Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2024

All the colourful street art on the walls around Cheltenham Spa have stories to tell.  Last year the river of colour captured my imagination and my photography.  Returning on a Sunday in July 2024, I was looking forward to photographing a new set of murals.  Last year I missed out on visiting the town centre East car park painting area.  I also went to the Aggs pavilion and did not visit any of the underpasses. Looking at this year’s audio guide, I planned my walk from the Northeast car park to the HQ at the Two Pigs pub and from there to the East car park.  On the way home I planned a stop over at the underpass near CHCQ.  That was the plan.

Opening picture is Storm Queen by @mishfit_art

North Place Car Park

Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2024
Love the expression of joy in this mural by @emmagilbertart This was the first mural I encountered.
Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2024
The eye is on @titlegraffiti
Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2024
How artists mimic their creations 🙂 @alain_welter (work on left @Splinteredstudios)
Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2024
Noah catching sight of a colourful cyclist (artist – @Madderdoit).

My daughter and grandson came along for the ride.  We parked by the North Place car park and I took a few pictures of the artists.  There were a couple of mural artists that I recognised from my Digbeth and Shoreditch travels. Noah started a trend of posing in front of those murals he liked such as the cyclist.  We then grabbed a bite to eat at Mowgli’s before exploring the Festival. The Brewery Quarter is one of the sponsors of the Festival so pleased I did my bit by eating there.  

On our walk to the Two Pigs pub, we encountered several murals.  Having a camera out and about on the day of the Festival looks normal and helps with the street photography.  

Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2024
Ideal day out for Street Photography with work by the talented @pogo.stencils
Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2024
The work of @Perspicereaetist is mesmerising and is all done by strings

The Two Pigs Pub

The pub was quiet on the Sunday lunchtime with a few artists out painting in the back yard.  When photographing the work, I always aim to get the painter’s permission for a picture.  I know that street art is public work but I still believe it is polite that you get the artist’s blessing for the picture. As you see, I enjoy recording how they interact with their artwork.  Knowing the person behind the work gives the bigger picture and tells the story about the mural.  There were many ‘faves’ in this area and my pictures show the range and variety of work.  I did like the train ticket murals and the happy faces at the pop up shop in the pub.

Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2024
Painting in the yard with @vanemg.art
Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2024
I love this landscape image and could spend hours looking at this country scene by Snug One
Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2024
Noah lines up with the bear of @Georgieartist
Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2024
Friendly faces at the Cheltenham Paint Festival shop.

East car park

Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2024
Inside the car park there are stunning murals. Outside a painting by @krimsone

Next stop East car park.  Once we were signed in by the cheerful volunteers, we were directed up to the top floors where several murals were reaching completion.  I stopped to talk to @apparan and @stockartwork. Both were adding the final touches to their work and were happy to be photographed. They also gave me the background about their artwork.  @apparan was passionate about her work. “Uprising” highlights how women rise above the struggles they face in life.   There were many murals at this venue and the interaction of colour, mural and car park was good for composing pictures.  I am sorry I missed @sould_art as she was very kind advertising my blog last year.  The camaraderie and friendly atmosphere that permeates the two days of the Cheltenham Paint Festival is what attracts me to visit. 

Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2024
beautiful dreamy colours from @must_mes
Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2024
This artwork by @sould_art was a favourite of Noah. Love the colours 😉
Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2024
So good to meet up with the talented @apparan
Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2024
@Stockeartworks agreed to have his portrait taken with the essential gear of a street artist.
Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2024
Light, lines, shadows and concrete in the car park. Artist to be named
Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2024
This is the top floor.
  • Some artists to be named in above pictures

Sherbourne place car park

Exiting the car park I realised that we were near to some of the new art that was being done at Sherbourne place car park which was just next door.  There was an epic and expansive mural by @Dale_Grimshaw.  Furthermore, there was a wonderful fun message below the beautiful mural.  Girl painters need a dinosaur was done by @chinagirltile. Having granddaughters who love painting, these words are spot on and do resonate.  There was also work on display by another artist who was coming to the end of his painting.  We had a good chat but he looked tired after all his work in the sun.

Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2024
A grand style mural by @dale_grimshaw with a fun message by @chinagirltile underneath
Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2024
Being a dinosaur notice by @chinagirltile
Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2024
At the end of the paint Artist to be named.
Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2024
Super tones to this mural @voidoneuk

On the way back there was a previous mural by Curtis Hylton to see and then there was another look at the artwork in North street car park.  I took out my Yashika film camera and took a few pictures.  The film will be developed in a week’s time so I am interested how the pictures turn out. We walked back to the car and drove to the underpass which was on the A40 not far from the GCHQ building.  

Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2024
Work from a previous festival by @curtis_hylton
Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2024
Two black cats @Littlesofthemall
Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2024
The eyes on the butterfly follow you around @rooabrook
Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2024
Trying to keep your eyes on the job. The Art of Sok looks over at the work by K9 Stencilling.

Arle Court Underpass

The underpass was alive with artists painting on the downward slopes and then into the underpass.  You get drawn to certain pieces of art and I met @pad303 who was painting an Evel Knievel mural under one of the arches. The model bike with action figure placed on a box next to his spray cans was a super touch to the proceedings.  There were many other artists at work and I took many pictures underneath and around the Arle Court area. There was so much variation and colour in the artwork.  I may well miss out on several names of artists around here but I will try my best.  

Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2024
Evel Knievel model in the foreground and pad303 and mural at the back.
Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2024
The serpent and the paint cans by @erika.rosendale
Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2024
Dramatic mural nearing completion. @doppelwashere
Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2024
Be careful where you park your bike (Artist – Syd)
Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2024
You just gotta smile @ajarts_hadland

What caught my eye at Arle court was the leading lines and intersections as the colourful images interact with the concrete and steel.  So much texture and colours.  The light and shadows in the underpass provided different ideas for picture composition. I used the available light to line up silhouettes of the people against the entrance.  All murals blended in well with their surroundings.  I could have spent a long time here but I knew that the trip back home up to Solihull was a pressing matter as we wanted to leave early to avoid the motorway jams.

Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2024
Silhouettes under the A40
Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2024
Looking west.
Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2024
Looking east and @5kyh1gh mural is down to the left.
Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2024
Taking in the work of the festival. This work is by Skewer.
Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2024
Expansive work by @7th_Pencil
Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2024
Colourful work by @artsee_e
Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2024
My final picture of the day before heading home was this work by Memphis.

Memories of the Day

The Cheltenham Paint Fest is a day out with a difference.  There is the chance to go shopping and enjoy the Regency architecture of the town.  The paint festival is an added bonus to your visit and one not to be missed.  I must thank Dice67.co.uk and his team for all the excellent work and the ever so helpful volunteers.  The quality of the artwork is high and a privilege to view the artistic output of so many talented people.  Great memories to hold onto whilst we wait for next year’s festival.

Thanks to Andy Dice Davies who is the lead of the organising committee for putting the Cheltenham Paint Festival together. All the volunteers were helpful and eager to direct you to the different areas. Thank you to all the artists who were happy to have their picture taken and chat to me. I was the guy with the Cowboy hat and silver camera. Sorry I could not see every mural but if you want a good idea of what was going on please follow Max Johnson (@moxsblag) where she documents many of the artists and their work. She is a good photographer too. All pictures were taken with my Fujifilm x100vi which excelled in the low light situations of the East Car Park and Arle Court Underpass. I have tried to name all artists wherever possible and will update my account as soon as I learn the names of the artists. I recommend Inspiring City website which has an extensive write up with pictures of the Cheltenham Paint Festival 2024.

If you enjoyed this then be sure to sign up to the Cheltenham Paint Festival site. Also you may wish to read my account of last year’s festival.

Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023

Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023 was on my radar when it was first announced earlier this year.  Having photographed the street art in Digbeth, I have ventured further afield to Bristol and Leamington Spa to look at their street art.  The Paint Festival in Cheltenham has a reputation of being well organised and attracting some of the top street artists from home and abroad.  The festival director and artist Andy Dice Davies (aka dice67) had produced an audio map for the phone.  I downloaded the interactive map and whilst there was a bit of a learning element on how to use the software, I found it very useful.  I would love it if there was a narrative that I could listen to as a continuous streaming or even a podcast of the event.  Still the interactive map was very good and I have used the app for reference for this blog.

Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023
Admiring the Street Art by @n_4_t_4

North Place Car Park

Not knowing the geography of Cheltenham, I did my homework.  I found on arriving that the town has NCP car parks and I needed their app to get a good rate of parking.  I parked centrally and made my way to North Place Car Park.  Many street artists were painting on the surrounding walls and the place was a hive of activity.  There were many photographic opportunities as I walked around the walls. I struck up a conversation with one of the artists @mycutecreatures.  Her work was only just being started but it was possible to see the design that was planned.  I find it fascinating how the artwork develops as the artist is painting during the day.  I moved down along the walls where other artists were working away.  The murals were on different themes, with different images and most of all differed in colours and content.  Certainly a feast for the eyes.

Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023
Painting the walls of the car park (AjaxPiper)
Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023
Reflections in the glasses (@Jenksart)
Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023
Street art has wings (Demoisellemm)
Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023
Decisions and discussions. (Guts dc and Jimmer Willmott)
Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023
Alphabet and number soup (@DFTE)
Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023
Work in progress (daub.jg)

Holiday Inn

Next stop was the Holiday Inn to see both last year’s mural and the progress on this year’s wall.  Last year’s mural is amazing whilst the present mural is facing towards the town.  When taking pictures of the street murals, I always look to take a different picture and seeing the mural, I lined up the traffic lights with the face.  This made for an interesting picture.  Curtis Hylton painted the pea hen for a previous festival whilst the uncompleted work in my picture is by Epod3000.  Check his Insta account to see the finished painting.

Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023
Artwork in progress @Epod3000
Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023
Work on the Holiday Inn wall by Curtis Hylton

Previous Festivals Artwork

There are so many murals to visit, and I went to several places to find street art that had been completed during previous festivals.  As you see from the set of pictures each mural tells a story.  I visited on the Saturday and several works are incomplete.  This just means that I will have to revisit at a later date!  This blog provides a real time account of how the festival was taking place.

Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023
An open window. Detail of Killing Joke by Dice67.
Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023
Beautiful face in the Car Park (Jim Vision)
Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023
An evocative piece of street art jointly painted by Rocket01 and Faunagraphic.

Whilst I was in the area around the Holiday Inn, I met Stephen Gledhill, a street art blogger, who runs the  Natural Adventures blog.   This covers street art up and down the UK.  Stephen was looking at the stencil done by the Street Artist Pogo Stencils UK.  Stephen explained that this artwork was a wonderful example of complex multi-layer stencils.  There is good attention to detail, and it is possible on close inspection to identify the layers.  I love the explanations to paintings in art galleries and was indebted to Stephen for taking me through the Street art.  I took a picture of Stephen next to the street art that was painted at a previous Cheltenham Art Festival.

Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023
Stephen Gledhill, Street Art blogger with picture by Pogo Stencils

Frog and Fiddle

Stephen recommended visiting the Frog and Fiddle which turned out to be a real gem of a pub.  Ordering myself a drink, the bartender gave me some of the background to the place and gave me permission to wander around.  I went upstairs where there is another example of the stencil work of Pogo.  The positioning of the partial face against the windows adds a haunting feel to the pool tables.  At the back of the pub, @Dice67 has painted a portrait of Jet Black, the Strangler’s drummer who is sadly no longer with us. There were other street artists at work in this area and were happy to chat about their work. This festival does provide a buzz to the town.

Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023
Frog and Fiddle Pub
Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023
Pool table and light (Pogo Stencils)
Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023
Jet Black of the Stranglers painted by Dice 67.
Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023
Artist at work (@phasechan)
Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023
Paint cans at the ready.

Leaving the Frog and Fiddle, I walked up the high street taking some detours to see previous festival work by @Zabouartist and work in progress on a new mural by @liambononi. The latter artwork was above an entrance to a factory.  The artist was painting on a motorised platform with air filter protection.  The tools of the trade.  Having marvelled at the artwork I returned to the path down the high street and came into the Church yard of Cheltenham Minster, St Mary’s. My destination was the Two Pigs pub, the HQ of the Cheltenham Paint Festival.  

Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023
To be or not to be – by @Zabouartist
Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023
High rise street art by @liambononi

The Two Pigs

The pub was busy and had many artists working both in the back yard of the pub and inside. Many of the painters took time out to chat about their work and most were happy to have their photograph taken for my blog. 

Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023
The entrance to the back yard of the Two Pigs
Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023
The sun did show and brought out the colours of the artwork (@sophytuttle)
Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023
Showing attention to detail by @wolfskulljace_art.
Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023
More artists at work (Sould_ art on the left)
Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023
Artwork on show (Roo art)
Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023
Sign painting by Dawn and Dario Santos inside the Two Pigs

More Street Art

The festival experience is remarkable in that the murals have become an interlinked feature of the town.  I passed beautiful streets filled with examples of Regency architecture.  I walked around the Royal Crescent and then into the streets behind.  Here tucked away in a car park are the Bayshill walls where there were examples of artwork from previous festivals.  

Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023
Street Photography and artwork by Inkie who also did the Festival logo.
Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023
The Royal Crescent, Cheltenham.
Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023
Taxi
Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023
Walking past the artwork by Beau Stanton in Bayshill car park.
Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023
Work by Duo Sink at Bayshill walls

Agg Pavillion

Using Andy’s interactive map on my phone, I retraced my steps through an alley way to the Bottle of Sauce pub and Dodo establishments.  I walked through the St Paul’s area, where the houses are predominantly white with some splashes of colour.  My aim was to view an iconic piece of work by the street artist @whoamIrony.  However, I went too far and found myself in Pittville Park.  Here I discovered street artists painting on the Agg Pavilion.  There were 5 artists at work, and I was pleased to meet @Titlegraffiti.  I recognised his work at once having come across his work in Digbeth, Birmingham.  My personal favourite was the intricate work being done by @faye.rai who explained that she was painting in a similar manner to a watercolour.  Other street art at the pavilion included the painting of a Barbie doll on its side by @katiescott_creative. There were others there and  I am hoping readers will fill in the artist blanks for me.

Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023
The distinctive artwork by Birmingham street artist @Titlegraffiti
Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023
A lovely mural taken shape which is being painted by @faye.rai
Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023
I’m a Barbie Girl (@katiescott_creative)
Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023
An intricate fish mural (@PeteSheridanArtist )
Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023
Aerosol paint cans at the ready,

I did get to see the iconic wolf moon mural by Irony on the way back.  

Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023
Howling Moon by Irony

There were also some other artwork on the streets which were fun to photograph.  I went back to the car park and came across @ n_4_t_4 with his colourful mural of a bird.  I introduced myself to Nathan and he took time out to talk to me about his work.  He is a well-respected street artist and this was one of my highlights in my travels around the festival.  Around the corner @mycutecreatures was finishing her mural and several others were nearing completion.  Members of the public were admiring the street art.  

Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023
A second painting by @n_4_t_4
Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023
Nearly at the finish for @mycutepictures
Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023
Discussing the Festival (@sophielongart)

Homeward bound

By now I was ready for home, I realised looking through Andy’s map that I had missed several other large projects such as buildings and carparks.  Therefore, I will have to come back to Cheltenham and see the street art that I had missed and take pictures of those that were in progress.  I did pick up on Instagram what was happening elsewhere and there is a good record on many Insta micro-blogging sites.  

Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023
Thoughts are not facts – @DFTE with the nearly finished mural.

If you want to follow some excellent street art photography, then Max Johnson @Moxsblag is a must.  Her documentation of the artists is first class and very detailed. Another insta blogger is @Streetartuk2023. Again, nice photography and documentation.

Many thanks both to Andy for organising the festival and all those artists that allowed me to take photographs of their work.  I hope that I have got all the credits right and apologise if there are mistakes. I am happy to amend when I have the necessary information.  Please contact me via this website or @dammodammo if there is anything that I need to correct. The featured image at beginning of this blog was by @sam_art_34. BBC Gloucestershire did a feature on the return of the event prior to the festival.

Camera use for all pictures was with my Fujifilm x100v except for a couple of iPhone pics.  The x100v was on aperture control and colour balance daylight. For the artists out there, I was the guy in the hat wandering around with the silver retro camera.

If you enjoyed this blog then here are my Street art walks around Digbeth, Leamington Spa and Bristol.

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