Artful steps


Shoes such as Converse, Vans and Toms come in all sorts of colors, but teenage artist Amber de Wit (17) takes it a step further and creates beautiful designs on these sneakers, using fabric paints, markers and waterproof spray. A student based in Utrecht, the Netherlands, Amber was first inspired by a picture of painted shoes that she saw on Instagram, which she tried out for herself. The feedback she got was so positive that she soon opened her own shop on Etsy, selling personalized custom shoes.

It was something she never expected— she didn’t believe she was particularly good at drawing. “My visual arts teacher once compared a bird I had drawn to a monkey,” she says. “But now that I have more freedom and draw more frequently, I  find myself constantly improving.” Amber works together with the customer to create the design. See her creations and find out more at Amberscustoms.etsy.com.