6097. Vestry Street, Leicester

Smug, Vestry Street, Leicester, May 2024
Smug, Vestry Street, Leicester, May 2024

This is another outstanding Smug piece that I photographed during a short visit to Leicester last month. It is difficult to convey the sheer scale of the piece, because it is relatively thin, but as you can see it is seven stories tall, and somehow manages to complement the building perfectly. I believe it has been here for quite a while, since at least 2019, but I might be wrong.

Smug, Vestry Street, Leicester, May 2024
Smug, Vestry Street, Leicester, May 2024

The stunning piece features a woman, perfectly slotted into this narrow space, with a bullfinch in flight by her head. The photorealistic representation is quite extraordinary, in particular the folds of the woman’s clothing and her scarf. This and the other Smug piece are worth the trip to Leicester alone. Utterly outstanding and overwhelming.

1070. Upfest 2017 (76)

For the second year running I managed to miss (probably by moments) Aspire at work during Upfest. Actually I have not yet met him, and now that he operates out of London, the chances of that happening are rather remote.

Aspire, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Aspire, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

Aspire was allocated one of the really nice walls this year and by the time I got there on the Saturday morning, he was finished and his gear was neatly piled up ready to go. I always know with Aspire that he never fails to delight with his brilliant birds and trademark pixellations.

Aspire, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Aspire, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

In this piece he features a rather charming  male bullfinch in all his finery.