Well-Heeled Series

(20" x 24" oil on canvas)

Cowan says, "Anything can inspire me. When I was painting The First Lady of the Philippines Imelda Marcos, I noticed she always wore exquisite shoes and a different pair every time we met. When she was a little girl, she grew up very poor and shoeless. Shoes became very important to her. When she became the First Lady, she told the story of growing up without shoes to the Filipino school children, and from then on, children from around the world started sending her shoes. She ended up with thousands of shoes. And, she would always pick up several pair while traveling. I realized ladies shoes can almost be an art medium. They are wild and very artistic. So, lately when I've been meeting with my portrait clients, I've asked them to bring out their favorite and most interesting shoes in their collection. Some were psychedelic from the sixties with high platforms; others were elegant with leopard skin and four inch heels. So now, I am painting shoes in a contemporary format with vibrant background colors. The clients and art dealers that have seen them have flipped out over the paintings. They are certainly fun, and I've heard extraordinary."

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