Boot Collaboration with Saboteuse Bespoke

A couple of years ago, Sarah Guerin of Saboteuse Bespoke reached out to me with what felt like an unusual request. She wanted to see if I would be interested in collaborating with her on a pair of cowboy boots. Cowboy boots? Did she have the right artist? We met in person to discuss more, and I quickly got excited about the project through Sarah's infectious passion for the fascinating art of hand-crafted western-style boots. Each pair of Sarah's boots are meticulously made by hand and take over 100 hours to complete. The complex designs are steeped in tradition and craft, and Sarah's work infuses her contemporary viewpoint into each pair while respecting the history of this uniquely American art form. She left me with some of the paper templates she uses to create her designs, and I got to work on some sketches that could potentially be turned into the shaft of the boot.

Fast forward to now, and Sarah has turned one of my designs into a boot! The purpose of the project is educational, as she has created the boot at each stage of construction to show the process. She's now bringing this project to be displayed at the Smithsonian Craft Fair! 

I got to visit Sarah in her "ten-footer" studio (a 10'x10' structure in her backyard, overlooking her garden and scenic conservation land) to see the project just before she left for the show. What a treat to see my designs interpreted this way and to get a glimpse into the process. Definitely check out Sarah's Instagram account, where she posts lots of videos of her process and her beautiful work.