Staying Busy

An Oxford octogenarian transforms ordinary items, including her shoes, into colorful creations.

Written by Leslie Criss  |  Photographed by Joe Worthem

Hicky Crouch is determined to stay busy — she’s the happiest when her hands are not idle. This is nothing new for Crouch: She has never had a desire to just sit and do nothing, even though she’s earned her leisure time. Crouch is, after all, 84, and she shows no signs of slowing down.

The Oxford home she shares with James, her husband of 49 years, and Perry Thomas, a 12-year-old Morkie (a Maltese-Yorkshire Terrier mix), has many of Crouch’s creations on display.

Her paintings provide bright coloring for the walls. Whimsical and painted with bold, primary colors, a bouquet of walking canes fills an umbrella stand near the kitchen. There are her embellished hangers for wedding dresses, marbled wine bottles, flowerpots covered with grout and stones, tile mosaics, painted drinking glasses, velvet pumpkins and Christmas trees embellished with ribbon and pearls.

Just when it seems Crouch has come to the end of her creations, she remembers a box upstairs filled with more handmade Christmas decorations, including ornaments and embellished pinecones.

Before moving to Oxford 22 years ago, Crouch taught second grade. In Oxford, she has served as a substitute teacher.

“When we moved here, I had nothing to do,” she said. “That’s when I started thinking of things I could do to stay busy. My mind just goes all the time — I’m always coming up with ideas of things to make.”

Those who’ve come to know Crouch probably know about her vast collections of ordinary things she has made unique. Still, talk often turns to Crouch’s shoes. Yes, she also paints and embellishes her shoes.

“I have a narrow foot and cannot find shoes that fit me in Oxford,” Crouch said. “I order my shoes.”

The shoe painting can be blamed on a person Crouch saw wearing rolled-up blue jeans with yellow heels.

“I just knew right then and there I had to have some yellow heels,” she said. “So, I painted a pair of shoes bright yellow.”

And then she perfected the craft.

She found a special paint she orders from California to use on her shoes. “But Michael’s carries a paint for leather, too,” she said.

Crouch has learned to order bone-colored or white shoes because the paint will cover the shoes easier. When she gets a pair of new shoes, she preps them for painting by wiping the shoes down with rubbing alcohol. When she’s finished, she sprays the shoes with a sealer.

Her shoes span the spectrum of bright shades of color. There’s a pair of bright orange boots, yellow shoes with large white polka dots, red shoes with big black dots and camo green shoes with black and red dots. And that’s just the beginning.

“I haven’t kept count of my shoes,” she said. “They do wear out, and I can always touch them up. I love to wear boots, and I think I probably wear pink more than anything.”

Some of the shoes are not only painted but also embellished with beads.

“I do all these things for enjoyment,” she said. “The doing is more fun than the finished product. But it’s good to have all this proof that I stay busy.”