Chuck Taylor All-Stars

Chuck Taylor All-Stars | 96”x 64” | Oil on Canvas
 
America’s shoe... the first iconic sports shoe became the world’s shoe, Chuck Taylor teamed up with Converse in 1921. The shoe took on its stylish look in 1923, and in 1932 the star and Chuck Taylor’s signature were added. The Converse, Chuck Taylor All Stars were the official shoe of the Olympics from 1936 to 1968.

Chuck Tayolr began marketing this shoe from the trunk of his car in the United States as he held basketball clinics in high schools, colleges, and YMCA’s all across the country. During the 1926-27 season Taylor also served as a player-manager of the company-sponsored basketball team called the Converse All Stars.

Many of our “greatest generation” grew up wearing Chucks, as have their children, grandchildren and now great grandchildren as today’s youth love and wear Chucks in all the amazing colors they now come in.
 
This well worn “pair of good friends” made it to the end of 9th grade on my daughters feet. She was going to tie them together and wing them over a power line when I asked her if I could first borrow them to do a painting. I did the painting while at an art show in Scottsdale, AZ. while people looked on.

I painted the background through much of one night in order to continously work with and blend the wet paint over the surface of the canvas. Being early in the year, it was actually quite cold at night, so I built a rough wall of canvases around me and used a space heater to keep warm while I worked. I did the lower foreground the next day, and the shoes over the next few weeks.

As I painted, I developed an appreciation for the fondness my daughter had for this pair of high tops. Many of us have fond memories of, and a personal connection with, a pair of good old Chucks. They have been a real part of our lives. This painting is a fun reminder of those memories.
 
"You should have the Art you Love."