Whales of New Orleans Pt. 1 - Storyland Pinocchio's Whale Shoe

Drawing inspiration from some fish shoes I bookmarked on Pinterest (mostly Robert Tabor/Sole Sensations for the head and Charlotte Olympia for the tail - see here, here, here and here), I'm doing a little trio of New Orleans whale themed shoes for 2016 - Pinocchio's Whale from Storyland, Baccha-Whoppa, and Gillium.

Here's the first in the series, Pinocchio's Whale!

I have very fond memories of a childhood spent at Storyland and the whale was always on my agenda when we visited. When I was really little, making it across the stepping stones and into the belly of the whale made me feel very brave and adventurous.

Comparison of the finished shoe with the inspiration.

2016 on the tail

Close up of the eye with lashes and eyebrow

View from the front (mouth still needs teeth and a tongue)

Side view "Muses"

I shaped the head and tail out of felt, which I then stiffened with glue. The lips are tubey loops and the eyes are a foam sphere cut in half. Obviously, some proportions got a little altered as the whale was being reinterpreted as a shoe: I didn't want it to just be a glittered mini-replica of the whale, I thought it should look like something you could still get your foot into. I also wanted to make it a little more whale-like, while still preserving the sort of Old World whale aesthetic of the original, where it kind of looks like a big fishy sea monster (like so). I made the tail a little more accurate in it's shaping, but kept the fish-like orientation (it should be perpendicular to the whales body rather than in line with it). I also kept the big fish lips and the bulging eyes. I may cut the tail down a little, I'm still thinking about it.

All the glitter on this one is Martha Stewart. The main body of the whale is Martha Stewart "lapis lazuli." The lips and lettering ("Muses" on one side, "2016" on the tail) are Martha Stewart "blue topaz" and the black is, I'm pretty sure, MS "onyx." The base and heel are Martha Stewart "aquamarine" (I was going for grass) and the interior is Martha Stewart "kunzite." There are red tubey loop ridges on the inside of the mouth, but the mouth still needs teeth and a red tongue.

Finally, I finished with a bunch of blue rhinestones of all different sizes to look like barnacles (inspired by Baccha-Whoppa)- it gave it some texture and a little more pizzazz.

Baccha-Whoppa is currently being glittered, and Gillium is shaped but painting and sparkling hasn't started yet. So the other two will be along shortly, and then I'll have quite the little pod ready to throw in 2016! I'm also doing some other City Park/Storyland Shoes, but they're still in the design phase so I'll keep them secret for now.

PS- This shoe went on Instagram before it went up here, so if you have a burning desire to see my shoes at the absolute earliest possible moment, but can't come visit me in Memphis, may I suggest you follow me there?