We recently connected with Jim Sherwood and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Jim, thanks for joining us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
When we first started The Canvas Project, I had never painted anything before in my life.
We had a team of artists, and my job was to come up with concepts, figure out what sneakers would go best with those concepts, and help get us clients.
After about a year, one of our top artists took a break, and it led to me picking up a paintbrush myself.
The third pair of shoes that I painted ended up going viral, and then being purchased by legendary Hip-Hop Artist T.I.
The rest is history, and I am now the only custom sneaker artist on the Canvas team.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
The Canvas Project is an Art & Lifestyle brand that supports art in education, with a focus in technology. We’re mostly known for our 1 of 1, hand-painted custom sneakers.
As a long time “sneakerhead” myself, around 2015, I started getting into Instagram and connecting with a lot of people from the sneaker community.
I eventually stumbled across a few artists that were customizing sneakers and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. I felt I could start a company around it with my knowledge of that world, and add our own twist.
Fast forward 7 years, we’ve been able to work with clients such as the Phoenix Suns, Nike, the American Cancer Society, Florida A&M, Boys & Girls Clubs of America and more.
Evolving into a brand that does more than just paint sneakers, some may ask, what does Canvas do?
-We create very unique custom sneakers for clients and businesses looking to showcase their brand or organization in a special way.
-We work with youth in the community, organizing and running programs focused around art, entrepreneurship, and technology.
-We consult, do public speaking, and host events centered around Web3 & Blockchain Technology.
We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)
I think NFTs are awesome, and to be honest they’ve changed our business, the identity of our business, and even how we do business.
The best part about NFTs are the community, and the connections you make in the space. In 2022, The Canvas Project decided to create a company Crypto wallet. From there, we started joining joining multiple NFT communities.
Luckily we joined some solid communities, but either way we’re glad we made the shift.
We’ve also attended 2 events in the last year (Art Basel & NFT NYC) that has allowed us to connect with more people working towards similar goals as Canvas.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
I didn’t become an artist until my 30’s. As an ex-college basketball player, for a large part of my life basketball was the main focus.
When college basketball was over, I struggled for some time, really trying figure out what direction I wanted to take my professional career in.
After 8+ years of working at companies like Apple, Aflac & AT&T I still felt like something was missing. I felt like I wasn’t giving back to my community enough, so that’s why I started The Canvas Project.
Our goal is to show the youth creativity is key. Try everything when you’re young, not just sports. The more skills you have, later on in life, the better off you’ll be.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thecanvasprojectshop.com/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/canvasco.shop?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA==
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/canvasco.shop?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thecanvasproject/
- Twitter: https://x.com/canvasco_shop?s=21&t=sJjTZYFiIK-fuVdZC-AK6w