Over the years I’ve messed around with painting on shoes. Mostly canvas Chucks, Vans and Tretorns. It started one year when I accidentally ordered a pair of white Chuck Taylors for my husband’s Christmas present. Instead of returning them I thought……hmmmmm….maybe I can paint these bad boys.

He’s from Mexico originally so I did some motifs inspired by Aztec art. I sketched out the layout in pencil and then painted with black fabric paint.

They were a little messy….not the best, but I’ve done a few more since then.

My sister-in-law then asked me to customize some Chucks for her….

She said, “Just do as you want.” Those were platform sneakers so I also painted the rubber base. I always find it hard when people tell you to do whatever you want. Who knows if they will like them, right?

Another more recent project that I did for myself with two pairs of shoes my sister gave me because they were too small for her. A bit too plain for my taste. I love pattern, texture and color in general so I can be a bit “over the top” with my clothing, jewelry, home decor…..etc. I was inspired on the Tretorns by a pair of sneakers that I wanted that were on the pricey side.

I hadn’t worn this brand since the 80’s so it was fun to see they were still out there. I also ordered several colors of laces to see how what would look best with my crazy color blocking. Here is the finished result.

The next pair were a pair of blue on blue suede Vans. I stayed with the tonal idea just added some pizzaz. I used both fabric paint and acrylics. I kept the laces for these.

The last pair I did a couple of Summer’s ago. My son is obsessed with Geography so he wanted shoes with the Japanese and Korean flags. I painted a pair of Vans for him and he wore them until they fell apart.

I love to play around with different projects and different styles of art. I will post more of my projects later.