I have given up trying to explain Jamie Melani Marshall shirts to the other members of the household (and not just because some of them are cats). Boots shirts are a show not tell experience. If I say, well, there’s a depiction of an apocalypse by nuclear holocaust promoting apathy but it’s FUNNY, you may look at me oddly. If I wander into your view wearing this, I hope you’ll find yourself sneaking a grin, because I will be.
The Boots style is individual enough to spot in a thumbnail, clever enough to make you work for your laugh, and strange enough that you find yourself occasionally having that laugh at cruel things.
Or kind things, but kind in a cute but acerbic way that means you can promote a positive message without losing any street cred you may have acquired pre Boots. More rarely, she opts for quirkily cute and optimistic, like the Three-Step Plan available here at Tilteed.
Boots’ art has also appeared on album covers. My favorite is the unwound cassette tape holding together a broken heart for The Toolshed Massacre. I like simple but effective, Boots has a knack.
Subversive, acerbic, surprising, proficient, terribly and terrifyingly clever, Boots is one of my favorite artists for these qualities (and a few intangibles), but what I really adore is her humor, which gives me new things to laugh at. And is a little scary. That mix defines her style. Layering the Boots’ perspective over your own is a curious yet charming experiment. Try it.
