Walking the Beach

Some people are fortunate to live where they can walk the beach barefoot all year long.  Where I live, you’ll freeze your tootsies in winter if you’re barefoot.  And this spring, there haven’t been many days warm enough to wear flip-flops (until this weekend), so we need shoes.  Shoes fit for traipsing across the dunes to get to the water’s edge, but lightweight enough to be the next best thing to barefoot.  L.A. Gear made a pair that were my fave.  They went out of business for a while.  Then Hanes was making a pair they actually called Beachcomber.  They’ve been discontinued also.  Still I’ve managed to find a pair of lightweight casual canvas sneakers.

As they got worn and dingy, I decided to try an experiment.  I’d been using textile paints on denim, so I thought I’d try painting my sneaks.

My first painted pair I called sunset palms.  Yeah, the sunset is a bit reversed (the purple should be at the top), but that ‘s just my style.  I wore the heck out of them.

Anyone can paint a sunset.  It’s broad horizontal strokes and blending.  I used my Jacquard Opaque Textile paints for them.  They need to be heat set, but since using an iron would have been tricky, I just used my blow dryer on high setting.  It worked.  Got those sneaks wet and the paint held.

Rather than doing another sunset, on the next pair I decided to do a beach scene.  I even used the colorless sparkling paint to mimic the wet sand as the waves rolled in.

Once again, beach scenes are very easy to do — for a big impact.  These are great for getting to and from the beach and easy to fit in pockets or tote while on the sand.  They’ll even look great walking around town in the summer — or on the tennis court.  I’ve been wearing out this pair too.  Haven’t decided how to paint the next pair, but I’ll probably need more paint since I used up the last of these colors.

No need to spend big bucks on store-bought colorful sneakers.  Paint your own!