The other day I finished up a pair of plimsoles for a friend, who had asked for something fun rather than artsy. So, I aimed for the shoe equivalent of a Hawaiian shirt: palm tree, beach, sunset… and a very red bird.

It was originally going to be a parrot, but after some thought I concluded that actually I don’t like parrots. Seriously, they’re really ugly, what with the huge hook beaks and tiny little eyes and such. Not a fan.

So, in its place, a bright red tropical bird that looks slightly more pleasing to the eye. Behind it, a trail of big red feathers progressively turn yellow and morph into palm leaves, which then ripen to a bold green, and become the very palms that nest the coconuts on the left shoe. I really like this fade progression, and two-dimensional pictures sadly don’t do it very much justice.

Also, the colours are far more vibrant in real life. For some reason my camera couldn’t capture the extent to which the cadmium red bird feathers, the deep orange sun, and the solid green palms stand out against the white canvas. I don’t like using flash when I photograph shoes, but I may have to try it out this time to more accurately show off the artwork. In the meantime, unfortunately, you’ll just have to take my word for it when I say that in person the shoes look much better than they do in the pictures!

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