HARRISBURG, Pa. — A great artist will tell you: If they used their words, there would be no reason for them to paint.
Ryan Stevens takes that to heart, you could say his art "walks the walk" as he uses his love for the game of baseball to transform ordinary pairs of cleats into showpieces that have already been called up to the major leagues.
The work takes place inside an apartment, at a small workplace.
"I try to just layer as much detail as I can in them," Stevens told FOX43. "I like it when someone looks at it and they just, 'Oh I didn't even notice that.' It takes some extra time but I'd rather do that and someone actually really look at it and enjoy it."
His clients like it, love it and wear it.
Stevens, the owner and founder of Nxt Lvl Customs is no stranger to the baseball diamond.
He takes his best cuts on the field for the Central Penn College Knights, while showing his creativity with custom shoe designs that have caught the eye of seemingly everyone around the Phillies clubhouse.
This was noted Easter Sunday, as the broadcast team gushed over Bailey Falter's Easter bunny cleats.
"It was great. It was a blessing. It was kind of a surprise," a smiling Steven said when asked about having John Kruck and Mike Schmidt give him a shout-out, "I wasn't ready for all the followers, comments, phone calls and things like that, but it's been a blessing."
As they say, the devil is in the details- or, in this case, the prep work.
A fresh canvas starts with an acetone wipe down and continues with some elbow grit and tape before any painting with specialized leather paint takes place, as he watches his showpieces come to life.
The process is not quick, but when delivery takes place it makes all the work worth it according to Stevens.
"That's my favorite part of the whole process. Obviously, it's nice to see your hard work and something I stared at for 14 hours, 15 hours, given to a professional baseball player. He enjoys it and that's the best part of the whole process."
Stevens has handed pairs for a league MVP in Andrew McCutchen, and this year he has worked with Phillies shortstop Bryson Stott. Scott's cleats are the ones Stevens is working on during the filming of this story.
He's in the middle of creating four custom holiday sets for Bailey Falter, one of which was those Easter spikes that have us wanting more.
His art is in Major League Baseball, once a dream, now a reality.
"I'm sure that's every kid's dream. I love baseball and this is a way for me to connect and still be in baseball, but maybe not playing it," Stevens told FOX43.
Not playing is what set this venture in motion. While COVID paused most of the world, Ryan's creativity went into overdrive.
"I decided to start my own business, Nxt Lvl Customs, and then started getting customers here and there, that's how it started," he recalled.
He may be in the spotlight but that doesn't change the model, special designs at an affordable price.
Even his teammate requested a masterpiece to honor the armed forces.
(Colby Criswell, Central Penn College Sophomore)
"It's really cool, having a piece of his artwork is definitely crazy to know that he's doing MLB players, and to be one of the first ones is really great," said Central Penn College sophomore Colby Criswell. "Nothing really changes, Ryan will always be Ryan."
Look no further than his own feet to see Ryan's artistic journey...
"I was born in Philadelphia, I have a lot of family in Philly still. So, I wanted to do something where I started where I am now I put Harrisburg Skyline on the other side because obviously, that's where we play on City Island," said Stevens.
The first mock-up is now a distant memory .. with many more masterpieces to come.
"I'm looking forward to the Phillies being in the Little League Classic and Williamsport, so I know we already got some stuff in the works for that," he explained.
To get to the majors, Ryan puts himself in their shoes and so far... every piece has been a home run.