6113. Sparke Evans Park (98)

Stivs, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, May 2024
Stivs, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, May 2024

Stivs has utterly smashed it with this outstanding writing/character combination piece, which was painted alongside a Kosc piece (featured a few days ago) on the long wall at Sparke Evans Park. Stivs is an artist of many talents, and although he in well known predominantly for his calligraffiti, he isn’t half bad at painting characters, as this piece demonstrates.

Stivs, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, May 2024
Stivs, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, May 2024

Although he is a bit of a ‘potty-mouth’, this piece reads ‘FUK PIG’, he dresses the letters up so beautifully, that it kind of creates a profanity filter of sorts. The cartoon-style character, probably lifted from a film or cartoon series, is beautifully presented and makes you wonder why he doesn’t paint characters more often. Together with the Kosc piece, this is one half of a very fine collaboration.

Kosc, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, May 2024
Kosc, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, May 2024

6100. Sparke Evans Park (97)

Kosc, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, May 2024
Kosc, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, May 2024

It is too easy to be seduced into expecting outstanding work from Kosc, and what I mean by that is that it isn’t easy to turn out unbelievably great from work every painting session, and it shouldn’t be taken for granted. Kosc works really hard, continuously improves and seems to be reaching another level these days.

Kosc, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, May 2024
Kosc, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, May 2024

This piece was painted alongside Stivs (to follow) in a collaboration that shares a colour scheme and combination theme. It would seem that the creative ideas were liberally shared, with Kosc creating some calligraffiti letters in a kind of Gothic font which have turned out really well. The eye though is drawn to the extraordinary portrait replacing the ‘O’ of Kosc. The fine detail and sheer beauty of the portrait is unbelievable, and that it is painted in two shades simply adds to the wonder of the piece. Kosc’s portrait work is magnificent, and this piece showcases it perfectly. We are blessed in Bristol.

6011. Sparke Evans Park (96)

 

Claro_que_sssnoh, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, April 2024
Claro_que_sssnoh, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, April 2024

What stands out for me in this lovely piece of graffiti writing by Claro_que_sssnoh is the subtle colour selection and slight softening of his letter style. The writing runs smoothly, where often his letters can have a slightly staccato feel running through curvy to straight lines in abrupt fashion.

Claro_que_sssnoh, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, April 2024
Claro_que_sssnoh, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, April 2024

I am not entirely clear what the writing spells as I would usually expect to see HONS. Claro_que_sssnoh has managed to do just enough of a background and ‘sparkles’ to differentiate his piece from the pre-existing pieces on the wall, and drips ad further interest. For me though, it is the colours that shine. Nice work.

5980. Sparke Evans Park (95)

Noise, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, March 2024
Noise, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, March 2024

Noise has had a rich spell of form recently, painting at least three pieces and probably a few more too that I don’t know about. This fabulous writing/character combination piece was painted during an LRS paint jam in Sparke Evans Park.

Noise, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, March 2024
Noise, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, March 2024

This lively piece, full of vibrancy and colour, has a very strong Noise vibe about it, but is a little different from his usual work with the inclusion of a cat character making up the ‘O’ of NOISE. The cat is really well crafted and it would be great to see him do more of this kind of thing. Combination pieces allow artists to showcase their artistic skills beyond writing or characters alone. Watch this space (like tomorrow) for more from Noise.

5948. Sparke Evans Park (93)

Decay, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, March 2024
Decay, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, March 2024

This is just brilliant, a new piece from Decay. A while back, Decay was a regular painter on Bristol’s streets, often teaming up with Rezwonk, but then he moved away, and his pieces pretty much dried up except for the odd appearance at a festival or occasional paint jam. I understand that there is a chance that he might be hitting Bristol’s walls a little more often, due to his business settling down a little and having a bit more available time.

Decay, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, March 2024
Decay, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, March 2024

Decay holds a special place in my journey as a recorder of street art because he was the first artist I ever spoke to while he was painting a piece down in The Bearpit. I am so pleased to see that he has lost none of his creativiy and skill and has produced this beautiful DK incorporating, of course, his Chuck character. I cannot tell you how pleased I was to find this piece, and I am greatly encouraged by his little message at the bottom of the piece, “Back in the Room”. Bravo!

A reminder of his work here in this gallery.

5945. Sparke Evans Park (92)

Mind 49 and Fino, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, March 2024
Mind 49 and Fino, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, March 2024

There was a good turnout for the LRS paint jam in Sparke Evans Park last month, with some really good pieces, including this collaborative work from Mind 49 and Fino (previously referred to as 3F Fino in Natural Adventures). The two totally different styles and subject matter of these two artists have combined really well.

Mind 49, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, March 2024
Mind 49, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, March 2024

Mind 49 is consistently turning out some outstanding portrait pieces at the moment, and pushing himself to continue refining and improving his work. I understand that his subjects are randomly selected images, and therefore represent anonymity. His style is edging towards photorealism although the textures of his artwork look very much like brush strokes. Great stuff.

Fino, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, March 2024
Fino, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, March 2024

It would appear that Fino has awoken from his winter slumbers and is starting to paint a little more now, and I was lucky enough to meet him a short while ago while painting with Tao Create on the M32 Cycle path. I thought that he might have moved away, but far from it… just a winter rest. The colours he has chosen for his FINO letters are exquisite, and the fills and borders are beautifully neat and tidy. This is a simple and attractive piece and a great counterbalance to Mind 49’s portrait piece.

5921. Sparke Evans Park (91)

Wispa, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, February 2024
Wispa, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, February 2024

This beauty from Wispa is another fine piece from an RBF paint jam in Sparke Evans Park at the end of February. Unfortunately, there are several unpublished pieces from this wall and I simply don’t know where I’m going to find the time to post them. I felt that this one from Wispa was worth prioritising.

Wispa, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, February 2024
Wispa, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, February 2024

As ever, Wispa’s writing is exceptional, and she embraced the paint jam theme by incorporation this magnificent Pokémon character, Vaporeon. I love the way that Wispa drifts in and out of Bristol tantalising us with her exceptional talent, and keeping us interested. Although her pieces are occasional, they are always welcome.

5876. Sparke Evans Park (694)

Evey, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, February 2024
Evey, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, February 2024

This is a really interesting paint jam piece from Evey, celebrating Desi’s and her own birthday a few weeks back. The reason that it is interesting is that Evey has gone with a totally different style of graffiti writing from her comfort zone. This piece is a little bit more ‘hard-core’ and traditional, demonstrating her growing confidence and skills with a spray can.

Evey, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, February 2024
Evey, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, February 2024

I would say that this is a really great piece of writing, although I feel the bottom half is stronger than the top half, which may have something to do with the colour selections. The bottom half pops, the top half less so. This phenomenon is not peculiar to Evey, I see this in quite a lot of pieces of writing, where the top half drifts a bit. More contrast with the background might do the trick… but what do I know?

5864. Sparke Evans Park (88)

Pekoe, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, February 2024
Pekoe, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, February 2024

It is really good to see how Pekoe’s writing is improving at a terrific rate. I will admit that I was a little sceptical when she started turning her attention to letters, and wasn’t sure that she would be able to pull it off, and I was also worried that it might compromise her wonderful portraits. I needn’t have worried, her writing is great and she is still painting her portrait pieces.

Pekoe, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, February 2024
Pekoe, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, February 2024

This piece, part of a birthday paint jam for Evey and Desi, picks up on the day’s theme which was Pokémon, and a ball features in her letters. Pekoe has included a character from the series/game/cards which I believe is Phantump, and she has included a graffiti crown for good measure. This is a lovely colourful piece which really gets into the spirit of the paint jam.

5846. Sparke Evans Park (87)

Jody, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, February 2024
Jody, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, February 2024

A short while ago, Desi and Evey celebrated their birthdays with a paint jam in Sparke Evans Park, the theme of which related to Pokemon, which is not one of my strong points, having struggled for years with my son’s obsession with the cards when he was at primary school. While I understood the concepts and watched the TV show a few times, I was always concerned that my son knew more about Pokemon characters than he knew about British wildlife in his own garden. Things have changed considerably since then, for the better (IMO).

Jody, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, February 2024
Jody, Sparke Evans Park, Bristol, February 2024

This is an absolutely stunning piece by Jodi, featuring a Pokemon character called Eevee – you can see what he did there. Jodi is one of Bristol’s very best street artists, who seems to keep a healthy balance between his street work and his studio work. In this piece he has captured the cartoon quality, faithful to the Pokemon brand, and presented Eevee on a rocky ledge with some atmospheric clouds in the background. Another wonderful piece from the incredibly versatile Jody.