House with Cracked Walls by Paul Cézanne

Being asked to replicate a painting on a pair of shoes is a difficult task in any case. When the artist I'm asked to replicate is Paul Cézanne, the master of expressive landscape, I get a little panicky.


I think the final shoes came out well, however. There's a few inconsistencies between my replica and the original, but they're minor. I used over 50 colors, a personal record by far.

Turtle Aeronautics and Space Administration

If turtles decided to go to space, sea turtles would definitely be the ones chosen to go. Land turtles would fail miserably trying to navigate in zero gravity. Look at an African Tortoise and try to imagine that thing in a space suit. Yeah right. Sea turtles live in an aquatic environment, and NASA uses underwater training to prepare astronauts for space travel. It makes so much sense. Sea turtles are definitely Turtlenauts.



I tried to give the backs and sides the feel of a spacesuit covered in patches. Turtles wouldn't journey in the name of the United States, however. They would journey for all turtle-kind, hence the change in the flag patch.

Party Animals by Cam Giblin

Cam's first pair was for himself and he knocked it out of the park. The pictures speak for themselves. Let the orders pour in.

New Artist: Cam Giblin joining Art Kicks!

Well, it's been about a year, 40 pairs, and a hell of a ride. I'm looking forward to doing 40 more pairs, but I have so many orders that I can't handle everything myself. To help out, I've asked fellow University of Oregon student Cam Giblin to join me as an artist. He's recently made a splash in the local Eugene music scene doing artwork for bands and concerts and after seeing his stuff, I knew he would be perfect to bring on board. He's got a killer style, different from my own in many ways, but still perfect for the Art Kicks brand. It's fun, it's unique, and it's really damn good.

Bird Skeletons

I added up the number of finished shoes that I've done in the last eleven months and I realized that this pair right here is number 40. I know the "Finished Shoes" link on the right is a little low--a few pairs never made it on the blog.

Really damn cool that I managed 40 pairs in under a year, almost all of which are on feet and out getting wear in the world.

I'm grateful for all of the support, the encouragement, and everything I've learned along the way.

Golden Age Comics

While this pair may seem simple, it was in fact one of the most difficult pairs I've ever had to do. Because I'm working on cloth, ink spreads if you leave the tip of the marker down too long. If you let colors run into one another, they mix. This can be a cool effect if you want a painterly style with gradients, but it doesn't replicate the stark contrast of old comic books. In order to get clean comic book lines with as little mixing as possible, I had to wait for each color to dry before I started on the adjacent color.

A-One Title Company

This pair marks a first for Art Kicks in that they are a promotion for a business rather than a pair for casual wear. The company is based in my hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico, which meant that I was able to depict some classic southwestern images. Particularly proud of the Sandia Mountains on the side of the left shoe.