Wandering Boots by Connie Livingston-Dunn

I like to wander and wonder, meander and ponder. I like places where I’ve never been, down narrow country roads, visiting new villages and cities, and wandering into interesting little shops off the beaten path just to see what is there. Our lives are often interesting wanderings that meander here and there leading us to interests and events that wouldn’t have happened if we had taken only the uneventful and well worn path instead of following that small voice of intuition that whispers and tugs at our hearts to make our own path.

I invited a friend to co-exhibit with me when my turn came up at our local Artists’ Cooperative and threw out some possible titles and we agreed on ‘Wanderings’. Our graphics designer came up with several card/poster designs with maps and one with the star maps of the sky and we selected two of them. I already had a couple of mixed media pieces that contained pieces of maps and tread prints of a couple of pairs of my tennis shoes.

I got very excited at the idea of following the theme and adding more layers and dimensions to an old pair of walking boots that I planned to finger paint and put in the gallery window. I have worn these boots until their inner sole has worn out and they are no longer so comfortable, and along the way, they have led me to interesting places and experiences.

I wanted them to suggest a story to viewers so they could put themselves in those boots and I thought about the symbols that I wanted to include, besides pieces of maps that had been stenciled with letters and decided those boots were made for dancing and wandering off the beaten path.

I printed out their story and put them in the window of the gallery.

They were well received at our exhibit and another artist had the other window display and with wonderful synchronicity, her display was a shoe installation. How perfect!

My granddaughter gave me a pair of go go boots from the 70’s that someone gave to her, and I can see that there will be more painted boots and shoes………..

The shoe and boot installation is by Glenda Rohner.

Originally published at cowbird.com.