Street artist who may have inspired Banksy speaks about his stunning climate change mural in Kingswood

A street artist who might have inspired Banksy has spoken about a huge mural on the environment he has painted outside a tattoo shop in Bristol.

Andrew Burns Colwill painted the artwork, called Mother Nature, on the side of tattoo parlour Ink Box in Kingswood earlier this year.

In an interview with BristolWorld, he said the picture showed a tiger, representing Mother Nature, trying to protect the world in her mouth while at the same time screaming ‘what the heck have you done’ at humans.

He said: “I’m trying to emphasise the problems with the environment - [it is] the only thing I can do as an artist is put across a visual message on how I feel.”

Mr Colwill has been an artist in the city for many decades and remembers when a young Banksy would come and see him at work.

They lost touch, but Mr Colwill likes to think that he could have been an inspiration for the anonymous street artist.

He said: “There was a picture of a tiger not unlike the one I’ve done here which I did many years back and one of Banksy’s pictures that was done near the zoo holds a passing resemblance.

“It is nice to think that there’s a small chance a little bit of me is in there.”

Mr Colwill was commissioned to also do two other paintings for Ink Box which can be seen inside the shop at the corner of Regent Street and Downend Road.