2021 Lil’ Feet Boot & Art Auction

Nothing Else Matters Boot Project
Lil Feet of SLC Charity Event, 2021

Boot donated from the SLC Fire Department

I’m ecstatic to be back involved in the arts community of Fort Pierce! Not since 2018 have I participated in the SLC Lil’ Feet Boots & Art Auction, but I’m back and vibrant as ever. This year’s theme is a masquerade, scheduled to take place on Thursday, October 21 at The River Walk in downtown Fort Pierce. Tickets to the event are $35/person or $60/couple. Please email Brenda Stokes to make your reservations ASAP.

Although the masquerade theme is very inspiring on its own, I took a different direction with my boot this year. Despite the years of inactivity, I’ve grown as an artist, a designer, and a human being. While most of my artwork reflects a memento mori theme, I’m attempting to bring more positivity to that. Not an easy feat, but a shift in focus makes it possible. For example, the proverb of seeing the glass as half empty or half full. If you shift the focus from the glass completely, you simply have water. Because the glass is in the picture, and the quantity is relative to its own characteristics, it’s easy to you lose sight of what’s important – life. Everything else is a distraction.

“Nothing Else Matters” Boot Inspiration

I wasn’t always a Metallica fan. In fact, I despised heavy metal and alternative rock until I was 15-years-old. It was during a tragic loss of an important and deep seated friendship that I became open minded to bands like Linkin Park and Metallica. The song, Nothing Else Matters was one of the first by Metallica that I was introduced to by my mom in an attempt to help me heal.

I’ve had this boot since June of this year, but it was in late-July that I saw a familiar face unexpectedly in the midst of a family emergency. This year would mark 19-years since he’d been in this house. I can’t say I ever truly healed from that wound. Certainly some scars fade with time and some seem forever fresh. When I looked into his eyes, I knew who he was, and I was unprepared.

Life can be so unfair sometimes. When paths cross and separate, some are able to carry on apathetically, while others of us keep the memories alive and burn all the while doing so.

It was because of that chance encounter, those resurrected feelings, and my attempts to stay positive that I found inspiration to create this boot design.

From Sketch to Reality

Typically I go through several sketches before I land an idea I like. This time, it was clear to me. One sketch became reality within 3-days. I was just that motivated.

The Burning Sacred Heart of Compassion

I may burn, but I’m in good company. People from all over the world admire and respect the greatest of human beings that also suffered for their beliefs and their compassion towards others. We strive to be like them, often adhering with great zeal to the dogma, but we miss the greatest achievement of those individuals – continued love and respect for everyone.

Upon all of my visits to Mexico, I’ve seen the symbol of the Sacred Hart everywhere. It’s such a beautiful symbol, and it makes its way into my artwork without my own awareness. Originally, this symbol was revealed in a vision to a French nun, Margaret Mary Alacoque. It has since become forever connected to Christianity as a symbol of “God’s boundless and passionate love for mankind”.

The Winged Heart of Transcendence

Sometimes partnered with the Sacred Heart, I find a winged heart, though rarely ever integrated. The winged heart is a symbol we may associate with Valentine’s day or tattoos, but with a little more thought it has the potential to represent so much more.

“…the winged heart represents the freedom to love, to feel, to courageously rise above the mundane and reach full potential. It is a sign of joyful optimism and a representation of the free spirit.”

Cristina McAllister

Together, We Ascend

I decided to merge the Sacred Heart and winged heart symbols together to symbolize the ascension of compassion. Here, the two are the epitome of love. It’s not enough to recognize compassion, one must act with it. In this piece, tiny hearts radiate and draw near the great, winged Sacred Heart. These represent those inspired by compassionate acts.

The heart touches down and forms the iconic golden radiance typically pictured behind the Sacred Heart. The rest of the boot is light and like air. Compassion and love give us something solid to stand on.

Let Love Be Your Guide

If nothing else, may love and compassion guide your actions and interactions with others in this world. We may differ in beliefs, choices, and motivations, but we all love somebody. We all suffer loss of somebody. Make the world a little better with your love, please.