Month: September 2024

Converse

Diana Bennett | Artist | Interior Designer | Cook, , , 3 Comments

Are Converse Tennis shoes once again back in style? I have always love low-topped Converse. I personally own about twenty pair. I used to own more, but my shoe size changed and I had to start over. I miss my Christmas Plaid Converse, that I have not been able to replace. I wear my Converse all the time. I work out two days a week with a trainer and they are perfect for that! I decided since I love them I should paint them. Shouldn’t we always paint things that we love?

I started with the red pair since I wear my red ones a lot. Next I did a yellow pair:

These are all small at about 6″ x 6″. They don’t take long to paint, except trying to get the laces to look like they are in the right place. One of high school friends saw that I was painting Converse, and since her husband always wore them to play basketball in the 1960’s she commissioned white ones for Father’s Day.

I painted them in an 8 x 8 inch format and luckily finished them in time and mailed them off to a very happy client and friend.

I liked the White Converse so much I did a second rendition of them just for fun.

I felt they turned out well! Then I got busy with requests from friends, and I did a few Art/Craft shows, which I decided in the area where I live was a total waste of time financially. I did meet some very interesting people and had fun, but not enough to do it again. Now I own nine panels and a new Easy Up Tent. Oh well.

Converse has an interesting history. Coverse was founded way back in 1908 in Malden, Massachusetts.The founder, Marquis Mills Converse, was a manager at a footwear company before starting the Converse Rubber Shoe CompanyIt wasn’t until the following year that the first Converse shoes were introduced, on April 30, 1909.

In 1941, the U.S. entered World War II, and Converse was the official shoe used by the U.S. military.The Converse star rapidly grew to become a patriotic symbol, with troops wearing white high tops while training. Nike had taken an interest in Converse for some time, and in July 2003, they snagged the company for themselves.Not that it came cheap, though – purchasing Converse cost Nike $309 million! One of Nike’s first moves after the acquisition was to bring back the popular 1970s-style Converse. That’s what Nike claimed in 2012 when they made $450 million in sales just from Chucks. Overall, more than a staggering one billion pairs of Converse have been sold since the company was founded in 1908.

Everyone remembers Sylvester Stallone in Rocky, famously running up outdoor stairs. I bet a few of you will have noticed him sporting a pair of Converse for these runs. They have no arch or ankle support. It turns out that in 1970, Converse was seen as a serious athletic shoe before typical thin canvas sneakers came about. On March 2, 1962, Philadelphia Warriors smashed the New York Nicks thanks to Chamberlain’s 100-point lead, all while wearing a pair of Chuck Taylors All-Stars – the most popular athletic shoe at the time. The actual design of the shoe hasn’t changed since 1949, and the design of the bottom of the shoe has remained the same, incredibly, since 1923!This indeed shows just how timeless Converse truly is.

Basketball legend Michael Jordan’s Olympic debut was in 1984, in which he bagged himself his first-ever Olympic Gold Medal.Through the Games, he wore a pair of Converse Fastbreak Mids, a shoe that is mostly worn by skaters today.Fast forward to 2017, and those very same Converse sold at auction for over an eye-watering $190,000.

Converse enlisted the Harlem Globetrotters, an American basketball team known for their acrobatics and tricks, to help design its new Chuck Taylor All-Star shoe. The team chopped off the sneakers’ tops, creating low-cut versions. The players then ran around in these prototypes and tested them out on the court before giving feedback to the designers on how to refine the shape of the low-top collar. This trial and error process led to the design of Converse’s Chuck Taylor All-Star ‘Ox’ – short for ‘Oxford Cut’ – in 1957.

And there you have it, folks! Converse has proven itself to be more than just a shoe – it’s a cultural phenomenon. From its pivotal role in history to its timeless design, Converse has left an indelible mark. So, next time you rock your Chucks, remember the rich heritage they carry. Stay stylish, stay timeless, and keep walking with Converse.

I was on a plane coming back from Cabo a couple months ago, and looked down and the other two people on the plane had on black Converse, just like mine! Wish I would have taken a photo.

Converse

Urban Sketching

Diana Bennett | Artist | Interior Designer | Cook, , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Urban sketching means so many different things to different people. I love to sketch when I travel or when I waiting for something, and when I was working on my Ph.D I would sketch whatever was on the table. I thought no one was watching, but I found out later that was not quite correct. My classmates were always curious as to what caught my eye.

Sitting on the beach in Cabo San Lucas I used pen and ink and gouache to have fun painting the locals.

On this one in Puerto Vallarta I used watercolor and gouache and pen to capture the surf. I find it very relaxing.

The men at the Taco Stand was fun to sketch using pen & ink, and watercolor. You can tell I often use a small 6″ architects ruler to get straight lines.

On a cruise we took this last year, while the boat was at sea, I would often just find a spot and sketch people or furniture.

There are so many things to choose from and so many different art supplies you can choose from. When doing quick sketches I tend to stick to just pen & ink, so I don’t have to carry around a lot of “stuff”.

If I have an afternoon free, then I carry more equipment and spend more time on the drawing/sketch. This was done sitting in the shade by the swimming pool, having a Margarita using pen & ink and gouache. I like gouache as it gives you more depth than water color, and you can paint over mistakes. I find it fun to mix with watercolor for a softened effect.

I don’t take my sketches serious, but I do try to get the drawing right, or enough off that it is just fun.

This is the fountain overlooking the water at Lindo Mar in Puerto Vallarta.

i’ve sold a few sketches, but mostly give them away after I photograph them, so do not have a book of sketches per se.

Urban Sketching

Off to the Fair

Diana Bennett | Artist | Interior Designer | CookLeave a comment

How many of you have ever entered artwork in a local fair? I never had, until today. It will be interesting to see if any of the seven that I submitted are accepted. You always take a chance when entering a competion, as you have to pay for every entry and never know if any of them will be accepted. But I guess you have to start somewhere. Not knowing what they might want I entered seven different ones with a variety of styles.

First I decided it might be fun to enter a couple of carefree abstracts, so I entered this 21 x 20 inch abstract and a 7 x 5 inch abstract shown below.

Then I decided I might like to enter a couple of my art pieces that are commentary on today’s culture. Everywhere you go people are on their cell-phones. They are oblivious to the people around them, to the beautiful nature around them, to life around them and I think they are missing so much of what life has to offer.

The first photo I took at Domaine Carneros where we were champage tasting. This couple had maybe tasted the champagne, as their glasses were empty. Their conversation was empty, as they were so absorbed in their cell phones, they did not know the other person existed.

The second photo I took in the main square in Florence. Even grandpa was on his phone and not having any conversation with his grandchildren. This started to happen when my husband and I took his granddaughter to breakfast at her school. One of his friends wanted to borrow his power washer and he thought it was more important to take care of that on his phone than to interact with his granddaughter. I pointed out that no one else there was on their phone, and this should be Grandfather/Granddaughter time. He put it away, and we had a wonderful morning.

Since the Sutter Buttes are close to Sacramento and they are the smallest mountain range in the world, I thought it might be fun to enter them in the contest.

So, it will be interesting to see what happens, and if they like anything I submitted. Please let me if have any experience with this.

So only one was accepted into the Cal-Expo and it is 5″ x 7″. I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to drive to Sacramento to deliver it, as I knew it would be lost in the crowd, and it was. No prizes for me.

Good Lesson: Do not enter a painting so small, it does not command attention!

Off to the Fair

Comment on Our Culture

Diana Bennett | Artist | Interior Designer | Cook, , , , , , , Leave a comment

What is the most important thing in your life? It should be family, friends, your job, your health, and maybe anything that makes you feel happy and brings joy to your life. Have you thought about what it should not be? Boy, I have, because I see it happening everywhere. Have we become a society more interested in what is happening on our cell phones than what is happening around us? Everywhere I travel I see people more attached to their cell phones than attune to to who or what is happening around them. Are they/you missing out on conversations with family and friends? Are they/you texting and not talking?

One beautiful afternoon in Napa my husband and I were enjoying each other’s company while tasting sparkling wine at a lovely winery. We enjoyed several varieties of sparkling wine with a perfectly prepared charcuterie board. As I looked to take pleasure in enjoying the surrounding scenery at Domaine Carneros I could not help but notice the couple sitting out on the balcony in front of us. They were not talking to each other, not enjoying the setting and not even tasting the sparkling wine or nibbling from the charcuterie board. They were tied to/attached to their individual cell phones, ignoring each other and the surroundings. I thought to myself as I looked over at them they were ruining a perfectly wonderful afternoon.

When I am out and about I try to always take in what is around me, and enjoy the company of the person or people I’m with. It is true, that I might quickly bring out my cell phone to take a photo of something I think might make a fun painting or a good reference for part of a painting, but I would never of thought of spending that much time on my cell phone. But in truth I do have to add that I do not always get texts back right away or return emails as promptly as other people I know. I have been known to turn off the sound on my phone and forget to turn it back on for quite a while. Maybe I should check it a little more often for at least a brief moment.

Seeing this “Cell Phone  Phenomena”, I decided to paint a series of paintings honoring (ha ha) what part of our lifestyle seems to becoming.

From this photo, I painted my first commentary. It is only an 8 x 10, but I think you get the message?

In the winter of the year, we took a Viking Cruise throughout Europe, and one day in Barcelona I captured this family, which looked to be a grandfather and his grandchildren. I wonder what they will remember about the day? Grandpa was so busy reading the news, watching sports or playing a game he did not have time to have fun with them?

I am never going to be a grandmother that interacts or in this case does not interact and enjoy my granddaughter. I hope you do not relate to the three people in this photo.

I was showing my work at a street fair (that will be a whole other blog) a week or so ago, and looked across the street and captured this photo:

So I haven’t painted this one yet, but I see it coming soon. What do you think?

Comment on Our Culture