The turnout for Shade One’s birthday paint jam might have been relatively small in numbers, but was of the highest calibre. You know that you are well respected as an artist when Soker turns up and paints you a birthday celebration piece.
Soker, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, January 2026
Soker is simply one of the best graffiti writers around, and although this looks like a relatively ‘quick one’ it still oozes class. The letters spell out shade with beautifully blended fills. The black outline picks out the letters beautifully and the cloudy pink, purple and green bursts around the edge of the letters rounds the piece off perfectly.
Goldie, Jody, Dibz, Posea, Zuke, Soker, Cheo and Fade, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2025
This piece is difficult to describe in its entirety. It is an epic piece to celebrate one year on from the Goldie inspired Ikea wall, and also to honour DJ Randall, and this particular spot has been used by the THK crew for a few years now to pay tribute to the departed musician. The paint jam included work from Goldie, Jody, Dibz, Posea, Zuke, Soker, Cheo and Fade. It is worth noting that this piece hasn’t been touched since it was painted in August.
Goldie and Zuke, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2025
From the left, the collaboration begins with a piece of graffiti writing by Goldie and some flowers by Zuke. Some bright and rather beautiful work here to get things going.
Jody and Zuke, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2025
Next up is a portrait of DJ Randall by Jody, one of many renditions of the artist that has graced this spot. Once again, the portrait piece is embroidered by some flowers by Zuke. The greyscale piece is punctuated only by a gold tooth and gold ring.
Dibz and Zuke, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2025
Dibz is up next, with the letters AMBER (I think), and of course, there are some more flowers surrounding the letters, and a trademark Bee by Cheo. The letters are beautifully filled, and the drop shadow has a wonderful pulsating effect.
Posea and Zuke, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2025
The steel case with the Metalheadz logo and record sleeve are by Posea and each of the contributing artists has signed the sleeve, almost as if it were a tangible object.
Soker, Cheo, Fade and Zuke, Brunel Way, Bristol, August 2025
Finally, the epic wall is rounded off with writing from Soker, a toucan smoking a cigar and a python by Cheo and the letters THK by Fade, once more festooned with Zuke’s flowers. The whole wall is a bit of a masterpiece, that has been enjoyed by many this year.
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
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.
If ever you want to see wildstyle graffiti writing at its absolute best, then look no further than this outstanding piece by Soker painted on the wall of the Sofa Project in Old Market.
Soker, Waterloo Place, Bristol, October 2025
Starting with the background, this piece is set on a colourful abstract wash, that has the look of a watercolour, with blended tones and drips. The letters, spelling out SOKER, are presented in a sumptuous palette of red, purple and green with magnificent fill patterns throughout. This enormous piece is a testament to an artist who sits at the pinnacle of his craft.
Although he has slowed down a little over the last few years, the quality of writing from Soker hasn’t diminished in the slightest, and in fact, if anything, continues to get better and better.
Soker, M32 roundabout, Bristol, August 2025
This is another excellent piece from the fabulous Ulow Birthday celebration paint jam last month. Soker has, like most of the writers on the day, picked out the letters ULOW, painted in a sumptuous colour palette of deep reds and oranges, with a molten lava look, offset and blended with a purple cloud around the letters. Stunning technique and oozing class.
Painted on one of Bristol’s most iconic walls, the curved wall in Dean Lane skate park, this is a birthday tribute piece to Soker by Dibz. Pieces like this have the capacity to confuse, because the letters do not spell the artist’s name, and I have in the past misidentified pieces because of it.
Dibz, Dean Lane, Bristol, April 2025
Dibz really is a master of graffiti writing and is at the top of his game, something he has maintained for such a long time now, without any dip in form. The letters are filled with a solid black fill, and finely written ’50s’ indicating it was Soker’s 50th birthday. Great to see one of Dibz’ small signature tags in red at the top right too. Excellent work, and a fine birthday tribute.
Soker and Sled One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, September 2024
When the best get together, small miracles happen. And when I look at a collaboration between Soker and Sled One, I find myself asking (again) how do they do this? Of course, I know how they do it, but technically and creatively it becomes unfathomable.
Soker, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, September 2024
The writing to the left is by Soker, and I would like to add that it is wonderful to see him out painting a little more often these days after a prolonged quiet period. The beautifully crafted letters are filled with a stunning combination of colours that work perfectly together. This is wildstyle graffiti writing at its best.
Sled One, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, September 2024
The character piece is by Sled One and features a young man (self-portrait?) gazing into a lava lamp filled with trippy smiley faces that bleed into the rest of the collaboration. Sled One not only creates these marvellous characters and scenes, but tells a whole story, which the viewer is challenged to piece together. This is a very special collaboration.
Turoe and Soker, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024
Two of the Bristol masters have been at work in this fabulous collaboration in Dean Lane. Turoe and Soker have been writing for way longer than I have been posting about street art and are without doubt part of the established scene in the city. Although they don’t paint as often as some other graffiti writers, their work is always immaculate.
Turoe, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024
The colour selection of both pieces is superb, with cool steel blues dominating. There aren’t the words to describe how good Turoe’s writing is. There is some wildstyle work, but it is not fussy or over-complicated. The colour transitions in the fills are exquisite and the 3D drop shadow with a vanishing point just beneath the piece sets the piece up perfectly.
Soker, Dean Lane, Bristol, September 2024
Soker’s piece is rather more elongated and has a slight metallic quality. The letters SOKER are clearly marked out, but it is the design of the letters that is so attractive. What a pity I photographed it when it was in the shade, as I expect that in the sunlight it would give off a quite different aura. Simply a wonderful collaboration.
In this last look back at 2019 (for the time being), I am posting five pieces from the wall on the M32 Cycle path, which never made it onto Natural Adventures at the time. There is some poignancy to this post and the feature piece by Mena (Menas), because I have recently heard that Mena is currently recovering from a bad accident she had while travelling in Thailand. She is back in the UK, but quite unwell. This is my small way of wishing her a full recovery, and I dedicate this retrospective post to her. I expect you’ll see a few pieces, from various artists, in the coming days and weeks that will be wishing her well.
This is a particularly fine example of her work, and although she doesn’t paint all that regularly, her pieces are always welcome. I am not certain that all of the following pieces were painted as part of a paint jam, but I suspect they were.
Ryder, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2019
Ryder is most definitely a graffiti writer’s writer, if you know what I mean, he is highly respected in the community and turns out some of the best graffiti writing in the city which he has done for quite some while. This piece is rather more subtle than most of his work, and perhaps doesn’t quite have the impact we would normally expect. I’m not sure these light shades quite work (for me).
T-Rex, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2019
Finding anything by T-Rex is always a treat, and this is a classy example of her great work. the writing/character combination always works a treat. The dinosaur always adds a touch of light-heartedness to the edgy nature of graffiti writing.
Hemper, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2019
Hemper has used a similar colour palette to Ryder, and for me it all just looks a little washed out. There is no doubting the superb skills of the artists, but on this day, I think they chose a weak colour palette, and perhaps that is why I never posted these pieces back in June 2019.
Soker, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, June 2019
Finally, and very possibly not part of the paint jam, is this bright and colourful piece from Soker, displaying his graffiti writing credentials to the max. Superb letter shapes and fills mark this piece out, I only wish my photographic skills could do it justice.
Dime, Jody and Turoe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2024
What a wonderful triptych piece on the roundabout which is what I would describe as a unique collaboration between Dime, Jody and Turoe. I am not familiar with Dime and am guessing that he was visiting Bristol and made contact with artists in the city to see who’d like to have a paint. That is how I imagine these kind of things happen.
Dime, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2024
The collaboration starts with a stunning piece of graffiti writing from Dime, with nicely defined letters, beautiful fill colours and a deep 3D drop shadow. The borders are nice and thin and flawless, and the letters are lifted with contrasting orange and red blobby decorations around the outside. The way I think about decorations in a piece is to try and imagine what it would look like without them – often they enrich what might have been something a little ordinary. Decorations are part of the composition, not just an afterthought.
Jody, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2024
Jody has been smashing it all over the place for a sustained period, and I understand from talking to Fade, is really enjoying himself. In this piece he provides the filling in a graffiti writing sandwich and features a cartoon style cool character striking a pose with a cloudy background. I love the sparkle on the sunglasses, a brilliant touch.
Turoe, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2024
Rounding off the collaboration is a piece of writing from a Bristol legend, Turoe, although I originally thought it was by Soker it is actually a tribute collaboration to Soker who had a cycling accident recently (Thanks to Jay for the background information). If ever you want to know what outstanding graffiti writing looks like, then look no further than Turoe, and this piece demonstrates why. Perfect colour selection, superb interlocking letters without being over-engineered, a deep and contrasting 3D drop shadow and tight border. All the elements are there and they are brought together by a master of his craft. All in all, this is a fabulous and quite unexpected collaboration. We are blessed, and a fabulous tribute.
Natural adventures 