What is your company name?
Electric Heels (formerly Electric Paintbrush.)
What is your line of business?
Hand painted shoe customisation of the highest standard!
How and why the company begin?
I wanted to hand paint my own wedding shoes, so I bought a ‘practice’ pair and uploaded work in progress pictures on my artwork Facebook page. The response was phenomenal and it all started from there. I now work in partnership with my brother who is also an artist.
Tell us a little about your wedding….
I just got married last week April 5TH! We had a small Las Vegas wedding, just me and my husband, our 2 sons and my sister and my brother in law. We married at the Chapel of the Flowers and had an amazing day, everyone loved my ‘Las Vegas’ themed wedding shoes. We wanted somewhere relaxed and fun for the meal afterwards, so ate at Bubba Gumps on the balcony overlooking the strip. Brilliant and stress free, I would recommend it to anyone. We were inundated with ‘congratulations’ from the Americans, such friendly people!
Why do brides come to you?
I think brides are getting more adventurous with theme and wedding ideas. They come to us wanted something totally unique and personal to them, shoes are a total blank canvas and we can paint them to match the required theme perfectly. Also, they are a fashion investment as they can be worn after the wedding, I’ve already worn my Vegas pair again I love them. Word of mouth and support for us has been fantastic and I am very grateful, we get a lot of referrals from friends of friends.
What is your favourite design and why?
Difficult question! Both my brother and I are perfectionists, and as artists spend hours scrutinising and studying the work to get it right, I fall in love with every pair I paint and seem to think that the latest pair is the best as I feel I improve artistically with each one.
What is the most popular item you supply and why?
We get a lot of Disney requests and have now stopped accepting them, purely for copyright reasons. What started as a bit of a hobby is now my profession and I want to do things right. I have honoured a couple more orders that were booked initially but turn down all Disney now. The more finished shoes that we showcase enables customers to think outside the box and request non branded designs and fresh ideas.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
It’s a cliché but I was and still am a massive Disney fan, I used to spend hours copying the artworks when I was young. This is where my interest in art started, but for the shoes now I get inspired by the quirky fashion that is out there. I personally like tattoo culture and anything gothic or fantasy and that bit different. My time at the moment is booked up with customer requests so I have not been able to showcase anything from this personal genre.
What is in store for you in 2013/14?
We are currently working on a shoe dedicated website to enable customers to access any info about our services that they need. We would also like to produce more ‘one off’ pairs painted in our own styles and to release these regularly.
Who would be your dream client, and what sort of design would you envisage for them?
Again going back to the tattoo theme, I am a massive Kat Von D fan both as an artist and as a style icon. I’d love to do her a pair! Think I would opt away from the obvious though and paint her something personal to her, rather than a cultural pair.
What would be your top tips for brides when searching for a supplier in your industry?
Shop around and do your research for customer service and a quality product. Cheaper isn’t always the best option, good artwork takes time and this will obviously impact the price. As does the use of specialist, professional paints and materials.If you shop around a bit the good stuff always stands out.
Tell us something super interesting about you or your business that we wouldn’t already know…?
The brother I work with is actually my twin, David. We have very similar painting styles and give each other constructive criticism. I don’t like to see his in progress works, I like the wow factor of seeing a finished pair so he doesn’t send me any images until I see them for real when they are ready.
Where are you based and where can you supply?
We are based near Wigan in the North West and have had customers from all over the globe.
How can I get in touch to discuss my requirements or place an order?
We prefer email rather than the telephone, purely because we spend most of the day painting and as an artist, if you have mixed a specific colour it’s important to get it on the artwork before it dries and interruptions can hinder the process. You are welcome to leave us your number however and we can call back when we are free.
We can be contacted via email (currently under my old business name)
Or through Facebook
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