tigers, and tigers and TIGERS oh MY!!!

Can't handle radical 80's rainbow tigers? Well Chatham can. As the Apparel and Graphic designer for Smith Optics, he'll rock a lot of fashion forward pieces, so I wasn't scared to lay on the color and sparkle for these kicks. They are painted on a pretty rad pair of sneakers from Urban Outfitters, which were cheap and an easy surface to work on. Stay tuned for more --- hot rods, vintage, seascapes and waves are on the horizon!

Big Boy goes Postal

A newer pair of kicks of 'Big Boy' for Big Boy, or Big Spoon, or Snowgun, or Cannonball... whatever larger than life nickname seems most fitting at any given moment.

Big Boy is departing the Valley of Sun soon, so I'm glad I got to squeeze in a pair for such and awesome dude.

More pics of shoes to come soon - Including the radical tiger shoes. Keep posted!

This IS fly!!

A killer online fly fishing magazine out of New York City did a little write up about me on their gear guide. Check out www.thisisfly.com to read it and to peruse the whole magazine! Thanks Chopper for pointing them in my general direction!

My Dandy Warhols

My DANDY Warhols . . .

I know, I know - I've been slacking so hard on getting new work up on this blog. But I've just been slacking in general. Summer will do that to you right?!?!

Anyway, am really stoked on this newest pair of kicks - commissioned by a big mountain skier who has yet to see them in person.

Keep checking back for some new designs I'll be finished with this week, and starting two more pairs next week. I promise I'll stop being lagger.

C

The HORROR - The HORROR

I've been really wanting to do a 'horror comic' pair of shoes, and so when I was commissioned by a co-worker to paint a pair of shoes with whatever I wanted for her heavy metal, black and red wearing boyfriend - I had my opportunity.

I looked at artist: Monk One for reference. He's a great example of making horror comic art, fine.... :-P It's pretty against my normal style, so they took some time, but he loves them, they look great on and I'm stoked on them.

Keep posted for the next 8 pairs in progress. Including an awesome Andy Warhol piece.

Also - might be getting representation on SkullsandWings.com and in their store in Encinitas when they open! Keep your fingers crossed.

the VANS blog call-out . . . awesome

 http://thevansblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/if-you-lived-here-youd-be-home-by-now.html

 

Sweetness. Very excited. 

Ohhhhhhh Audrey!

Ahhhhh . . . . . Breakfast at Tiffany's — what an awesome concept for a pair of shoes. I spent a significant portion of my adolescence wearing over-sized dark sunglasses because of Audrey
(yes, we were on a first name basis)

When the client approached me about commissioning this pair of shoes for his wife's birthday I new immediately what shot of Audrey Hepburn I wanted to use.

It was tricky and out of my comfort zone to place the image only on one shoe, however, having this iconic portrait broach both shoes would have weakened it. I think they turned out great as is in the end though, and having her shoulder and cigarette on the right balanced the piece nicely.

Happy Birthday Janessa!

Woodland Creatures!

These shoes were commissioned as a birthday present for a Seattleite (is that what you call those northwestern city dwellers?) Well they're cool either way.

So I was asked to elaborate on a Woodland creature theme. I immediately thought hedgehog - love those cute little dudes, but was steered to the squirrel/deer route which turned out...if I might say so... brilliantly! I flanked the deer and squirrel with some cool aspens added some greenery and voila!

The actual shoes are sick too. The best I've painted on. If you're looking for a pair of custom kicks, and although I've had a long term relationship with vans, I'm now having an affair with Zuriick shoes. They are canvas, super cool shape and come in tons of colors. These were actually my size, and I'll admit i took them for a spin around the kitchen. I think a pair of Zuriick woodland shoes might be in my near future.

You can find the shoes at http://zuriick.bigcartel.com/ for around 55.00.

American Mammal

For these kicks I was asked to translate a stamp the client had made in their likeness onto the front of the shoe.

I decided to repeat the stamp across the front with the image losing detail with each imprint - like a stamp would.

I managed to get both fonts onto the shoe, with HAASE across the top and 'American Mammal' on the back of both shoes.

The birthday gift was a great success and a huge surprise. It's always good to make sure you have the CORRECT size when purchasing these - I had that go wrong once, and it sucked.

Until next time. (Keep an eye out for some awesome new work, a pair that's in the process of creation and a Cartoon Gore pair I'm about to start . . .)


** Shoes cost $100.00 + return shipping. This price is after you have purchased shoes. The paintings take about 2 weeks to complete depending on my availability, but I can expedite an order for an extra charge. To order a pair or your own custom kicks please email me at CharlottesKicks@gmail.com. I suggest buying your Vans or the like at Zappos.com and shipping them directly to me.**

I Heart Mix Tapes

These are my latest kicks, painted for Biche - a badass skier.

I was inspired by the old school feel of the Lacoste shoes he gave me and got nostalgic for the days of courtship via the mix tape, . . . I mean talk about chivalry.

"I let my tape rock, till my tape pop"

Centaur Dreams - A skater's fantasy.

"I want a morphed animal, like something that can kill and something furry. You chose!"

Oh, super Tal . . . WTF

So Tal likes to wear unicorn shirts (see exhibit A. left) and trucker T's with underwater mystical animals on them (think dolphins with universe backgrounds) - but this request was impressive. Even for him.

But skater dudes are weird right? Right.

I started racking my brain for furry killer combos that would make a rad design. However the best my spent mind could come up with was a Rhino and a Bunny ::yawns:: Booooooring.

Perplexed I dropped the fuzzy fiend mammal idea and began to think outside the box. "What," I asked myself, "is mystical and heroic. A killing machine and yet a love maker, and fucking awesome?"

Then he came to me, standing in my psyche - hair blowing in the wind, mustache bold and blonde... half man, half horse. Gayer than gay, more mystical then most - and yet strangely erotic - The Centaur.

Boooya - Design idea = SOLID.


































And the Centaur shoes were born into all their mystical glory. Hooray!! I hope you love them Tal, you crazy sonofa...

These sneaks were made for walking . . .

These shoes were painted early last year for the senior product manager of winter sports at Smith Optics.

He's an avid traveler/adventurer so we thought the world at his feet would be a fitting design. And in honor of today being the second round for the 2010 World Cup lottery, I thought I'd post them.

Although they are elegantly perched a top a fireplace, hopefully one day they too will see the streets of South East Asia or the glaciers of Nepal as one of Beans traveling companions.

Or maybe South Africa 2010?!?! A little World Cup action would probably do them some good . . .

They're getting cabin fever Bean!!

JPs SNEAKS

Ok, so truthfully these were the hardest pair of shoes I've done . . .

They began as a tiger fish (not sure what the shit I was thinking), morphed into a koi with a lillie pad ::barf::

And then at some point ended up transforming into a bad ass Octopus.

I'm pretty proud of these kicks and have since developed a love for our 8 legged/tentacled underwater friends (note: this love does not encompass their close cousin the Humbolt squid . . . but that's discussion for another day).

Hope their owner, a surf and snowboard team manager from Southern California, digs them as much as i do.

The Trout Project

These shoes were a really fun project. Chatham and I decided we wanted to do a pair for each other and settled on a trout design.

These were a design inspired from a painting I did for a bachelorette party - The ladies were taking a white water trip to celebrate and I was commissioned to paint and oar for the bride to be.











Enjoy! And email me at Charlotteskicks@gmail.com if you want to order your very own custom pair!

Vietnam Vans for C Bake

Check my Plum TV video out to learn more about the custom shoes I'm painting. 

http://www.plumtv.com/videos/sunvalley-charlotte-hemmings-mnn/index.html

How to get your own pair of customized kicks: 

Purchase a pair canvas kicks - (i.e vans, converse, tods etc...) 

Send the shoes & payment + return shipping to me after discussing either a general or specific artistic direction. (most anything you want can be done!!)

Voila! Within two weeks your custom kicks will be back in the mail!

For more information email me at charlotteskicks@gmail.com