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Monday, February 8, 2010

Ima kick you.



As some of you will know, I judge people by their footwear. I do. I know it's bad, but so far it is my most fail-safe mode of judging. Instead of looking at clothes, hair, overall style, I go straight for the kicks. It is a flaw that was deeply embedded in me by my Long Island, slightly ghetto, urban-mixed-with-suburbia upbringing. What can I say, home is where the heart is. On this note, I decided to share some of my most recent spray-painted 'projects.' I have been spray-painting my Nikes for about...7 years now, and only recently was seriously hindered by my move to Chicago, where buying spray-paint is illegal. Yeah I know. Apparently you can purchase paint in real suburbia Chicago, but I don't got a car. So. I went to the internets and bought a beautiful shade of baby-blue paint, which I only recently got to use with a freshly bought pair of all-black Nikes I received as a Christmas present. Upon asking friends and family, "Do you think I should paint them?" with the collective voice screaming, "NO!" I was hesitant to deflower an already beautifully simple pair of kicks. However, I found myself not embracing the new sneakers, largely in part because they weren't painted. I felt odd wearing a pair I haven't 'made my own.' Therefore, the images you will see are of my new masterpieces (maybe not masterpieces but I definitely dig them). Along with the all-black pair, you will see I was somewhat racist and only went for the all-white uptowns, which of course, I highly regret now. I did wear the hell out of those things, until they were literally unsafe and unhealthy to wear anymore, so couldn't have been too shabby. But with the all-black ones, the contrast you can get is hard to resist. The thing I love about the whole spray-paint effect is the level of control of paint I can get, along with the inherent chaos that is produced by the nature of spray paint.  I tend to repaint them as they age and lose color, but the layers of color and chipping that is achieved by this only enhances the crazy colorful, organic look of them, which I love.  They constantly evolve by wear and tear.  A natural degradation that can't be mimicked any other way.  Anyways, after spilling my life journey in regards to my sneakers, have a peak at some of my new, and very old, painted sneaks.
My partners in crime.

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