Perfection v. Distressed

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Today I am off to finish painting some thrift shop cowboy boots. I found these boots and thought they had potential to be turned into a wearable work of art. Unfortunately I didn’t snap a picture before I sanded and primed them. So, these pictures show stages 2 and stage 3. I hope to show them to you finished tonight. I want them to look like they were originally this color, but that they’ve been worn for many years. I like everything distressed. Things too new and polished up make me a little nervous.

Here is the best example of this. When my son was three, I landed in South Dakota and he needed sneakers. My brother in law, George picked us up and we went to the mall to get him some shoes. I put new Adidas sneaks on him and they were just too white and clean for me. I had to rub dirt on them and scuff them up to look like he had worn them for a while. My family found this pretty weird. It is interesting how we are hard wired this way. Maybe it is like Coke v. Pepsi. Chevy v. Ford etc. It might be the same reason I really like scars and other imperfections. What is your preference?

St. Pergrine & my favorite cowboy boots

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I bet you are wondering why I think these two items are related? It is simple they are two of my favorite possessions. I found the statue of St. Peregrine at a yard sale years ago. I did however recently learn that St. Peregrine is the Patron Saint of Cancer Patients. I was not raised Catholic, but I am a big fan of the Saints. The boots belonged to my son, Ellis at the age of 10 until he grew out of them at 10 and a half. I have worn them ever since. They are so broken in I never want to take them off and they remind of my roots in South Dakota. I may have only done a 4-H rodeo stuff for a little while when I was in middle school, but the spirit of the west is part of the topography of my soul. These boots are much more than footwear for me.