'Documentary' and 'Hiker'

In August I held a gallery showing of my tarot card collection. Everyone who came to view my work was given the opportunity to enter into a draw for a pair of free custom FaunawolfCreations shoes. Following the show a lucky winner was chosen and thus began my process of creating entirely unique footwear for someone. 

 When making my custom shoes the first thing I do is get a feel for the personality, attributes, tastes and hobbies of the individual who will be wearing them. I've done shoes for close friends and total strangers but I do love the latter if only because of the great sense of satisfaction I get when someone I've never met is delighted by what I've made for them. I think it's important to capture the passion of someone just right to make my custom footwear that much more valuable and, if I can do that for someone I don't know, then I feel I've paid attention.

A soon as I've found the perfect pair of shoes the design begins to form in my mind and until now the design has always been inclusive of both shoes.  In the case of this pair, however, my surface was ample and the possibilities were many. The lucky winner of the draw had given me a lot to go on - documentary film making, love of the outdoors, passion for language and travel, an interest in astronomy.

 The design for the shoe for the right foot came to me first. The whole thing started with the design for the toe. I was Googling images, looking for some inspiration, when I thought of the classic '5,4,3,2...' count in at the beginning of old film reels. From there the rest of the shoe just came together with a heavy duty film camera and a film reel on the right and left sides, respectively.

 The left shoe was a bit more challenging. I didn't want to continue with the 'Documentary' theme of the right shoe and there was still so much of the individual left uncaptured. I decided to focus on the outdoor loving aspect of their character and start, once again, with a design for the toe.

 The rest of the shoe design, just like the other one, came about naturally (Pardon the pun) as I went for a landscape at night to incorporate the astronomy angle as well. It occurred to me that this was my first ever landscape painting, as I find landscapes utterly boring most of the time and have never fancied painting on. This one was quite enjoyable and I'm really pleased with the end result.

As the draw winner doesn't live in London I wasn't able to deliver the shoes until earlier this week. They have been well received and I'm happy to add them to my portfolio of custom kicks.

You can now order your own pair directly through my newly designed website.