Artists paint on many different things from walls to canvases, but for one Macon artist his canvas is shoes.
Junior Journalist Anastacia Del Rio introduces you to Elijah Rutland, whose hobby turned into a business.
“I had always like to draw and paint. I started just doing it on pencil and paper,” says Rutland.
But, Elijah wanted more of a challenge.
“I had always been interested in sneakers, and so it kind of just shifted from one canvas to another,” says Rutland.
According to Elijah's dad Charles, he got off to a rough start.
“His first shoe was pretty rough; pretty ugly quite honestly,” says Charles.
His son kept working though.
Soon, because of social media, others started to take notice.
“I've been getting like more and more orders for shoes and in much higher demand,” says Rutland.
His work became so popular, Jacquard Products gave him a call.
“They began to see his work on the internet. They liked it, and he connected with them and they offered him a sponsorship,” says Charles.
Del Rio asked Rutland about his aspirations.
“My real end goal is to have my own buy, sell, and trade consignment shoe store and it would also be a way for me to keep doing custom shoes, and the shop could be a pick-up and drop-off location,” says Rutland.
As you can see, he's painted many pairs of shoes, but he doesn't only do tennis shoes. Rutland also does women's shoes like high heels.
For more information, you can find him on Instagram @fixmysole, on Facebook by searching Fix My Sole.
You can also call him at 478-974-6043 or email him at fixmysole99@gmail.com.