Monster Campus

As the orange red sun slowly descended into the diminishing horizon, melting slowly into dusk, I ran to our roof top with my dad's camera phone to photograph the new addition to my personalized shoes collection. Monster Campus. This new pair actually hails from several different visual and auditory light bulbs in my head - but for most part, I got my inspirations from two songs shared to me by a dear friend: Matchbook Romance's Monsters and Vampire Weekend's Campus. I do like to acknowledge that the look was also helped by my brain-dead staring at the Globe Tattoo flyer I found in one my shopping bags.


This is the fourth pair I've designed and the third to be added to the collection. The other pairs I've designed are: Butterfly, #2 and Rhapsody in Green.


Like Rhapsody in Green, this pair was completed at the Manila Memorial Cemetery in Cavite last Sunday, December 27, 2009. Though thematically, the shoe's idea does not seem relevant; it is another tribute to my grandmother who, with her own little way of communicating to us, patiently waited for me to complete this artwork before permitting us to go back home. This can be attested by my dad, who blamed me for our late return, but on the other hand, as my grandfather had also pointed out, I can still experience how much my grandmother loves me, despite her physical absence.

Assessing my shoe collection, I noticed a growth in my style as I begin to incorporate and play with more colors. I've never really been a fan of color, and would sometimes think of them as unnecessary clutter. Curiously, as I progress I find that color helps to enhance images and add contrast when used properly. I won't be delving too much on the artistic aspect of the pair, but all in all I believe
there is still much for me to learn and experience, I am just at the tip of what could still be accomplished in this hobby.

My friend sent me an SMS earlier saying, "Art is never perfected, only mastered." Surely, there is still a long road to be explored.

To see more photos of Monster Campus, click here.