The deck above is one of the first releases from Walk with Queens. All the boards are laser engraved and limited edition works of art. Only 100 of each board will be made.
I had the opportunity to interview the founder, Reese Striker, to find out more about his project.
What was the thought behind Walk with Queens?
I love art, I love women, and I love history and I wanted to do something that combined all three elements in a way that I felt like wasn’t exploitative.
Why are queens symbolic to you?
Royalty is fascinating to me. To me royalty is a mindset.
A queen to me is someone who keeps moving forward, Gets knocked down and chooses to get back up.
Queens are the personification of that mindset.
The first 3 decks are Cleopatra, Lady Masai & Lady India. Cleopatra was a real queen are the Ladies representative of strong women or is each a historical figure?
I like to leave it open for each particular design we do. Sometimes the specific person or time period. Each design is a mix of our interest in history but also contains something contemporary.
Who designs of the Queens?
All of the designs really are a mix from both male & female artists. We want the woman on our boards to speak to you. She comes first no matter who designs her.
How long does a deck typically take to make?
Engraving just one our designs can take between 5 to 6 hours depending on the amount of detail. We make each deck in small runs. We never want to be the people making mass produced trash for the money. It’s all about the art.
Currently you sell decks & tattoos are there plans for clothing or?
A clothing line would be great to have or even a collaboration with one. We’re always looking to spread what we do and are down to work with other artist. If people are feeling us we’ll expand.
The decks are pieces of art – do you envision them actually being skated?
I’ve never been tempted to skate one myself. We make them with wall art in mind, but if anyone wants to try send us the video!.
Each deck will be limited edition, does the next queen come when one of the first sell out or how will they be released?
Yep! It cost a us a good bit to make the boards so we try to space out releases so we’ll drop something new when we move what we have.
What designs are next?
We’re currently working on a Bedouin inspired design which we were fortunate enough to work with a guy that spent time with some Bedouin women while in the military. Its’ partly inspired by our readings, reference images and our actor crush “Melia Kreiling” who played such a beautiful performance as a Bedouin woman in the TV show Tyrant.
How can people get in contact with you?
You can always hit us up on our official site walkwithqueens.com or social media Instagram/FB/Twitter @walkwithqueens
Thank you! I absolutely love queens being shown as an empowered woman. Empowered women definitely keep moving forward and always get back up!