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Monday, September 13, 2010

Art shoes!


The Pandoras, my local fiber arts group, met today to make art shoes. We followed an excellent tutorial on painting shoes on artist Lyric Kinard’s blog. Basically, you strip the finish off an old pair of shoes, then gesso them, and paint with acrylic paint. I only have one of my shoes finished so far; it is shown above. I’m pretty excited about the results!


Michele, Grace, DeLane and I gathered around DeLane’s brightly lit table and got to work. 

Grace, dressed all in red (her favorite color) was painting her shoes red – what else? — and orange.


DeLane’s shoes were also red, with some pretty purple swirls and dots.


Here are the results of a few hours of painting (well, truth be told, I was so excited to try this that I did one shoe last night!). Michele and DeLane already have the acrylic sealer on theirs; that is why they look shiny. Mine look shiny because I used metallic paint. And you can see the white gesso still showing on my clog that is in progress. Grace is still working on her pair, too, adding some nice details on the red sections. 


DeLane’s ruby slippers


Michele’s gray clogs


Grace’s red-and-orange swirly shoes


This photo shows how I started out on the gessoed shoes, penciling in the basic areas to paint. The shoe on the right is almost done, but still needs a coat of acrylic sealant. These are several-years-old Dansko clogs that had started to get a bit scratched up. I considered painting cheapie shoes, but after having a painful foot condition (plantar fasciitis) that lasted nearly 18 months, I have to be very careful to wear well-constructed shoes with good arch support. And I figure if you are going to spend the time to make a pair of shoes a work of art, you might as well start with good shoes, right? I can’t wait to finish these up and wear them!

9 comments:

  1. Fantastic! Can't wait to see them on your feet. Sorry I had to miss the fun!

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  2. Way too cool!!! Those are some mighty fine fancy feet!

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  3. I have been wanting to do this! Maybe this will be the inspiration I need. Your clogs look fabulous.

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  4. Those look so cool. Such fun!

    Darlis

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  5. I love the shoes. How fun. I think it makes those gals with designer shoes with red soles look boring now.

    Smiles,
    Kelly

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  6. I want to find another pair of shoes - I want to do this again!!!

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  7. Awesome post and shoes ladies! What a fun idea!

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  8. Susan - thanks for sharing this! you have no idea how timely it is. i've been wearing the same birkenstock's for 10 years and they need a makeover. everytime i thought about having to break in a new pair i resolved to make them last *just a little longer*

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