Sightseeing
One day while driving around on the Blue Ridge Parkway, I pulled into a scenic stop to view nature beyond the parkway. After taking in the vast landscape, I noticed the cobblestone wall. On top of the wall was a single shoe. I imagine miles down the parkway, the family has stopped at a lookout […]
Enchanted Footsteps
I share photos of my shoes online, and of course they are seen while on exhibit. It’s interesting how often people reference Cinderella’s slippers, regardless of how different the shoes look from those depicted in the stories. These comments inspired me to create my own version of a glass slipper—one that captures the enchantment and […]
Warm Rosy Steps, Warm Playful Steps
When I saw these in a thrift store, it reminded me of the many times my daughter asked for “Uggs”. I’m not sure exactly how old my daughter was when she started asking, but she begged for them, and I always commented how ugly they were – refusing her request. It seemed pretty silly to […]
JD’s Shoe
My son was a very independent child. When his sister went off to kindergarten, we would walk her to the bus stop a house away. I don’t think it had been more than 3 or 4 days, and I said that it was time to take her. Sitting in front of the TV, he turned […]
Mud & Puppy Memories
Unless it’s raining, I take the dog for a walk in the neighborhood. While she’s sniffing everything in sight, I am taking in the trees, and flowers, and noticing who’s mowed, who needs to mow, and sometimes what things have been left outside. As we came up to one house, I noticed this very brightly […]
Making Waves
Did you know boat shoes were invented back in the 30’s by Paul Sperry? Legend has it, while out boating, Paul noticed his dog was able to grip the slick surface of the wet deck. He created the soles to mimic the pads of the pads on his dog’s paws. Black soles would leave marks […]
First Shoe
Shoe 1 Location: On exhibit with Habatat, Detroit Michigan This is the first shoe I cast, in 2021. I thought that creating a child’s shoe would be easier than a bigger shoe and picked up this loafer at the thrift store. To support the shoe and be able to pour the plaster over rather than […]
Torn Apart & Disrupted Play
Russia invaded Ukraine about the time the baby shoes made it out of the kiln and I started to clean up the edges and polish them. I couldn’t help but think of all the children, not only in Ukraine, but Syria and other countries who have been subjected to disruption and removal of a normal […]
Mother’s Love
Two pairs of shoes representing my twins, Tasiana & Corina. To me, they symbolize the journey we have traveled together and the preciousness of them – for they are always mine to love and protect as their mother, even as they turn 26 years old. And what a journey so far – when they were […]
My Cowboy Boots
When I was a young boy, maybe 4 or 5, I had a pair of cowboy boots with a flashy, distinctive stitched blue leaf pattern and stitched toes. I wore them everywhere, I never wanted to take them off, never. I wore them to play in, to church, to school, and whenever I could get […]