Painter takes his skills to fashion design

Little did he know that shopping trips with his fashionable mother would lead to an interest in fashion design. “I didn’t love the shopping — I was a young kid — but subconsciously I began to like fashion. I picked out my own clothes to dress myself. By the seventh grade, I wanted to stand out even more. I thought — what if I designed and made my clothes?” Seals says. So he did just that.

“I had gotten a window art kit for Christmas that had these little bottles of paint, so I started painting my own T-shirt designs,” he says.

His classmates soon asked him to make shirts for them. Then his mother taught him to sew by hand. “I would cut out pieces in felt and stitch them on shirts and jackets, and everyone liked that, too.”

By the time he’d finished high school, he’d earned a scholarship to study fashion design at Columbia College in Chicago. The timing wasn’t right though for Seals to settle in at college. He returned to St. Louis, intending to take time off to do his own thing. “My mother stressed that I should try community college at Florissant Valley. They didn’t have a fashion course, but the art department welcomed me.”

Art on his mind • Seals didn’t settle into art classes right away, but he soon came around.

“The first time I got a good critique in art school I knew I had to take my art seriously. I hadn’t been putting time into my homework. I got one particular assignment, and I went all in on it. The great results from that critique made me feel good about myself and my art. It was a turning point for me.”

Fashion forward • The wakeup call Seals got next came at the opening of the Vibes show he was in at Blank Space gallery. He had spent so much time focusing on his art he hadn’t thought about what he would wear for the opening. “I had bought some paint for shoes that I’d never used, so I broke it out. I grabbed some boots and a T-shirt, painted my logo on the shirt and painted a little design on the boots,” he says.

“When I got to the show, I got more compliments on my outfit than the artwork. I considered myself an artist, but that night I thought maybe there’s more to art than just paint on canvas. I realized I could bring my love for fashion into my art — to go beyond the canvas.”

Step up to the world as canvas • Today, Seals creates in multiple mediums. He participated in Painted Black STL in 2020 to paint murals on boarded-up buildings after the George Floyd protests and continues to paint murals today. He calls his social justice work Artivism, a combination of art and activism. His paintings also liven up electronics from computers and phones to Nintendos and Gameboys.

A shoe-in for art • Seals began painting shoes as a way to keep in step with fashion, but it also put him squarely into sports. Nicholas Coulter, his friend, photographer and public relations person, presented him with an opportunity.

“He came into the studio day and said ‘I’ve got some cleats. You gotta paint these.’ I was just getting comfortable with painting shoes, so I said ‘I can’t. I never did that before.’ Then he said they were for Janoris Jenkins. He was playing for the Rams, and he was my first pro customer. I painted a new pair of cleats for him every week. At the time nobody was wearing custom cleats in the NFL, so I guess we started that big wave in the NFL.”

A future in art • Seals has plans for the future to make art careers relevant in all lives, especially for those who may not have good exposure to it.

“I want to show children that being a successful artist is a thing. When I was young I didn’t know any artists. I would hear about paintings selling for millions, of dollars, but I didn’t know how to even get into art, or how to market and sell it. I want them to know it’s possible to make art for a living,” he says.

In the future, Seals would like to buy a building, a place to showcase his work and the work of other local artists. “I want opportunities for the youth and people interested in making art to get connected; a creative place for all.”