Cumberland Basin – Natural adventures

7678. Cumberland Basin

Zake, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, March 2026

I forgot to paste this beast of a character face by Zake back in March when he painted it, but found it on a little delve in my archives. Such has been the unbelievable turnover in Bristol this spring, that I have dozens and dozens of superb pieces in my February-April folders that might never see the light of day.

This cheeky face has been stretched out laterally to fill the long rectangular space. The character is slightly creepy, most of Zake’s characters are, but beautifully presented. His command of light and shade to create depth has been put to full use in this piece using a shade of blue to great effect. Nice one.

7670. Cumberland Basin

Minto, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2026

Minto has been turning out a series of outstanding pieces lately, and it feels like he has a new energy in his work. This one has a base of turquoise shades which make a strong visual impact.

His piece is organised around the well disguised letters MINTO, but what brings his work to life is the detailing and the plethora of shapes, shadows, patterns, lines and if you look carefully, characters. His pieces are always a feast for the eyes and worth studying for a little while.

7668. Cumberland Basin

Sled One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2026

Sled one, a self-confessed fair weather painter, has been getting going this spring with some beauties, including this outstanding piece as part of a small collaboration on the long wall at Cumberland Basin.

I suspect that this piece is a celebration of spring itself, with a cartoon sun playing a wind instrument from which a flower is emerging. Some stylised clouds round off the scene perfectly. It is incredible to think that most of Sled One’s work is painted without sketches, just straight off the top of his head. An extraordinary talent. More to come soon.

7664. Cumberland Basin

Oust, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2026

Boom! This is a banging piece of graffiti writing from Oust. Full of movement and positive vibes. Parts of the writing feel like they are reaching out from the wall, thanks to the depth of the 3D drop shadow and letter fills.

Set on a grey buffed wall, the blue and red colours are perfectly matched, with the fill variations of blue looking wonderful. The subtle grey and white bubbles around the perimeter of the piece accentuate the energy of the letters. A fine piece from Oust.

7648. Cumberland Basin

Stivs, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2026

There is a lot of flesh in this combination piece by Stivs, an artist who is not afraid to push the boundaries when it comes to scantily clad characters. Whatever one’s views about such things, the artwork is striking and skilfully presented.

Cat woman as you might not have seen her, although DC Comics did portray her in very tight catsuits, often with little left to the imagination – Stivs has just taken things to the next level. Stivs has given Cat Woman a couple of playful tattoos saying BAD CAT, and he has corrupted the initials ACAB (All Cops are Bastards) to ACAT, just because he can. D and S in calligraffiti-style bookend this character. Great work from Stivs.Cumberland Basin

7644. Cumberland Basin

Squire, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2026

There are a great many graffiti writers in Bristol who never make it into the pages of Natural Adventures, either because their work is not very good (in my view) or I don’t really know enough about them to feel confident enough to feature them.

Happily, although I don’t know anything about Squire, his work attracts me in some way. I think that the word he has chosen is a memorable one and lends itself to writing pretty well. These dark blue letters have been accentuated with a vibrant green/yellow surround and decorative thick blue border. An interesting piece of writing that catches the eye.

7639. Cumberland Basin

Whos, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2026

I am absolutely sure that I have seen numerous pieces by Whos over the last year or two, but unable to make out the letters or be sure the writing is his. It is only when he writes clearly, like in this piece, that I can be sure enough to publish his work.

Although this piece is quite conventional, his writing would usually be described as anti-style due to an absence of pattern or form of the letters, where everything is a bit random and spontaneous. The white letters are decorated with some pink stars and a tribute line of “dorns 4 ever”. I certainly need to get better at hunting down and identifying his graffiti writing.

7627. Cumberland Basin

Tera, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2026

Tera, like many other artists, has awoken from his winter ‘recess’ and is painting with energy and regularity this spring, which is so good to see. This is a wonderful piece painted alongside fellow tattoo artist Kid Crayon.

The combination piece has a demon as the focal point with lettering either side of it spelling TERA. The light conditions and the style of Tera’s painting makes it a little difficult to make out the demon clearly, so I have included a close up of the central part to show off his detailed artwork.

It is fairly clear and obvious that Tera is a Tattooist who has picked up street art and is upscaling his work, and his co-worker Kid Crayon is an artist/designer and street artist who has down scaled his work into the tattoo art form. The more, the merrier I say.

7619. Cumberland Basin

Kid Crayon, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2026

Oh! My heart sings every time I see a new Kid Crayon piece. It is looking like 2026 is shaping up to be a productive one for the artist, and it seems like he has freed up a bit more time to paint than in recent years, which from my perspective is a good thing.

Kid Crayon has written his letters, each with a different colour and style, which makes for an interesting piece with plenty to look at and admire. SkyHigh is another artist who often adopts this approach. In this combination piece a character replaces the ‘O’ and floating just outside his mouth is the signature crayon – which is always good to see. More to come soon from one of my Bristol favourites.

7614. Cumberland Basin

Taboo, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2026

I don’t tend to find as many new Taboo pieces as I used to, and that might be down to two factors. He might be painting less frequently, and/or maybe he isn’t painting the regular spots so often, and so I don’t come across his work as much. The upshot is that finding any pieces by the artist these days is a happy moment.

I have a feeling that this piece was painted as part of a birthday paint jam, I forget who for though. The red letters in anti-style form spell out TABOO in a combination of lettering and designs, with the second ‘O’ being formed of a jail window with eyes glaring from the dark space behind the bars. A fine piece from Taboo… I need to find more.

	skat on Posy
	skat on Posy
	skat on Posy
	Laura Newhampshire on 7678. Cumberland Basin
	Laura Newhampshire on Thursday Doors – 28 May…

	skat on Posy
	skat on Posy
	skat on Posy
	Laura Newhampshire on 7678. Cumberland Basin
	Laura Newhampshire on Thursday Doors – 28 May…

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