7293. Cumberland Basin

Soker, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2025
Soker, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2025

As you might expect, there was a great turnout from the great and good of the established graffiti writing/street community for Dibz’ 50th birthday celebration paint jam, including an appearance from the brilliant Soker.

Soker, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2025
Soker, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2025

It took me a while to establish that this wonderful piece was indeed by Soker, as it is unsigned, and the letters, of course, spell Dibz. There are one or two small giveaways that it is Soker’s work; The high-quality finish, The black star in the ‘D’; the small accent rectangles at the top left and top right; and the green drips around the piece. I was thrown off the scent slightly by the white accent lines that create a sense of round letters, because that is not something I associate too much with Soker. Classy work.

7288. Cumberland Basin

Acer One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2025
Acer One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2025

I haven’t seen too much of Acer One this year, I guess he is probably busy with his commercial work, so it was so great to see this gorgeous geometric piece alongside Andy Council for Dibz’ 50th birthday celebration paint jam.

Acer One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2025
Acer One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2025

The sophisticated stellar piece features the sun, moon and a star all interwoven with great precision. The background is a wonderful cosmic scene, most fitting for this piece. I feel I haven’t had my quota of Acer One’s work this year, so will be keeping my eyes peeled for more.

7285. Cumberland Basin

Hire, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2025
Hire, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2025

This wonderful piece of graffiti writing got me doing a bit of detective work, which happens when I don’t recognise a particular piece or artist. It took me a while, but I got there in the end to find out that it is by Ahum (obvious once you see it), an artist who has featured in the pages of Natural Adventures under the name of Blimma Blamma.

Wow, It is incredible how wrong you can be sometimes. The piece is by Hire and not by Ahum. I had convinced myself otherwise. I think I might be going slightly mad.

Hire, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2025
Hire, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2025

The letters HIRE are beautifully presented, with a fine midline and a deep drop shadow, perfectly offset with an orange bubbly decoration. Something as little different and joyous from Hire.

7282. Cumberland Basin

Rusk Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2025
Rusk Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2025

Birthday paint jams are an opportunity for graffiti writers to break away from their customary letters (usually their street name) and play with the letters of the artist being celebrated. In this case, the Birthday boy was Dibz as he celebrated his 50th birthday, and the artist whiting his letters if Rusk.

Rusk Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2025
Rusk Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2025

Rusk is a fabulous graffiti writer and takes a lot of care with his work, leaving everything neat and tidy. The colours of the piece tie in with Halloween; purple, orange and green, and the spider webs decorating the edges clear up doubt, if there was any, that October 31 is very much front of mind. This is the first of several pieces from this paint jam.

7274. Cumberland Basin

Totosoapcity, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2025
Totosoapcity, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2025

By now, regular readers will be getting quite familiar with the distinctive ARS(Z)A letters from Totosoapcity. This is a recent piece from the artist in one of his favoured spots, Cumberland Basin.

Totosoapcity, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2025
Totosoapcity, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2025

The letter shapes of Totosoapcity’s pieces remain broadly the same, so it is the decoration that we can focus on. In this piece, the skilful application of greys provide a metallic look to the piece which jumps out from the wall thanks to the stripy drop shadow. This symmetrical piece is assisted in its regular shape thanks to the indented lines on the wall, which so many writers make use of to keep proportions true. A nice piece.

7259. Cumberland Basin

Zake, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2025
Zake, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2025

This is an absolute corker from Zake, placing one of his iconic characters into a space suit helmet, adding layers of interest and perspective to this piece on the long wall in Cumberland Basin.

Zake, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2025
Zake, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2025

I think that the piece was painted for a celebratory paint jam, but I forget now which one it was, there have been so many in the latter part of this year. Great work from Zake, always adding new and interesting ideas to his base characters.

7251. Cumberland Basin

Rusta, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2025
Rusta, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2025

Every once in a while I find a piece of graffiti or street art and I say to myself, ‘I really like that’. This is one of those pieces. It is by a graffiti writer I haven’t come across before, Rusta, and I am guessing that they were visiting Bristol and took the opportunity to have a little paint.

Rusta, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2025
Rusta, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2025

I love the big fat letters and rather sketchy style of the piece, and I also like the way it has been painted on a clean white buffed background to help it make its mark. The colour selection is great and the way the colours blend and jump about is rather cool. The little pink shock lines through the piece give it that little something extra. A very nice piece indeed.

7249. Cumberland Basin

Pl8o, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2025
Pl8o, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2025

I have included this piece, not because it is amazing, but because it is by PL8o whose work I like and because it is representative of a great many tribute pieces in Bristol to Dorns who recently passed away.

Pl8o, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2025
Pl8o, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2025

There is something easy and accessible about PL8o’s letter style, and the colours in this piece certainly stand out. It is a nice tribute. Interestingly, this piece was over-painted by an artist who is not local and who probably didn’t know about Dorns or the tributes to him. That piece has since been tagged with ‘Dorns’ written all over it, and a comment which reads ‘You had the whole wall…’  basically telling the artist off for painting over a tribute piece – an example of the politics and rules (there are no rules) of street/graffiti art.

7239. Cumberland Basin

Minto, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, September 2025
Minto, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, September 2025

It has been rather good to see Minto maintaining a regular drumbeat of pieces going this year, continuing on from a strong 2024. This piece has quite a heavy feel to it, probably exacerbated by the dark blue buff background, which I fear slightly dominates the overall presentation.

Minto, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, September 2025
Minto, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, September 2025

In my mind, Minto’s work feels like it has been deconstructed and then reconstructed, like an apple crumble on Masterchef. There is a lot of busy work and colour throughout the writing, which spells a well disguised MINTO. There are lots of shapes and design elements which appear to have been carefully thought out, and which come together nicely to create the whole. I thought this would be a good time to share an updated gallery of his work.

7207. Cumberland Basin

Sled One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, September 2025
Sled One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, September 2025

It is, I think, entirely coincidental that Sled One painted this lucky cat (maneki-neko), around the same time that two of them appeared during a paint jam in Lucky Lane. This piece encapsulates Sled One’s skill at creating depth in his pieces through the subtle application of shading and light throughout the piece.

Sled One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, September 2025
Sled One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, September 2025

The gold disc contains Sled One’s signature, but there are tell-tale signs of his paw print here, in particular, for example, the floating eyebrows. There is mischief and movement in this cat, and Sled One doesn’t simply create a character, he animates it with emotions and attitudes. Outstanding work.