6799. Cumberland Basin

Werm, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, March 2025
Werm, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, March 2025

Werm is continuing along his journey, experimenting with bilateral symmetry in his writing. The symmetry in this one is notable, but I think that it might be the colour scheme that initially attracts the eye, with some nice contrasting reds, greens and oranges.

Werm, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, March 2025
Werm, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, March 2025

What baffles me about writers like Werm is how they manage to get everything ‘right’ if you know what I mean. For example, in this piece the green drop shadow veers off to the right, but it needs to be perfect across all the letters otherwise something would look out of kilter. I suppose the old adage, practice makes perfect, applies here, but it is still an admirable talent.

6798. St Werburghs tunnel (482)

Mr Klue, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2025
Mr Klue, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2025

This trio of pieces in the tunnel, show how busy Mr Klue has been of late in his favourite spot. The one on the left was painted a day or two before the other two, which I think might have been created in a single session.

Mr Klue, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2025
Mr Klue, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2025

The left-hand piece, as with all of them, spells KLUE and has a green base palette. Ephemeral, smoky, abstract letters are part of the USP I would expect to see from Mr Klue and he rarely disappoints. There is little more to add from these three pieces, other than their colour differences.

Mr Klue, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2025
Mr Klue, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2025

Pinks and purples dominate in this middle piece, with some yellow highlights along some edges.

Mr Klue, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2025
Mr Klue, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2025

Finally, the trio is rounded off on the right with a piece that is predominantly white, again with some yellow highlights. All three together show how Mr Klue’s abstract writing is based around the same simple concept, but can look completely different depending on the design details and colour palette. A busy man.

6796. M32 roundabout J3 (633)

Elvs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2025
Elvs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2025

I haven’t seen Elvs for an absolute age, and his visits to Bristol seem to be on the scarce side, so coming across this wonderful piece of graffiti writing last month was a real treat.

Elvs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2025
Elvs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2025

There are a few artists that I have seen about the UK who use a similar style to Elvs, but he is the only one I know of in the Bristol area. His solid letters are broken up by fine lines that provide the letter shapes, and the fill is a nicely joined pair of red colours that bleed into one another without fuss. Elvs has painted a rather nice contrasting blue drop shadow, and of course the whole thing is finished with a clean and crisp black border. I look forward to the next one.

6795. Dean Lane skate park (812)

Squire, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2025
Squire, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2025

Squire has only recently come on to my radar, and I think this is the third Squire piece I have posted in recent weeks, each of them quite different, and I think I’m going to enjoy finding their pieces. It feels like having something new to collect, if that makes sense.

Squire, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2025
Squire, Dean Lane, Bristol, March 2025

Painted onto a skate park ramp, these blue and black letters have a rather nice irregular, almost cartoony style. A nice white surround and red/yellow border finish the writing nicely, which, without highlights or starbursts, looks quite flat, but nonetheless interesting. I think I got to this piece while it was still quite fresh, because it hasn’t been too scuffed. Upwards and onwards with Squire.

6793. St Werburghs tunnel (481)

Benjimagnetic, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2025
Benjimagnetic, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2025

I am well used to seeing outstanding pieces by Benjimagnetic, but I think that this recent one in the tunnel is the cream of the crop so far. The graffiti writing is so striking in form and colour, and it is difficult to walk past without stopping and admiring it.

Benjimagnetic, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2025
Benjimagnetic, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2025

When I look at the design elements, I am reminded of a kind of 1960s retro feel about it, bringing things like magazine racks and shelving units that were oh so modern when I was growing up. There were a few TV cartoons at that time that really picked up on this modern style. Perhaps I am imagining things, but that is what I see in this amazing work. I’m not entirely certain what the letters spell, but I have a good feeling that it spells GRO. Tight, colourful, beautifully designed and superbly presented. What more could a man want?

6792. M32 Cycle path (285)

Hemper, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, February 2025
Hemper, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, February 2025

Hemper’s odyssey continues with this rather nice chrome piece alongside the M32 motorway. He seems to be omnipresent at the moment and is stretching his creativity to the maximum.

Hemper, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, February 2025
Hemper, M32 Cycle path, Bristol, February 2025

This piece is perhaps a little bit more conventional for Hemper, in so much as it is not too different from pieces he has been producing in the past. What makes it special is that as chrome pieces go (which are often a little rushed or crude) this is one of the best examples you will find. The writing, spelling HEMS is relatively low-key, but decorated to a higher standard than most chromies, and the finishing, borders etc, is completely on-point. More to come soon from a man on a mission.

6790. Cumberland Basin

Werm, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, February 2025
Werm, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, February 2025

Today’s posts will have to be the quickest ever. I am staying in Godalming and running a workshop today and forgot to write the blog posts last night, so am squeezing these ones in before breakfast. This is a fine symmetrical piece by Werm on the long wall at Cumberland Basin.

Werm, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, February 2025
Werm, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, February 2025

At first glance, this doesn’t look too much different from many of his other pieces, but look a little closer and you can see that the subtle fill to the letters is contiguous throughout all the letters, which is a tried and tested technique by graffiti writers, and executed really well here by Werm.

6789. Dean Lane skate park (811)

Bean, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2025
Bean, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2025

If, like me, you are interested in numbers, today’s post contains a rising sequence of numbers – 6789. In our base ten counting system, this is the last time this true sequence will be possible, because 78910 doesn’t work, and also even if it did I’d have to be writing posts for the next 100 years or more. Actually, I am wrong, so ignore that. The next number that will work is 12345, which I might reach if I carry on for 10 more years. Enough with the numbers already.

I am always delighted when Bean returns to Bristol and lets us know that he is alive and well. I hope that when he is finished for the summer with his studies, he will get busy on our streets.

Bean, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2025
Bean, Dean Lane, Bristol, February 2025

I believe Bean to be one of the great talents emerging from the Bristol scene. His character pieces are growing in sophistication and here he has combined a joyful youth with the letters BEAN, which are reversed out on his T-shirt. There is a message ‘positivity and all that jazz’ which is either speaking to the viewer or to himself or, perhaps, both. I take energy and hope from this piece.

6788. M32 roundabout J3 (662)

Biers, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2025
Biers, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2025

Biers was one of the first graffiti writers I met in Bristol, and back then he used to write the letters BIERS. He has undergone a few reinventions since then and currently writes WD40. I noticed yesterday that he has dropped off Instagram and hope that this is a temporary thing, and wonder if it signals another name change (probably not).

Biers, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2025
Biers, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2025

This is a nicely painted squat piece on the roundabout. Lately he has been painting fewer combination pieces incorporating characters, and concentrating on his letters, which in my view is a pity, because I rather liked his character interventions. This piece is on-point, clean and crisp… unpretentious and speaks of the joy of being a graffiti writer.

6787. Greenbank (153)

Pura Decadencia, Greenbank, Bristol, February 2025
Pura Decadencia, Greenbank, Bristol, February 2025

Painted alongside a piece I featured recently by Desi, this super writing by Pura Decadencia took me several attempts to photograph on account of the wrong light conditions each time I visited. This third attempt was, as you can see, was on an unusually welcome overcast day.

Pura Decadencia, Greenbank, Bristol, February 2025
Pura Decadencia, Greenbank, Bristol, February 2025

Pura has been teaming up with Desi on a couple of occasions now, and they seem to be bringing out the best in each other. Pura’s letters are clear, regular and quite large, providing plenty of scope for playing about with fills. She has nicely blended three pink tones and added in some reversed spots to jazz things up a little. The atmospheric background is in a style I am seeing more frequently on the streets at the moment, a particular favourite technique used by Sub, for example. No vampire teeth this time, but a fine example of Pura Decadencia’s work.