Baltimore artist John Marra couldn't quite believe it when mommy blogger Dooce went online last month to rave about his custom sneakers.

It's something special to get a mention from one of the most influential bloggers in the country. But when she calls your work "genius," it's cause for celebration - to say nothing of increased orders.

"It was totally, totally unexpected," says Marra, who works behind the name [real_bot]. "I don't even have business cards!"

Marra, who is 25, lives in a shared house near Charles Village and makes ends meet by waiting tables at Donna's and giving art lessons to at-risk children through the Art with a Heart program.

He has also lent his illustrations for the Web site Green Eyed Monster, which also sells two canvas bags that he designed.

Around Baltimore, people might be more familiar with his work decorating walls and pillars. There's the huge mural he contributed to in Fells Point on the side of the Bank of America building. And his unmistakable style brightens a pillar under the Jones Falls Expressway where the downtown farmers' market sets up on seasonal Sundays.

His signature look is a collision of cartooning and graffiti. Brightly colored monsters are his trademark, but he prefers his creatures to be of the cute, cheerful variety.

"I think there's something really wonderfully playful and smart about John's work," says Ashley Ulmer, who runs Green Eyed Monster with her sister and was Marra's resident hall adviser at Goucher College. "There's something very endearing about what he does."

Marra hopes to propel the Dooce buzz about his custom accessories into a steadier paycheck.

He got blogger Heather B. Armstrong's attention in January when he sent her a pair of shoes for her baby, Marlo. She fell for the tennies, which he painted with clouds and flying hippos. The blogger has a well-known affection for hippos.

Armstrong sent him back a postcard of thanks, but didn't mention that she'd soon be blogging about his work.

After the late-February mention, Marra has seen steady orders for the shoes - which cost $150 for adult pairs, $80 for children's sizes and $50 for baby pairs. The Green Eyed Monster site handles his sales.

A woman from Arizona wanted a pair with a design that included each of her three grandchildren. A mom in Philadelphia wanted a pair of vegan slippers painted for her daughter. Someone even wanted him to customize her bowling shoes.

Marra encourages customers to send him their old or new shoes along with a concept for him to work with. He'll sketch out a design, e-mail it back to them for approval, and then send back the one-of-a-kind shoes within a couple of weeks.

And he doesn't just paint shoes - if it's paintable, he'll happily leave his signature on it.

At his house this week, he worked on the pair for the Arizona grandmother in the second-floor studio he shares with his girlfriend, artist Rachel Boss. Using oil-based paint pens, he sketched in little red heart characters to represent each grandchild, and had them sitting on buoyant shooting stars.

Shawn James, community arts coordinator for Baltimore's Office of Promotion & the Arts, hired Marra to work on the murals, mainly because of the sense of fun that comes through in his painting.

"What I think really appeals to people about his work is it's fun and eclectic," James says. "Everyone has their style, but his stands out."