Chloe Bolongaro is a Langley-based artist, entrepreneur, and scuba diver pursuing a BASc in Biomedical Engineering at the University of British Columbia. Read on to find out more about this FluevogCreative winning artist in her own words!
Can you tell us a bit about your background as an artist?
Art has always been a hobby of mine and is a fun way to take a break from my engineering studies at UBC. I like to paint and draw to document my travels.. It wasn’t until recently that I started designing more seriously and started my business Rocky Bottom Designs which creates art pieces and patches for scuba divers.
How did you hear about FluevogCreative?
I’m a big Fluevog fan so I get the regular newsletter. When I saw the call for artists I thought it might be fun to do some digital art for once so I started designing right away!
How long have you been Fluevogin’ for?
My close friend Erika introduced me to Fluevogs in December 2022. She had been a fan for quite some time and knew that I’d love the crazy styles. She generously shared the love via a Christmas gift card and I got my first pair — the gold and purple Mini Maple boots. She lives on the other side of the country now and we keep in touch by sending each other the latest cool shoes!
What was the inspiration behind your piece, “Shoes for Sea Life“?
As a scuba diver, the ocean is one of my largest sources of inspiration. I immediately thought of doing something under the sea when I saw the coral colour on the Parada shoe. I love my Fluevogs and think they’re incredibly comfortable so I thought I’d try and represent this by making the shoes into little homes for my sea critters. It’s a play on the idea that the shoes are so special you’ll want to live in them.
Tell us a bit about your creative process.
My creative process is pretty undefined. Once I have an idea in my head that I like, I find the resulting art appears pretty quickly. Sometimes I’ll browse through Pinterest to look at photos from nature and interesting colour combinations to gain inspiration but I found “Shoes for Sea Life“ designed itself!
Apart from art and design, what do you like to do for fun?
When I’m not doing art, I’m typically traveling or scuba diving, preferably both! I love spending time outdoors and exploring new places. You can also expect to find me curled up with a cup of tea drawing new sea creatures and travel patches for my small business!
Check out more of Chloe’s Rocky Bottom Designs travel patches and artwork here!