The creativity door has opened! I attribute it to two things. First I walked the outlet mall for my exercise last week and in the process bought four pairs of Converse ‘chucks’ (i.e. Chuck Taylor.) Also last week I made the decision to back off such vigorous training/rehab of my knee. Having suffered 3 injuries in two weeks time I decided to continue the work but not at the pace I was going. And somehow ending that obsession opened the door and allowed the muse to slip back in…hallelujah! So in addition to painting shoes and an old Donna Karan bag I am also designing and stitching new work.
So this post is about the shoes. I’ve been asked to show the process. So this is it…pretty simple! First we have the before photo…the traditional black, a pair navy blue with a shallow sole (more like Keds), a black leather hi-top and a rust/orange (go Giants!). 
First I mask off the shoes, usually while watching TV and with no rhyme or reason. Basically I want to keep the paint off the sole, toe cap and sidewalls. I also remove the laces. Then I just go to town with Jacquard textile paints. I painted in layers returning after a few days to put on the 2nd layer. That really helped my ‘planning’ or lack thereof because after the shoes sat for a couple of days I was more clear in how to proceed. I used brushes, rollers and hand-cut stamps to get the effects I wanted. I also wore mask and gloves because the paint is really nasty!
Voila….the finished pieces.
The black is now black, purple and old gold with a khaki colored lace which was one of two pairs of laces that came with the leather hi tops. Love it!
The navy is painted with “adidas” type stripes… one side is purple metallic and the other is grape metallic and the tongue is copper metallic and laced in navy.
The rust is purple and brass with purple laces
and the black hi top is purple, copper, and cobalt metallic with black laces.
The tongues are as important as the shoe itself as they do show through.
Also on some materials the tape does not adhere as well so there can be some ‘imperfections’ i.e. uneven lines, but who cares? If there are shoe police I am already in deep trouble!
Now that I have these four new pairs I think I can safely part with older painted shoes that are worn. Or maybe not…
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