At the end of the year I put together a simple video to celebrate the studio success in 2024. I made 35 individual shoes (some are pairs), including the mate of several shoes that came about in 2023.
My favorite shoes from 2024 are Enchanted Forest, Echoes of Rabat and My Cowboy Boot II.
Enchanted Forest was a push for me to try to create a shoe that a little girl would choose as her Cinderella Slipper. Why? Because no less than ten percent of comments about the shoes involve someone referencing Cinderella.
Echoes of Rabat were a fun challenge. My friend WIlli sent them my way – they have wooden soles and beautiful leather uppers. But in transit, the leather became malformed. I soaked the leather and popped them onto an antique metal shoe form. I’ve collected a few of those, they’re interesting and definitely on pointe with my theme. The leather had braided straps that create a fun decoration on the front, and figuring out how to put the glass into this area and keep it open gave me insight for future efforts.
Finally, My Cowboy Boot II was an attempt to create a better version of the first cowboy boot. Although I used different colors, the detail in the stitching came out infinitely better because of how I approached making the mold. I also learned not to use copper wire to hold multipart molds together. And this is how we grow as artists.
What does 2025 hold? More shoes of course. I have received more donations. I also have some fun ideas I’d like to explore, including creating my own line of glass shoes, complete with a proper brand tag.
Enjoy the video review: