Stivs has been knocking it out of the park lately, even more so than usual. Following on from his hugely impressive Sear tribute pieces he has created this wonderful birthday shout-out for a friend, Jane Barrow.
The beautifully colourful letters in calligraffiti style spell out POGE or PAGE, I think, but I don’t know the relevance of the letters. It matters not what they say, because the colours, design and overall composition are outstanding. Can Stivs attain a higher level yet? I expect so.
Stivs has painted another tribute piece to Sear, and it is an absolute belter. In this piece, Stivs has used his skills at calligraffiti to great effect, creating an astounding backdrop of the word Sear written in patterns. I can’t think how long this would have taken to paint, but it is clearly a labour of love.
The decorative calligraffiti patterns serve as ‘host’ for the magnificent multicoloured ‘SEAR’ in the centre of the piece. The letters stand out proud from the rest of the wall and are a welcome feast for the eyes. It is touching to see how artists have marked the loss of one of their friends. What a great gift a tribute can be.
From time to time, the street art community is rocked by the death of one of their fold. It might be felt by everyone or by just a few close friends. When it happens, it is common to produce tribute pieces for the departed friend, and some artists keep the tribute alive for days, weeks, months or even years, for example Haka keeping the memory of his friend CKone in our minds in most of his pieces even now.
This is one of several tribute pieces for Sear by Stivs, and there are several other tributes about the place. I haven’t ever really encountered Sear before, but he was a graffiti writer and close friend of Stivs’. This piece is a fine tribute, beautifully structured and proportioned and the colour combinations perfect. A work of love.
One thing you can be pretty sure of is that when Stivs creates a piece, it is never sloppy or rushed, the calligraffiti style lends itself to accuracy and precision, and anything that deviates from that simply wouldn’t work. This is a lovely recent piece on the M32 roundabout.
The colours are reminiscent of those used in fun fair art, and the style too. The letters are beautiful, spelling out STIVS, and the colours wonderfully matched, but it is the fills and decorations that steal the show on this one. A truly magnificent piece from Stivs
Mena is obviously a popular lady, and the turnout for her birthday paint jam was exceptional. This contribution from Stivs is an absolute beauty and a fitting tribute to Mena. The writing that spells out Menas is in his wonderful calligraffiti style and this one in particular really stands out.
The colour selection is nothing short of brilliant and possibly quite brave, where the letters, picked out in orange, pink and purple Are complemented by the turquoise surround. Stivs has picked out the 3D shading perfectly with a ‘suggestion’ of colour and stripes. Overall a superbly crafted high-quality piece of writing.
It is not all that long ago, through the winter, when Stivs was producing new pieces at will and barely a week went by without one or two new works from him. This spring has been a slightly different story, and it feels like a while since I saw anything new, until I found this one on the River Avon path. Since finding this, he has been out a little more, and there are further new pieces to share with you.
Stivs is one of two brilliant calligraffiti artists in Bristol, that is artists who specialise in calligraphic writing. This is a real beauty in chrome with a blue 3D shadow and mint green border. Lovely regular letters spelling out STIVS. A scattering of mint dots to add a little interest, and hey presto! You have a banging burner.
It took me a long time to get round to photographing this lovely piece of writing by Stivs, and when I got to it, the far right hand side had been ever so slightly overpainted by Elvs, but in a respectful way.
Stivs has been knocking it out of the park over the last year, with each piece seemingly more complex and ornate than the last. His calligraffiti style of writing is so pleasing to the eye, but far less forgiving of mistakes, because of the uniformity of the letter style. A magnificent technical piece, painted for a friend’s birthday, it can’t get much better than this, or can it?
I am definitely struggling to keep up with the volume of work that Stivs is producing these days, and I still have some real corkers in my archive that are under serious threat of not making it onto Natural Adventures at all. I need a quiet period when I can dig out some of these nuggets and publish them.
This recent piece is one of two, side-by-side in one of Stivs’ favourite spots, and as he is inclined to do these days, he has gone ‘big’ with both. His calligraffiti style has gone quite Gothic on us with this piece, but the letters are clean and clear, spelling out STIVS, where the ‘S’s have reclined slightly. Yet another tight piece of graffiti writing from this tireless creative talent.
Another absolute belter from the unstoppable Stivs on the M32 roundabout. He really is going through an incredibly productive and inspired period… long may it last. I often wonder, when artists are so prolific, how they afford the paint, because it is not cheap to paint a wall this big.
This calligraffiti piece is notable for the exceptionally brilliant fill that is not only beautiful, but also has the appearance of being a piece that has been painted over… clever stuff from Stivs. As with so many artists in Bristol at the moment, Stivs seems to be hitting a new level, and shows no signs of letting up. A masterful piece.
A gallery of great calligraffiti by Bristol artist Stivs.
Instagram: @stivsart
All photographs by Scooj
Natural adventures 