"Chanel" slip-ons

On the surface, this pair depicts imitation Chanel slip-ons covered in Chanel jewelry. Yet I think they makes some really interesting statements. The juxtaposition between the Chanel logo and the Vans logo raises questions about brand identity and pricing. Does the fact that I drew the Chanel logo on a piece of apparel
make them worth much more than a normal pair of Art Kicks?

Below are a pair of actual Chanel slip-ons, which provided me the base for the design.

Art Gallery #4 - "The World of Tomorrow"

When I work on shoes I like to listen to old 30 minute radio programs from the 1940s and 1950s. I particularly love a program called "Dimension X," a sci-fi fare that showcased some surprisingly good stories from some famous authors such as Ray Bradbury and Isaac Asimov. Listening to announcers read lines like, "It is the year 1984 and man has finally colonized the moon!" inspired me to create this pair.

This pair will be for sale at Ink Thirsty Gallery in Eugene, Oregon until the end of December. Email me for more information.

Thanks to all for a great opening!

To all who came to Ink Thirsty last night, thank you so much. It was amazing to see a gallery full of people who were excited to see my art. It really makes all the hard work worthwhile.

The display was great--very industrial modern and lit from below for added effect. Didn't hurt that the shoes were featured in the center of the gallery as well.


For more info on the gallery, as well as inquiries on purchases, go to inkthirsty.com.

Art Gallery #3 - "Tech Tree"

Because shoes come in pairs, there's always an excellent opportunity for interesting juxtaposition of objects. Cherry blossoms are beautiful and always visually engaging. Five and a quarter floppy disks are not.

These shoes are available for purchase at Ink Thirsty Gallery in Eugene, Oregon until the end of December. Email me for more info.

Art Gallery #2 - Entomophobia

This is one of the simplest and starkest designs I've done. Also the first time I've experimented with imitating the look of halftone dots. I think it works quite well.

These shoes are available for purchase at Ink Thirsty gallery in Eugene, Oregon until the end of December. Email me for more info.

Art Gallery #1 - Futurist Cubism Lace-ups

The first of the shoes that I'm doing for the show at Ink Thirsty Gallery. This pair is based on the aesthetic of the Futurist paintings created before World War I. I don't particularly agree with the politics of the movement (hyper-nationalism never worked out too well) but I love the style.

This pair is available for sale at Ink Thirsty gallery in Eugene, Oregon. Email me for more info.

My shoes in a gallery!

The big news for this week is that four pairs of my shoes will be on display starting on Friday November 27th at Ink Thirsty Gallery in downtown Eugene, Oregon. (http://www.inkthirsty.com). I'm really excited because it's a great opportunity to do some original art that I have had in the back of my mind while doing custom orders for the last 9 months or so. I've been sleeping 4-5 hours a night for the past 2 weeks to get everything ready on top of school, but it's totally worth it.

I don't want to spoil the opening (7pm, by the way for anyone in town), but here's a glimpse of some of what I've been working on.

Willy Wonka

I can officially announce that I have seen "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" about 7 times. Oompa Loompas haunt my dreams. But the shoes turned out pretty damn cool. Lots of hours. Lots of detail. I'm pretty happy with them.

The ArtKicks process, really fast

My friend Gabe (http://www.gabrieltothfejel.com/blawg) put together an awesome time lapse movie of me working on part of the human anatomy shoes. Makes me look cooler than I actually am.

Art Kicks: Human Anatomy from Gabe Toth on Vimeo.

Human Anatomy

Inspired by the Bodies Exhibition, these shoes feature semi-accurate anatomical structures mashed together in a bloody cornucopia. While most people who see these are likely to feel their stomach turn, I'd like to take this time to clarify that I view these shoes as a tribute to the wonder of the human form rather than some sort of expression of violent obsession. We have amazing things going on inside of us all the time--things we never see nor seem to be interested in pondering.

Help me win another shoe contest!

I won the last Paint Or Thread custom contest, now help me do it again! I submitted my Where the Wild Things Are shoes this time.

http://www.paintorthread.com/contest/paint-or-thread-custom-sneaker-contest-2/

Email contact@paintorthread.com and tell them you like entry 'N' the best!

Art Kicks in Louisiana Gardener Magazine

One of the pictures that I sent to Louisiana Gardener is running in the most recent issue. Here's a scan of the page I'm on. I'm not sure about how large the readership of Louisiana Gardener is, but it's a great start to my entrepreneurial PR effort for ArtKicks. Today, Louisiana Gardener. Tomorrow, Time's products of the year.

1960s Batman

It wasn't dark, it wasn't brooding, but damn if it wasn't the best batman adaptation of all time. Three reasons: Adam West, visible sound effects, and the Cadillac Batmobile. To me it feels like every pair of shoes up until now has been a warm up to this pair--lots of lighting effects, dynamic typography, and quite an elaborate design with many different elements.

Eisenman Architecture

I once complained on Twitter about drawing straight lines on shoes. This pair was, in a way, the ultimate punishment for glib pessimism. It's all straight lines. However, this sort of forced lesson is incredibly valuable, as it forces one to address confidence issues. I can now say after many hours that Architect Peter Eisenman has helped me address my fear of straight lines on canvas.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Eisenman

The Eisenman works depicted on this pair are the Wexner Center for the Arts, The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, and House VI.

Where the Wild Things Are

Made these for a loyal Where the Wild Things Are fan, in time for him to wear them to the premiere of the new Spike Jonze film. One particular challenge for this pair was replicating Maurice Sendak's artistic style in marker. From what I can tell, Sendak used colored pencil and acrylic paint to illustrate the original book, mediums which either lead to smoothly blended colors or many sketchy thin lines. Marker is good for neither.

Passion Flowers

I sent these pictures to a botanical magazine and hopefully they will run an article on ArtKicks in an issue close to the Christmas season.

Texas and Travel

For this pair, one shoe represents the wearer's home state of Texas and the other shoe represents all of the places that she has traveled. The "Green Building" adorning the right shoe is the tallest building in Dallas.