Cumberland Basin – Page 2 – Natural adventures

7404. Cumberland Basin

Ware, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, January 2026

One of the nice things about birthday paint jams is that they tend to encourage artists who don’t paint all that often to come out of the woodwork. One of those artists is Ware from the RAW crew. I have only ever seen his work a few times in Bristol, and it is possible that he lives and paints elsewhere, which may be why I don’t see his stuff all that often.

This is a wonderful and technical piece of wildstyle writing. Each of the letters is assigned a colour, from green to light grey to dark grey and pink. The design of the letters is verging on a kind of Gothic or calligraphy font, but not quite. This is very nice writing, beautifully presented, and a great way to celebrate Shade One’s birthday.

7395. Cumberland Basin

Even, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, December 2025

There was a dearth of Christmas street art this year, perhaps we live in a time when there is not too much to be cheerful about, or maybe it is a bit of a cliché that artists steer clear of. It was good, therefore, to stumble across this Christmas paint jam from the RBF crew. Doubly satisfying as the crew have been very quiet in 2025.

Even has been painting these cheeky buttocks for a little while now, but she has added a fabulous festive tone in this piece. Her wit comes through with the words ‘X-mas rated’ and ‘Hoe Hoe Hoe…’. I hope that this late collaboration indicates an appetite for RBF to have a more active 2026… please.

7386. Cumberland Basin

Peggy, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, December 2025

There was a conspicuous absence of Christmas celebration street art in Bristol this year, or at least in any of the spots I visited over the holiday period. This might reflect Christmas fatigue, or perhaps a feeling that after a difficult year the mood was slightly downbeat. There was one small Christmas highlight, however, on the long wall at Cumberland Basin.

Peggy teamed up with some RBF friends, and painted this lovely floral piece in Christmas colours. I can only think that Peggy has been very busy with her work this year, because her street pieces have been few and far between, so finding this one was a bit of a treat. I’m not too sure what the AIZA letters refer to… I might need to investigate.

7355. Cumberland Basin

Mage, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, November 2025

More from Mage, this time his writing has a slightly softer feel to it. I have said before that the letters MAGE, in my view are a little unforgiving, although lots of straight lines and sharp edges. By incorporating a lower case ‘a’ and ‘e’ Mage has managed to smooth out some of the lines.

The two tone pink letters are bordered with a brown drop shadow, and you will know my feelings about brown by now, so possibly another colour would have been my preference. Mage has been a busy boy this autumn.

7352. Cumberland Basin

Wispa and Jody, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, November 2025

I was lucky enough to be present when this piece was being painted, but stupid enough not to say hello to one of the artists. I had been chatting for a while with Esme Lower who was painting next to this piece, and needed to get back home, so said a quick hello to Jody and unfortunately didn’t talk to the lady who was painting with him as I didn’t recognise her and had to dash. What an idiot – it wasn’t until I returned to the piece that I was realised I had been standing in the presence of the brilliant Wispa. Note to self – always say hello if you get a chance.

Jody and Wispa have painted this wonderful combination piece, with the letters W_SPA from Wispa and the masked character by Jody. I don’t know who the character is, but the metallic shine to the mask and helmet is superb. Wispa’s letters are, as ever, immaculate. Next time I’ll make sure I say hello.

7343. Cumberland Basin

2Face, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, November 2025

I was lucky enough to meet 2Face when he was painting a piece in Dean Lane some months ago, and at the time I think I was expecting to see more of his work about the place. As it happens, this is only the second one I have found, so either he doesn’t paint all that often, or I simply haven’t found his pieces.

These richly decorated letters spell out FACEY in nicely formed shapes with plenty of space for playing with the fills. The palette spans several colours, but it is the eye-catching pink organic looking threads that stand out to me. I think that the bright upper surface of the letters is a little overpowering and unbalances the piece slightly, perhaps dialling it back a bit might’ve worked better. Great to see more from this writer.

7330. Cumberland Basin

Esme Lower, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, November 2025

What a wonderful creation from Esme Lower. I was lucky with my timing on this one, and met Esme while she was painting this piece. She always seems to make time for a quick chat, and told me that this piece was inspired by a Studio Ghibli character called Catbus, from Totoro.

This is a beautifully imagined and painted piece with superb clarity and definition between elements. The fills are clean and solid and black outlines tidy. I love the little mouse sitting on the top of Catbus. Researching the character led me down an interesting path of Studio Ghibli artwork and films, which was most enjoyable. A lovely and accomplished piece by Esme Lower.

7310. Cumberland Basin

Dibz, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2025

This is what a birthday celebration piece to self looks like… by Dibz for Dibz. The calibre of artists that turned out for this paint jam was pretty high, as you might expect, and the quality of the birthday boy’s piece reflects the quality of the others.

It is easy to get quite blazé about Dibz’ outstanding wildstyle graffiti pieces, because each one is utterly on-point, and it is what we expect, but this perfection betrays the talent, experience and hard work that Dibz puts in to achieve these incredible results. Alongside the outstanding writing, Dibz has added a little gravestone and cloud-covered moon to pick up on the Halloween theme running through the pieces in this paint jam. All so good.

7306. Cumberland Basin

The Art of Sok, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2025

Last year I managed to catch up with The Art of Sok several times, and it seems that the artist crossed the border several times to paint in Bristol. This year his visits have been less frequent, but he has definitely left his mark, not least with this stunner for Dibz’ birthday.

I wasn’t expecting too many Halloween pieces this year, but as it turned out, there were quite a few. (Note to self – do a Halloween gallery). The Art of Sok has created the perfect pumpkin character painted in his outstanding cartoon style. Everything is superbly balanced and the fills and borders immaculate. This is cartoon character street art at its very best. Bravo!

7301. Cumberland Basin

Jody, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, October 2025

It is obvious that two paint jams have been giving me plenty of material to write about; Dibz’ and Minto’s birthdays, I think both turned 50 this autumn. This Halloween Count Dracula piece by Jody was to celebrate Dibz half- century.

As portrait pieces by Jody go, this one isn’t, in my view, his best, not because of the obvious quality, but because it somehow doesn’t quite sit right with me. It happens from time to time and I can’t explain it. Perhaps it is the cape, which could do with more texture and folds, or maybe the red lips… of course, I am being unbelievably picky, it is a great portrait piece by a superb artist.

	Suzette Benjamin on Thursday doors – 5 March…
	scooj on 7506. Purdown (102)
	scooj on 7506. Purdown (102)
	scooj on 7503. Stapleton Road
	scooj on 7502. M32 roundabout J3 (…

	Suzette Benjamin on Thursday doors – 5 March…
	scooj on 7506. Purdown (102)
	scooj on 7506. Purdown (102)
	scooj on 7503. Stapleton Road
	scooj on 7502. M32 roundabout J3 (…

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