Custom Memorial Jordan’s to Remember Tyler: Honoring a Life Through Art
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At the very end of 2024, I received an email from a father who had experienced something unimaginable: the loss of his son, Tyler. He was looking for more than just a pair of custom sneakers. He was searching for a tribute. A memorial. A way to carry his son’s story forward. He wrote, “I looked at other options, but my soul was drawn to you being the artist who could give me the art equal to my son.”
Those words stuck with me in a profound way. It wasn’t just a compliment, it felt like a calling. And I knew right then this commission would be something I poured everything I had into.
The genuine love and understanding was evident in every word Tyler’s dad wrote to me, and it’s really hard to explain, but I felt a very deep connection to the task at hand. Tyler and his family were technically complete strangers to me, but after dozens of emails talking back and forth with his dad, it felt like I had known them for a long time.
Getting to Know Tyler
To begin, I asked his father to send me anything and everything that could help me understand who Tyler was; photos, videos, favorite things, childhood memories, stories from friends and family. What I received was a mosaic of love. From early years to his adult life, I was beginning to understand the depth of who he was and just how deeply not only he was loved, but also how deeply he loved others, too.
I spent the first two weeks just designing and puzzle piecing together the elements of his life to be represented in the most perfect way on the Jordans I’d be painting. There were times I spent an hour staring at one or two portraits, just processing all of the ways I could paint them onto the shoe in the most caring way possible.
I treated the design concept like creating a scrapbook: something that honored Tyler’s life in the most thoughtful and authentic way possible.
A Tribute in Every Detail
This was so far from a typical sneaker project. It wasn’t about style or trends. It was about profound meaning. Every element I included on the shoes, every color choice, every portrait, was chosen for a reason I pondered on for a long time.
From the flow of the artwork to the placement of key memories, I was intentional about telling Tyler’s story in a way that felt personal, powerful, and full of life. His dad had given me complete creative freedom, and with that came a tremendous responsibility. I felt that trust every single day of the five months I spent creating this piece.
When Art Becomes Something Bigger
There are projects that test you. That change you. And this was one of them. I’ve truly never felt more honored to be trusted as the artist to bring a commission to life.
It’s not often I get to see someone open the sneaker box and experience the art I made for them in real time. Most often, I ship off the commission, say a prayer that it speaks to them in the way I intended, and never get to witness the moment it all connects.
Watching Tyler’s family open their box for the first time made me realize that I didn’t actually fully understand what my job was really about until then.
When I started on my art journey six years ago, I thought it was about creating cool things. I was chasing fulfillment, hoping that pouring my energy into art would help me find it. And it did, but not in the way I expected.
I never imagined that sneaker customization would take me into people’s lives like this. That it would place me at the center of stories that are heavy, beautiful, and deeply real. This commission for Tyler reminded me that creating isn’t just a skill, it’s a responsibility. It’s the ability to craft something that can mean everything to someone I may not even know at all. And that weight is something I carry with a newfound sense of pride.
Life is chaotic and heavy and beautiful, sometimes all at once. But it’s moments like these that remind me why I do what I do. They remind me that art is one of the most human things we can offer one another. This one’s for Tyler.