Mark Schwartz - Shoes as Idea

Sure, Mark Schwartz is Oprah's favorite shoe designer. Of course he worked with Vivier and hung with Warhol. And yeah, he's designed footwear for Ralph and Calvin. But take away his twenty year design career and his impressive list of one-name friends and what have you got? Well, you have one world-class artist, for starters.

Not quite by design, Mark's art career seemingly started out of simple practicality. He opens his New York boutique. The walls are blank. He hangs his own sketches to fill the void. Clients begin buying right off the walls. Presto! Art career!

However, it might not have been quite that simple. One look at his paintings and it seems a lot more like a natural progression is taking place rather than a happy accident.

Brilliant paintings of shoes and boots are likely a result of years of intricate design work. Colorful and vivid images mix with stark monochrome to form a wonderful collection of work that will thrill art lovers and probably kill the shoe-obsessed.

The footwear in Mark's paintings, despite being two-dimensional works of inanimate objects, seem to be dancing, tapping and standing proudly without any human intervention whatsoever. Shoes that begged to be released from the structured existence of a design house and longed to be set free in a world of brushstrokes and oversized frames.

In a word, mesmerizing.

Stop by Mark's appropriately titled web site "Shoes As Idea," where you can find Mark's artwork dramatically displayed as single images as well as on the walls of contemporary settings. It should definitely be your next stop in your web travels.

Just in case you are worried that Mark's art endeavors spell an end to his shoe-designing days, never fear. He continues his illustrious career in footwear design with a focus on European clients. Of course, if across the pond, they are getting Mark's shoe designs as well as his artwork, maybe we should all be booking our next holiday somewhere in the EU.

Learn more about Mark's art at Shoes as Idea, or visit one of his other sites for more information.

• Mark's Blog