Cumberland Basin – Page 2 – Natural adventures

7741. Cumberland Basin

Werm, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2026

Werm is going through something of a purple patch lately, and I am really enjoying his ‘next level’ pieces. As his style develops and evolves he is growing in confidence and technical ability. I think that he is also discovering that sometimes less is more, and that clarity of presentation pretty much trumps all else.

In this piece of graffiti writing, Werm has written his name into a kind of symmetrical diamond shape, partially framed on a light blue rectangle. The red colour stands out nicely on the turquoise background. A neat and tidy piece that shows off Werm’s talent well.

7738. Cumberland Basin

Mind 49, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2026

Mind 49, as I mentioned in a recent post of his work, has moved into a new groove, in which he is presenting portraits, where only the eyes and nose are visible, while the rest of the face is obscured behind a cover of colour/patterns/designs, as if wearing a balaclava.

There is a clever and deliberate juxtaposition between the photorealism of the exposed parts of the face, and the rather childish and scruffy elements around it. The daisies seem to be a particular favourite theme for Mind 49 at the moment, and here he has included a couple of small captions: “Cut and run” and “Sometimes don’t do it”.

I may be way off the mark here, but I can’t help feeling that this presentation style demonstrates a touch of modesty or even a lack of confidence. Mind 49 is more than capable of painting excellent portraits, but it feels like this ‘self-harming’ of his work is masking something else, almost coming across as imposter syndrome. It is, having said all of this, very unusual, challenging and creates a great talking point.

7222. Cumberland Basin

Tizer, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2026

I haven’t seen a piece by London graffiti writer Tizer for a very long time, so it was great to come across this one on the long wall recently. The piece was painted as part of a paint jam that included ARSA, Minto and RBN One amongst others.

The combination piece features his TIZER letters bookended by a pair of characters, one liking rather sweet and the other ghoulish and sinister. Tizer’s style isn’t crisp and clean, but rather more detailed and brush-strokey if you know what I mean. A very nice surprise from the occasional visitor.

7719. Cumberland Basin

Kid Crayon, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2026

This is a very tidy piece by Kid Crayon on the long wall at Cumberland Basin. The combination of letters and characters works really well, and the whole thing feels like an integrated cartoon-style burner.

The large blocky letters are not uniform in distribution and size, but do stick to a font style. The character in the centre of the piece is holding a balloon fish – don’t ask me why, he just is. Another example of Kid Crayon’s creative and humorous work. Brilliant.

7707. Cumberland Basin

Zake and Hire, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2026

I would describe this collaboration by Zake and Hire as unusual, for two key reasons. Zake has painted a character, rather than one of his face caricatures, and Hire, who tends to be a graffiti writer, with the occasional rabbit thrown in, has painted a character, which, without the signature and a conversation with Zake as he was tidying up, I would never have guessed was painted by him.

Zake, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2026

These two seem to have paired up quite a lot of late, especially since the PWA crew has become a little diluted, with both Face 1st and Chill leaving town. Zake has painted a humanoid robot, looking a little sinister, set on an urban landscape. Is this a dystopian future piece?

Hire, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2026

Hire, meanwhile, has painted a comic-book style villain (or that is how I see it). The thick-set character with large, brilliantly crafted hands, is holding an old CRT television. Given that I don’t see many characters by Hire, I think this is superb, and hope to see more such pieces in the future. A fine and surprising collaboration.

7705. Cumberland Basin

ARSA, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2026

Just a quick one this afternoon – the day has somewhat run away from me and I have a very busy schedule. Painted as part of a paint jam, this is a bold and colourful piece by ARSA.

The chunky, regular letters that give the word a bilaterally symmetrical appearance are filled with blocks of colour that follow a pattern through the piece. I wonder to myself whether the pink is a bit too much, but I guess that without it there would be a risk of it being a bit flat. ARSA is becoming a bit of a regular this year, stepping up both the quality and quantity of his graffiti writing pieces.

7700. Cumberland Basin

Rusty, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2026

On a fairly regular basis a mixture of visiting and resident artists come to Bristol for a paint jam, which tend to include artists like ARSA, Corupt, RBN One, Solar etc, and very occasionally they are joined by Rusty (who in a previous post I referred to as Rusta).

I absolutely love the look of this anti-style graffiti writing. There is something really organic about it, and I like the sketchy quality of the black lines and fills. The impression this piece gives is one of freedom and spontaneity. The touches of orange add that little bit of extra class. A lovely piece of writing from Rusty.

7684. Cumberland Basin

Tera and Kid Crayon, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2026

You don’t often get to see winter-themed pieces in the spring, but if anyone was going to challenge the viewer in this way, it was likely to be Tera and Kid Crayon. I can imagine them being rather pleased with themselves when they came up with the theme for this collaboration. Their contrasting styles really come across in these pieces.

Tera, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, May 2026

Tera tends to have quite an edgy take with his street art work, favouring demonic representations, which he has followed through with this icy combination piece. The cool letters (which I can’t read) are accompanied by a sinister skeleton snowman character holding a spray can in his right hand. The suggestion being that he has just written the letters.

On the other hand, Kid Crayon’s take is much more cuddly, with a fun polar bear drinking a slushy next to his CRAYON letters looking like ice cubes or an iceberg – altogether a softer look. What a superb collaboration from the pair.

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.

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	Dan Antion on Thursday Doors – 27 Augu…
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	hitandrun1964 on Thursday Doors – 27 Augu…
	hitandrun1964 on 7872. Stapleton Road
	Sheree on Thursday Doors – 27 Augu…

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