The Joggles Shoe Challenge

Everyone owns shoes.  Some of us own several pair while others have collections to rival that of Imelda Marcos.  There are work shoes, play shoes, dance shoes, and more.  Some are high fashion and others strictly utilitarian.  They’re available in all shapes, styles, and colors.

The French say “chaussure”, the Spanish call them “zapato”, and in German they’re “Schuh”.  The Italians say “scarpa”.

No matter what the language, shoes are an integral part of daily life.  What the Joggles Shoe Challenge proposes is to take a shoe, any shoe, and transform it into art.

The guidelines are simple.  You may take one shoe of any style and alter it however you wish.  Perhaps you have a baby shoe from your child’s early years that you wish to embellish.  Or maybe it’s one of those strappy high heeled numbers that looked so good on the manikin but hurt so bad on your feet!  Do you have a sneaker, tennis shoe, or high-top basketball shoe?  If so, then alter it!  Maybe you have a pair of clogs from the 70’s tucked in the back of your closet?  No matter what the shoe is, it’s open to being altered and most welcome as an entry to this challenge.

Your entry must have been created in the last 6 months and cannot have been published in any other commercial publication, either print or online.  That means it cannot have appeared in any magazines, zines, books, etc

Every shoe that is accepted for publication will be professionally photographed and included in a Joggles special publication which I expect to publish in the latter part of 2008.  Here’s a chance to have your art appear in print!

In addition to the juried entries being included in this special publication, I have asked a number of artists whose work I admire to participate on a more extensive basis.  Those folks are not only creating an entry for our challenge, they’re also writing an article with photos, how to’s, techniques, and more.  Their articles and photos will be presented in the publication interspersed with the juried entries.  Here's a list of those artists as of November 1, 2007:

Lenna Andrews, Maureen Blackman, Sue Bleiweiss, Patti Culea, Patricia Dibona, Gail Ellspermann, Sherrill Kahn, Jane LaFazio, Julie McCullough, Adele Scortino, Judy Skeel, Beryl Taylor

Submission guidelines are as follows:

Please complete the Shoe Challenge entry form that is downloadable from the website.  Click here to go to the entry form. Send that form along with your entry to:
 

Joggles.com, LLC – Attention Shoe Challenge

1454 Main Street   Unit 30

West Warwick, RI 02893-3883

Your entry must be postmarked by December 1, 2007.  Be sure to pack your shoe in a sturdy, well padded box.  Avoid choosing Parcel Post if you send your entry via US Mail.  Priority Mail is a bit more expensive but is a quicker service and your best bet.  You may want to track your order for your own peace of mind.

Please INSURE the package.  If your art is damaged when we receive it we will contact you so you cam make a claim with the shipper.

You MUST send a check or money order made payable to Joggles.com for the exact amount of return postage PLUS the cost of insurance.  If you don’t include payment to cover the return postage and insurance we will be unable to return your entry.

Your shoe must have a label on it that includes:

Entry ID (this will be created when you submit the online entry form)

Your full name

Complete mailing address

E-mail address

Phone number

Website URL (if applicable)

Be sure that the tag is securely attached to your shoe!

It is your responsibility to be certain that your shoe does not include any text or images that are protected by copyright.  In the case where you have used a copyright protected image or block of text you must include the appropriate permission documentation from the copyright holder with your shoe submission.

We will publish your name, city, state, email and website URL if your shoe is selected for publication.  If you do not want us to publish this information please indicate that preference on your entry form. 

When you complete the entry form we will also ask that you submit a brief written explanation of the inspiration for your art as well as any instructions you might like to provide.  This information MUST be submitted via a special form at the joggles website.

We reserve the right to edit all submissions for length and clarity.  We reserve the right to hold your shoe in our possession for up to 9 months after we receive it in our offices.

I began work on my shoe weeks ago hoping to have something fantastic to show once I was ready to announce the challenge.  As usual, I have more ideas than time to work on them.  I did get my shoe started, but it's nowhere close to being completed.  I'm going to show you want I've done so far to give you an idea how easy it is...  Just take a shoe and get started!

I'm going to call this "Footloose and Fancy Tree" which is a terrible pun but one that I couldn't resist!  It's an old work shoe with a stack heel that I dug out of the closet.  I knew I'd never wear it again so it seemed like a great place to begin.  The tree is made from aluminum armature wire covered with aluminum foil, more armature wire and then Apoxie Sculpt.  I've not managed to cover all the branches yet, but have gotten a good start so far. 

This was supposed to be a small project so that I could get it done in a reasonable amount of time.  At least that was the plan.  The bloody thing took on a life of it's own however and is about 2 feet tall.  So much for small!

Questions? Comments? Please email barbara@joggles.com

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