5918. St Werburghs tunnel (415)

Stivs, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2024
Stivs, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2024

The turnout for Ryder’s paint jam in the tunnel at the end of February was impressive, so much so, that I am way behind with posting many of the pieces, and some will inevitably get left behind in my archive. I felt it important to post this beauty from Stivs though, as it is a really great piece of calligraffiti writing.

Stivs, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2024
Stivs, St Werburghs, Bristol, February 2024

This piece reverts to Stivs’ former letters which spell ‘KRAP’ or some variant of it. What is nice about this piece is that he has matched the colours with the Inkie piece from the same paint jam, which I posted a little while back. Set on a starry background, this is yet another classy piece from Stivs.

5866. M32 roundabout J3 (558)

Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2024
Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2024

It was great to catch up with Stivs while he was painting this piece, and it gave me the opportunity to tell him how much I admired his incredible technical skills with creating these amazing calligraffiti letters. Stivs has made a deliberate choice to move back to writing words he used to write before writing Stivs, namely the word KRAP and variants of it. In this case he has written KRAPSTER.

Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2024
Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, February 2024

The letters are not only beautifully crafted and proportioned, but they also incorporate four shades of yellow, one for each elevation, which together create the appearance of gold letters and a three-dimensional effect. The letters are set on a contrasting matrix of pink lines and squiggles, which rounds off the whole production nicely. Great piece by Stivs.

5834. M32 roundabout J3 (553)

Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol February 2024
Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol February 2024

On return from a week out of Bristol, the first piece I came across was this double-header by Stivs, which was a bit of a treat. A few days later, I was lucky enough to run into Stivs, on the other side of the roundabout and he told me that before he wrote STIVS, he used to write CRAP or variants of it, and that these two pieces are in recognition of that.

Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol February 2024
Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol February 2024

It looks like Stivs is enjoying some dayglo colours, giving his formal calligraffiti style letters a bit of a 1980s vibe. The first piece, I think, reads KRAP, which is slightly amusing because the word is at odds with the fine writing. Another artist who has done something similar in the past is Turoe, with his shite/shyte pieces.

Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol February 2024
Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol February 2024

The second piece is perhaps a little easier to read. I am glad to see that my dog’s rear end has managed to make it into the shot, just as a reminder that he is with me 99% of the time when I am photographing street/graffiti art. I expect lots more to come from Stivs this year, especially as he now lives a little closer to this spot.