Brazilian street artists L7M's Mural in Cheltenham, UK

Brazilian street artists L7M paints bird mural in Cheltenham, UK

Hookedblog recently made our first visit to the Gloucestershire town of Cheltenham, just over two hours outside London by train from Paddington Station. We were of course in town for the Cheltenham Paint Festival which is now in its second year.

Cheltenham Paint Festival
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Festival founders Andy ‘ Dice ‘ Davis and Angela Parks have in just two years managed to put the city on the map as a must-visit UK street art destination, with their Cheltenham Paint Festival now joining the city's other well-known annual festivals.

The second edition of the Cheltenham Paint Festival saw the duo invite back a number of street artists from the 2017 edition, whose works they personally enjoyed as well and we well received by the city residents.

Among the returning street artists was Portsmouth based My Dog Sighs who we have already featured in a post showcasing some of the hidden pieces My Dog Sighs painted around Cheltenham in addition to the official mural he painted.

Brazilian street artists L7M at work on his mural in Cheltenham

Another artist who we managed to catch up with over the few days we spent in town was South American street artist L7M who is currently based out of Paris.

We were first introduced to the work of L7M or to use his full name Luis Seven Martins by fellow South American Anselmo Martins Dutra from Pigment who invited him to London to paint some murals in Islington and Shoreditch.

This was about back in 2013 so for us it was great to catch up with the artist and hear what he has been up to and to see how his linework has progressed since that first London visit.

Street artist L7M at work on a Street Art Mural in Cheltenham

Street Artist L7M Mural in Cheltenham
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Working on the gable end of a house located a short distance outside the city center we spent a few days checking in on L7M at regular intervals as we crossed the city on foot back and forth between the various locations taking photos of the many artists who were working throughout the week for the festival.

Bringing some of that vibrant South American colour palette to the U.K. L7M’s mural featuring one of his signature birds in mid-flights across the wall.

Following some discussion, L7M invited festival artist My Dog Sighs to collaborate by incorporating some of his own work into the bird mural. My Dog Sighs painting a small series of eyes that he painted into the waves of colour surrounding the bird in flight.

The results from the two artists were pretty impressive making this one of the must-visit Cheltenham street art murals in the city. Check out the collection of images we took of the two artists at work and images of the completed mural.

Brazilian street artists L7M paints bird mural in Cheltenham

Street artists L7M and My Dog Sighs discuss their plans to collaborate on the mural for Cheltenham Paint Festival.

With plans discussed and mapped out artist, My Dog Sighs begins to add some of his signature eyepieces to the wall incorporating them into the waves of colour on L7M's mural.