, which I think defines her style really well.

There are two elements to this piece, the design of the letters, and the message. The letters are carefully arranged, and created using masking tape to generate the straight lines, and the fills drift from one letter to another in a considered way. The message “Take care of each other” is a warm and compassionate sentiment delivered at a time when compassion from an outgoing Tory government is at an all time low. This is a nice piece from Fyona Finn, and I hope to see more of her work on Bristol walls.

6077. Upfest 2024 (14)

#DFTE, Dean Lane, Upfest 24, Bristol, May 2024

The philosophical pondering of #DFTE is a constantly refreshing aspect of his work, indeed a central one too. It is only a few years ago when his small framed musings started appearing in spots all around the city, becoming something of a street art hunter’s ‘pot of gold’. More recently he has taken to upscaling his work into large walls, adopting the same font, and managing not to lose the unique proportions and sentiment that typifies his earlier work. You can see the transition of his work in this gallery.

I guess that #DFTE is stating the obvious here with his “if you change, you will be different” statement. I imagine that this prompts the clichéd response “well, it makes you think… doesn’t it?”. Whether it makes you think or not, this is another wonderful piece of stylised writing and words from the Bristol-based artist.

6072. Various Locations

Klashwhensober, St Paul's, Bristol, May 2024 — Klashwhensober, St Paul’s, Bristol, May 2024

When you see the title ‘various locations’ you can be fairly sure that the post is likely to feature Bristol’s most prolific graffiti writer, Klashwhensober, and you wouldn’t be wrong. This is a roundup of ‘SOBER’ pieces by the artist from May 2024 – by bunching them together I am able to continue to post other artists’ work, at the expense of not commentating on each of the pieces by Klashwhensober.

Klashwhensober, River Avon, Bristol, May 2024

Klashwhensober, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2024

Klashwhensober, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2024

Klashwhensober, Leonard Lane, Bristol, May 2024

Klashwhensober, Upper York Street, Bristol, May 2024

You can tell from this mini-gallery, that Klashwhensober has a recognisable style of writing, but what brings out his work as special is the uniqueness of each piece with regard to colours and fill patterns and the occasional accompaniment of a character. What is also clear is that the artist has good days, and less good days when the finishing can appear a little rushed.

I believe that this is the best way to post Klashwhensober’s work without compromising my desire to share the full spectrum of street/graffiti art in Bristol.

6071. M32 Spot (185)

Zaenone and The Mole, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2024

For most people, coming across a street/graffiti artist while they are actually painting is probably something of a rarity. Because I am out most days in all the most popular spots, it is quite unusual not to meet someone while they are painting, and on this day I happened upon Zaenone and The Mole as they were working on this collaboration.

I had not met Zaenone before, although we have exchanged a few words on social media before. He was fairly quiet when I met him, and I mostly spoke with The Mole. This is a classic piece from Zaenone, typically bookended with characters and the letters ZAEN sandwiched in the middle. The combination has a psychedelic buzz going on, with the hippy characters and the multicoloured fills, topped off with peace symbols.

The Mole has written INCA and included his familiar mole character on the right of the piece, beautifully filled I might add. I asked him where the inspiration for the word Inca came from, and it is completely as you might expect, he has an interest in the Incas. The Mole character was created and developed during the first lockdown (if I remember correctly). As ever it is always great to welcome these LRS lads back to Bristol for a paint.

6068. St Werburghs tunnel (427)

Mr Draws, St Werburghs, Bristol, May 2024

I would truly love to post all of Mr Draws’ pieces, but unfortunately, like so many others, I simply don’t have the bandwidth to do so, and many remain in my archive. I think that the only solution is to have ‘sweep up’ posts in which I trawl through unpublished pieces over the last few months and create a mini gallery in a single post. It is a tactic I have used for posting Klashwhensober’s pieces, because of his extraordinary productivity rate.

This is a nicely presented classic Mr Draws piece, written in his easy and familiar style. A chrome fill dominates, with yellow and lilac patterning. The red drop shadow is very neat and tidy as is the yellow border. The final additional touch is in the form of tly disrupting the form to add interest. Nice stuff from Mr Draws.

6066. Purdown (71)

The anti-aircraft gun emplacement at Purdown, is a bit of a hit and miss spot (no pun intended). Sometimes when I go up there, there have been no new additions, other times I seem to find a raft of new work. It is always a bit of a practical struggle for me, because I take the dog along (of course), and he gets very excited in this enclosed area because of the goats – I have to be swift taking pictures and move on, before he gets too frenzied.

I’m not sure how old this piece by 3GV is, but I don’t recall seeing it before this visit I made last month. 3GV has bookended his letters with a tribute to Vaughn Bode, with Lizard to the left and Cheech Wizard on the right. The irregular letters, with a cool colour palette, are set on a blue diamond shaped background. I feel that 3GV’s work is quite raw, but it is great to see the artist out there practising and improving.

6065. Cumberland Basin

Lee Roy, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2024

Lee Roy is another artist who has gone a little quiet lately, and when I do find pieces by him, I am not sure whether they are old ones or new ones, because they tend to be in spots I don’t visit all that frequently, like this on the warehouse building on the north side of the river opposite the garden centre.

VLAD appears to be the letters/word that Lee Roy is enjoying at the moment, and he is continuing with his flowing anti-style approach. I would say that his work, which might look untidy to casual viewers, is actually highly regarded by his peers and photographers alike. It is a very ‘street’ style of graffiti writing. I would love to see him out more this summer, although I do occasionally see him out walking his dog.

6062. River Avon (62)

Returning to what I would call ‘everyday’ Bristol street/graffiti art after an Upfest interlude (more of those to come), I present another wonderfully busy piece by Grimes. This is a graffiti artist who burst onto the scene a few months ago, and has settled in immediately, producing some realy good pieces along thee way.

This one on the cycle path alongside the River Avon has something of a carnal feel about it. There is no doubt that his pieces are full of movement and vibrancy. If you look carefully, you can make out the letters GRIMES, but it is the outstanding fills and clean borders that lifts this piece above the ordinary into the next level. I am very much enjoying the emergence of this graffiti writer in Bristol.

	Cethru Cellophane (a… on 7474. Canons Wharf
	Sheree on 7474. Canons Wharf
	hitandrun1964 on 7472. Surbiton Station, L…
	scooj on 7472. Surbiton Station, L…
	scooj on 7470. M32 roundabout J3 (…

	Cethru Cellophane (a… on 7474. Canons Wharf
	Sheree on 7474. Canons Wharf
	hitandrun1964 on 7472. Surbiton Station, L…
	scooj on 7472. Surbiton Station, L…
	scooj on 7470. M32 roundabout J3 (…

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