SHOE FLEUR - Creative Edge March 2021

Creative Edge

Mar 31

DESIGNS & TEXT BY HITOMI GILLIAM AIFD | PHOTOGRAPHY BY COLIN GILLIAM

“The Inspiration for this article is the book ‘SHOE FLEUR’ published in 2008, authored by Michel Tcherevkoff, an accomplished commercial photographer with an incredible creative eye for important clients. It was a set of images which placed him in the world’s eye.

This book subtitled ‘A Footwear Fantasy’ came from the author’s first botanical encounter with a LEAF which looked like a shoe, which became the beginning of his Floral Fantasies which began dancing in his head. … playing with flowers….. the results were beyond anything I could have predicted. (M.Tcherevkoff)

Shoe Fleur is about INSPIRATION!!
”

“The author has created a dress made from toothbrushes for Johnson&Johnson…
He has morphed a salad spinner into an amusement park ride for Bed, Bath & Beyond….
His imaginary photography fuses creative imaging, digital illustration, art and sculpture simultaneously, skillfully.
The forewords in the book are by Diane von Furstenberg and Ferrucio Ferragamo, both fashion mavens of our era.

Diane von Furstenberg
Nothing inspires me more than nature…. I carry camera with me everywhere…. Looking for
beautiful print or color palette…
His creations tempt our desire to possess what we can only look at, but cannot touch…

Ferrucio Ferragamo
Struck by the freshness and the purity of his design… brightness of the colors, the energy
and the excitement. …. every time you look at his images… they seem new and express
an extraordinary joy for life!!

I was drawn to the book in 2008 and purchased several copies…. One for myself, and few to gift, it is absolutely the most beautiful visual volume ever!!! The use of botanicals in his photographs, beautifully co-related to fashion, with digital tweeks…. and its very special beautiful pink, transparent slipcover… its cut out pages and occasional sheer pages…. beguiling… sensuous… an absolute fashion statement in book making!!!
And I agree with Ferragamo… as I look at this beautiful book again almost 13 years since it was published… it looks FRESH and PURE and ENERGETIC!!
I had been working with Francoise Weeks, these past week teaching Flowers and Wear, exploring the fashion with FLOWERS… I enjoyed this genre of flower work so much, especially seeing the students’ works… the experimental approach taken by everyone…. seeing its possibilities…..
I AM INSPIRED to take on the Flowery Shoe Fleur again.

Since we are in the 3D Flower Art…. It became about covering a real shoe. The only difference was that we can craft the kind of shoe we desire to cover, by tweaking the shoe that we have to make it a little bit of fantasy. I was inspired to cover the shoe surface with combination of textural and patterned foliage, to flower parts, to full flowers to growing tips of vines… I wanted each composition to convey the power and the energy, and the dynamics of growth.
”

Shoe Fleur #1

‘Flower Fling Sandal’

“It was vital for me through the use of botanical medium to detail a shoe…. that I portray how its addition to the sandal surface adds freshness, life and energy… to take something that is static and make it dynamic to make it come ALIVE… a LIVING SHOE!!

I prepared the sandal for flower gluing by applying washi paper over the surface that will bond the botanical parts securely. Pieces of yarn-wrapped wire vine were hot-glued to the sandal to help define the surfaces for coverage, and to enhance linearity - to add growing extension and artful dimension to the sandal.

I wanted to draw attention to the details of the materials used. The body of the shoe, its side profile and the hell to be of patterned foliage that related to the silhouette. The insole is cushioned, covered with small miniature button mums with perimeter gaps filled with tiny eucalyptus buds. The bands of the shoe is covered with variegated Liriope directionally and extended to glamorize the shape. The heart of the band – middle of the crossing bands, became the focal emphasis area to decoratively flower with deconstructed wavy parrot tulip petals into a radial composite. The tulip stigma and stamen were glued into the center, along with random florets of Ornithogalum rhythmically dancing through it!!

I Wanted to create a sandal that flowered with free spirit, Joy for Life!! I think FLOWERS do say it BEST!!
”

BOTANICALS ‘Black Parrot’ Tulip, Ornithogalum arabicum, Chrysanthemum Belgian button mum var., Calathea ornata, Jasmine vine (Jasminum officinale), Seeded Eucalyptus, Variegated Lily Grass (Liriope muscari variegata)

SUPPLIES Sandal, Washi paper, UGlu dashes, Oasis Floral Adhesive, Hot Glue, Yarn-wrapped Aluminum & Metallic wire vine

Shoe Fleur #2

‘Flora Nouveau Boot’

“I took a short boot I had and grew it taller and with taller sole and heel with cardboard. It was fun to change the boot to make it more exaggerated for this composition. The whole boot was then covered with Washi paper, using UGlu in many spots. This paper surface makes the final botanical adhesion more secure. It also makes the dismantling easier, cleaner and quicker… to separate the compostable materials from the boot.

The yarn-covered wire vine was hot glued to the boot to accentuate its silhouette and to divide the surface for variable patchwork treatment. Also its growing tips add the supportive trellis for fresh materials to follow and to attach.

Start with the platform heel and sole, and work your way up the boot surface…. Foliage in the lower portion… growing into parts, the whole flowers and into the growing, flourishing, living plants. Experimenting with combinations of petals and other parts of the flowers and plants to have the upper portion of the boot reflect growth… to make it COME ALIVE!!

Consider the color play… textural play… linear movement… bring complete enjoyment of the details created.
With flowers to wear…. we are able to really study up close… magnified details of patterns, venation, exquisite textures that can only be appreciated when we look at it closer up.

Warning… this can become a
passionate addiction!!! ENJOY!!!
”

BOTANICALS Rose ‘Amnesia’, Hellebores niger, Mini Cymbidium var., Astrantia major, Scabiosa Atropurpurea, Tulip ‘Black Parrot’, Carnation (Dianthus caryophylla), Queen Anne’s Lace (Daucus carota), Dusty Miller (Jacobaea maritima), Calathea ornate, Variegated Flax (Phormium tenax), Lily Grass (Liriope muscari), Jasmine Vine (Jasminum officinale), Anthurium clarinervium

SUPPLIES Short Boot, Cardboard, Hot Glue, Washi Paper, UGlu Dashes, Yarn-wrapped aluminum & metallic wire Vine, Oasis Floral Adhesive

Shoe Fleur #3

‘Flower Couture Heels’

“I took one of my only high heel shoes, and fantasized and glamorized it by adding the extended toe point, and added an inch to the heel. I also added the outline of Art Nouveau curvilinear flow, at the same time outlining that super pointed pointed toe. It is my fantasy shoe that I will not be able to wear, but I can dream…

Flowering this shoe required a different mindset…. It required concentration on sleekness, rather than building it heavy with flowers. Almost all flowers with exception of Astrantia were deconstructed. I did however add 2 whole Astroemeria into the inside of the shoe to show where all the gorgeous petals came from.

Color:
Complementary color harmony... Tints, tones and shades of Red Violet and Yellow Green, the two
sides of Calathea ornata

Texture:
Pepperomia leaflets, Protea petals, Kangaroo Paw florets, Astrantia to the smoother surfaces of
Calathea leaves

Line:
Wild Jasmine vine, curvaceous Tillandsia xerographica, linear pattern on the Calathea leaf, yarn-covered wire vine which support the floating lines so gracefully

Space:
An open transparent design with positive spaces occupied with gorgeous color and texture… and
Beautifully open, negative spaces…. In full, occupying a beautifully defined space to appreciate Art Nouveau sensibility

Form:
the Shoe, and all the different forms, of individual botanicals included

Pattern:
Observe and appreciate the joy of seeing incredible patterning in all our botanicals…. Textural, color
form and linear patterning

Size:
Being aware of relativity of size within the composition… size of individual flowers used, in relationship
to the whole… deconstruction of plant part can help with the internal proportion of materials

In our smallest, most detailed compositions…. Effective use of Elements and Principles are even more important to create wonderful eye-opening discovery of the wonders of Botany!!!
”