Kenya Toms

These are some of the most fun, meaningful and surprising Toms I've ever painted!

These Toms were ordered by a sweet friend/client for her sister's birthday gift! This girl LOVES Kenya. I mean like she's been there FOUR TIMES loves it! They feature two phrases in Swahili along with her favorite colors: mint , tiffany blue, and coral!

Then I included two phrases from one of her favorite verses: "I watch in hope for the Lord" and "I wait for God my savior".  Her sister describes her heart for Africa this way....

"She has conceived and helped create a camp she names Camp 53, which stands for Isaiah 53. It's like a foundation camp in Christian faith for the orphans to come together. ... The first Camp 53 will happen during her Christmas break from Tech this year. http://kwoministries.org" 

She also said... "She's got a HUGE heart for missions. She's spoken at a dinner fundraiser in high school, convinced the principal of Lee High School to donate used library books to the orphans, and created a mini-documentary to for an English class in high school to teach others about the work. She also helps with the medical mission trips, and is wanting to go and live in Kenya for some time in the near future..."

What an incredible story! I feel so honored to get to paint Toms for this incredible woman of the Lord who is working hard to love and serve the people in Kenya!

These Swahili phrases mean:

Asante sana: Thank you very much!

Mungu na mwame: God is good!

Isn't that cool? It's the first time I've painted another language on a pair of Toms!

These Toms were surprising because at first I had a totally different vision for them. This sweet, mission hearted girl is also very artsy so I wanted to paint her favorite colors in a "watercolor" style. When I tried to create that look though...it looked like terrible tie-dye! Agh!

So....I painted over my first try with a mix of the mint and tiffany blue as the background in a "paint-y mix" style! After having to re-paint these Toms and being so worried about them....they turned out to be some of my favorite Toms ever!

To express her feelings of Kenya, I decided on some free and joyous paisley swirls! I painted them in coral and added some white for extra depth and movement.I painted the Swahili phrases in the same coral, but added a metallic shadow to help them stand out more.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing and hearing the story behind these Toms as much as I loved painting them!

If you'd like to order a pair of custom painted Toms that tell your story, or as a gift, please visit the PAINTED TOMS link! :) I'm also excited to let ya'll know that I'm now a Toms Affiliate! To find out more about what that means, please visit my "Sponsor Info" page.