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.

6069. Leicester

Smug, Leicester, May 2024
Smug, Leicester, May 2024

On a recent work trip to Leicester, I was fortunate enough to have a little over an hour early in the morning before meeting up with colleagues to wander around the streets. I met a very nice man called Cameron who showed me around the best spots, which probably saved me a great deal of time.

My visit also happened to coincide (utterly unplanned) with Leicester’s ‘Bring the Paint’ festival. Unfortunately, it was the first day of the festival and no new pieces were yet painted. What I do have though is a good record of the pieces that were at the end of their lifespan and were due to be painted over. This extraordinary piece by Smug was not being painted over, thankfully.

Smug, Leicester, May 2024
Smug, Leicester, May 2024

This is an iconic piece by Smug, and one that I had seen all over social media, but hadn’t ever registered where it was located, so coming across it in Leicester was an absolute bonus. There are no words really that would do the piece justice, so I will probably leave it there and just enjoy the memory of one of the best murals I have ever seen.

Smug

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Overwhelming pain

overcome and defeated

running for my life

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by Scooj

I have managed to keep up my running, which I started at the end of February when I couldn’t run more than 400m without walking. This morning I managed 4.5km, with hills. 5k is in sight. Feeling smug.