Stivs – Page 3 – Natural adventures

6038. St Werburghs tunnel (426)

So here we have, in this piece from Stivs, the coming together of outstanding writing style with subversion. Every time I look at this piece, which is kind of two pieces joined together, I begin to wonder whether Stivs has issues… he certainly seems to be letting it all out in his work at the moment, and there is an almost obsessive trait appearing on this wall.

As well as his customary calligraffiti, beautifully produced here, Stivs reminds us that he is a very talented character artist as well. The demonic character is depicted in shades of purple, and contains a lot of detailing. Of course, the elephant in the room is the outrageously sweary backdrops. I would suggest that we could name this as Stivs’ ‘blue period’.

6030. M32 roundabout J3 (576)

Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, May 2024

Here we have some more calligraffiti writing from Stivs, who appears to have had a bit of a rebirth lately and is painting furiously all over the place. I use the word ‘furiously’ deliberately because the words he is choosing to write recently are on the bluer end of the scale and play into the passive-aggressive arena, contrasting the beautiful writing with the potty mouth language.

I believe this piece says KLAPE or KLAPY, which I think is just another way of saying CRAP, although I might be mistaken. The writing is, as ever, very neat and tidy, and has a sparkle about it, helped along with the little starbursts at the top of each letter. Much more to come from Stivs, and I am struggling to keep up as it is.

5965. Cumberland Basin

Stivs, Cumberland Basin, Bristol, April 2024

I don’t know who or what CLANCY is, but it makes for some fabulous calligraffiti by Stivs, who has been having something of a purple patch this spring. The colours that Stivs has chosen for this piece are rather regal and opulent, but also a little garish in a fairground kind of way, if that makes sense.

As ever his letters are beautifully crafted and have that regularity and discipline required for calligraffiti. There are three tones of purple used in the letters, each in the same orientation to create depth and a 3D effect, and this is offset by the yellow tones, looking like gold, for the drop shadow. This is a highly accomplished piece of writing from a master of the craft.

5960. M32 roundabout J3 (566)

Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, March 2024

Profanity alert! It is a long held tradition for graffiti writing to be edgy, either in location, style or content, and sometimes writing profanities disguised or otherwise is part of that attitude, without which street and graffiti art would be nothing. Some of the earliest graffiti from Roman times was essentially cock and balls doodles in public spaces.

Stivs presents us with the word ‘FUCK’ styled with his exquisite calligraffiti writing that brings a bitter-sweet challenge. Great colours that smack you in the face and beautifully finished, this is graffiti art at its subversive best.

5918. St Werburghs tunnel (415)

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.

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

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.

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)

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.

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.

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.

5728. M32 roundabout J3 (539)

Stivs, M32 roundabout, Bristol, December 2023

I would say that we haven’t seen nearly enough of Stivs’ work in the latter half of this year, so it was particularly gratifying to find this piece on the M32 roundabout, and even though it didn’t last very long, it was noticed.

The calligraffiti writing was painted as a birthday piece for his brother Kelvin, and I can’t really think of a better present than a tribute piece of artwork like this, I know I’d be made up by such a gesture. The beautifully proportioned letters are given an extra lift from the wall by the clever use of the green drop shadow, which itself has a black border. Care and attention was given to the piece, as demonstrated by the sand coloured background and subtle wisps of paint around the letters. Great work from Stivs.

5559. Mina Road (12)

Stivs and Vane, Mina Road, Bristol, August 2023

I was fortunate enough to be driving by when Stivs and Vane were pretty much finishing off this piece, but couldn’t take any pictures at that time, because Vane had parked his van in front of it while they were clearing away all their gear. I didn’t go back immediately, knowing that it was a commission piece that would be respected by taggers.

The fantasy woodland piece is a true collaboration, where it is not possible to disentangle which artist painted which bits of the extraordinary work. The piece is quite unusual in Bristol, as we don’t get to see many of this kind of collaborative mural. Each of the artists has included some letters, with Stivs writing DSC on the left and Vane writing TAF on the right.

The almost Disneyesque style of the piece, it reminds me a little of Sleeping Beauty, is compelling to look at and beautifully executed. So absorbing is the piece that it is difficult to see that there is a garage door right in the middle. A garage door that once played host to an outstanding piece by Silent Hobo. This is something you might usually associate with Upfest and a premium wall in Bedminster, but here it is in Mina Road, thanks to an enlightened resident. Bravo gentlemen!

Silent Hobo, Mina Road, Bristol, October 2020

5323. St Werburghs tunnel (370)

I have missed several recent Stivs pieces (wrong place, wrong time), so it was good to find and photograph this one . The artist has returned to his calligraffiti, having spent some weeks painting portrait pieces, although this one is a little more stylised and mainstream than his typical calligraffiti style.

The strange orange and green colour combination works surprisingly well, but why wouldn’t it? I guess they are colours often seen together in nature. Instead of writing STIVS, he is playing with us and has written STYVZ. This is a nice quick one from Stivs.

	bushboy on Thursday doors – 19 Febr…
	skat on Mozart balls
	Suzette Benjamin on Thursday doors – 19 Febr…
	Dan Antion on Thursday doors – 19 Febr…
	Sheree on Thursday doors – 19 Febr…

	bushboy on Thursday doors – 19 Febr…
	skat on Mozart balls
	Suzette Benjamin on Thursday doors – 19 Febr…
	Dan Antion on Thursday doors – 19 Febr…
	Sheree on Thursday doors – 19 Febr…

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