ClayB

Well, I finally did it. I colored the deer. For me, that is always a scary thing to start, and such a relief if I don't have to throw it away when I am finished. Coloring has been the hardest thing for me to learn to do. I am still learning, but think I am getting the hang of it. I owe a lot of thanks to a lot of people. Jan Schoonover, Silva Fox and Bob Beard have taught me so much. Silva and Bob both have videos out that are really worth getting if you want to learn to use acrylics on leather. Last time I talked to Jan he was thinking about making a video, but I haven't heard if he ever got it done. Also, if you ever get a chance to take a class from one of these people, or anyone else, I really encourage you to do it. This deer was done off a video by Robb Barr. I have done a few of the projects off of his videos now and so far they have all turned out pretty good. I have found his carving and embossing instructions to be really good. He goes through the coloring pretty fast in some of these. I am not sure how I would have done on that part without some of the other lessons I have taken. I am looking forward to getting some time to start another one. Clay

Hi Kate, I am glad to see you here too! Been forever since I have talked to you. I tried to put my plastic slicker on a drill once and ended up melting the plastic slicker. I have tried the wooden one from Weaver, and a porcelain electric fence insulator mounted on a drill. I didn't like either of those all that well. When I started learning to make saddles, my teacher told me to rub the edges with a bar of saddle soap and then rub with canvas. For me, that works pretty good. So many different ways to do the same thing. Clay

There you go again Shirley, doing something you haven't done before and making it look like you have been doing it for years! Those are really nice. My wife makes me put snaps on the ones I make for her too. I kind of like the leather strap closure myself. Can I ask how you did the variations from the one on the video? I have made a couple dozen of these already and new variations would be fun to try. Clay

Seems like I remember reading somewhere that you could use one of those vacuum type food sealers to mold leather around objects. Might have been in a LCSJ article. I don't do that type of work (yet) but it seemed like a good idea. It might be an option that you could try. Clay

Hi Bill, Those feathers look really good. I agree with you about Jim Linnell too. He is a really great guy! Clay

I really hope that his dream hasn't died. Billy has a great talent. He has also developed something new and exciting with his transfer technique. It's going to be fun to see what happens when more people start using it. I have tried it a couple times, and need to play with it more to get it right. I am sorry that things didn't work out for him here in the US. I do know it's really hard to set up classes with any of the masters. Not that the masters aren't willing to teach, but that it's tough to get enough people interested in learning to gather in the same place. Even at places like the IFoLG show or the Sheridan show, some of the classes don't get enough students signed up. Billy has a lot of fans out here. I hope that someday he will get back into working with leather. I always loved seeing what he had come up with next. Until then, I pray that he and Mary are both well and happy. Clay

Here are some pictures of my class project from Jan's class in Sheridan, and a couple pictures of the same project done by Jan. Clay

Here are a couple pictures of my second attempt at Robb's whitetail deer. I did this with his pattern and instructions off a video. As with everything I do, I can see room for improvement but I am fairly happy with this one. Now it will go on a shelf with the bear that I am scared to try and color for fear of ruining it. Clay

All of the pictures from Jan's classes are what Jan calls "extreme embossed". Jan uses a mixture of leather dust and rubber cement to fill in the cavity created when stretching the leather from the backside. I tried using leather plugs once, like Al Stohlman did, but I didn't like the process at all. I like the leather putty mixture a lot better. When doing the extreme embossing like Jan or Robb Barr did, they also slice lots of the parts of the picture loose from the background (ears, feathers, horns, or even the whole animals face) Some times these parts are also backed with leather putty to stiffen them or shape them. When Jan cuts an animal's face loose, he will form the back side of the face with putty and it can look almost as good as the front side when he is finished painting it. We did a quarter horse class in Sheridan this year where the whole head and neck of the horse were cut loose from the background. Mine didn't turn out the greatest, but I will try and get some pictures of it and post them later. I have attached some side view pictures that show the embossing a little better. The deer is one that Jan did, the rest are from my class projects. In a couple of the classes I have taken, there have been people that have never even held a swivel knife before and their projects still turned out pretty good. I encourage everyone to take classes from the experts whenever they have the chance. I didn't think I would ever learn to color leather, but with lessons from Jan and Silva, I think I am getting there. Clay

In the past few years I have been fortunate to take several classes from Jan Schoonover. Jan is a really talented leather artist from Billings Montana. Jan spent many years as a hunting guide in Wyoming and his up close and personal experiences with the animal gives him the knowledge to put realistic details into his leather art. Along with being a really good artist, Jan is also a really good teacher. I could never have carved or colored any of these pictures without his instruction. I encourage anyone who gets the chance to take a class from Jan to do so. He has talked about writing a book, or doing some videos, but so far you have to take a class to learn from him. You can see Jan's work at http://www.sculpturedleather.com Jan's pictures are more like sculptures than just carvings. He does 3-D work similar to what Robb Barr did, but his techniques are quite a bit different. I have been doing some of the projects off of Robb's videos too, and while they get similar results, they do the steps differently. Attached are some of the projects that I have made in Jan's classes. Clay

Paul Burnett has an ebay store where you can purchase some of his books and some of his kits. http://stores.ebay.com/paintingcow Last I looked, the only kits listed were to make leather butterflies. I haven't tried that yet, but will someday. I saw that he was selling his carving lessons that were originally sold many years ago as a correspondence course. There is some really good info in those lessons. Clay PS: Johanna, if you ever get tired of looking at Billy's work, it might look good between Peter's butterfly picture and Jan Schoonover's mountain lion in my basement

While I am sending pictures, I thought I would share a picture that my wife commisioned Silva Fox to make for my birthday. Silva is one of my favorite leather artists, and a really nice lady. She has been a real inspiration to me and has helped improve my leather carving tremendously. I hope someday I will get a chance to meet her in person and would love to take a class or two from her. This leather carving was made from a photo I took here on my ranch in the North Dakota badlands. Silva added the mule deer to the picture and made it look like it really belonged there. You can see Silva's work at her website http://wdstudio.net/foxart Clay

Here are some of the leather feathers that I have made. I learned to do the eagle feathers off of one of Robb Barr's videos. I really like doing these when I am feeling like doing something with leather and don't have a lot of time. They also make nice gifts. I seem to give them away as fast as I make them. Clay

I bought a couple pairs of earings from Paul Burnett a couple years ago in Sheridan. The eagle feathers for my daughter, the maple leaves for my wife. He also sells instructions for making these yourself. I have made a quite a few feathers, but I like doing them a lot bigger than the earing size. Leather feathers are a good conversation starter. I like bringing home gifts made by other artists when I get a chance to go to the shows. The flower and the leather covered box were made by Cheryl McIntyre from Australia. She does really neat work. The box was covered with kangaroo that she had tie dyed. Cherly was in Sheridan a couple years ago and she also does the leather conference in Australia. Peter said they are having the conference again next year down there. I sure hope that I can go to one of those some day. Last fall when I was in Denver, I picked up a couple pieces for my boys that were done by Roz. This lady really makes some neat stuff! Both the dragon and the guitar are made all out of leather. The music sheet behind the guitar is rawhide. The last piece is another that I got in Denver for my daughter. It is a keychain with a little note pad inside that was made by a Japanese artist whose name I dont remember It really is fun to see what other people think up to make with leather! Clay

These bracelets dont qualify as braiding like some of the stuff shown here, but this is the catagory that seemed most appropriate. I have done quite a few of these. I learned how to do them from watching a video from Hidecrafter. I think the new conchos that Tandy is selling that you can put the stones in dress them up a bit. This bracelet is red and purple for my mom who is big into the red hat thing. Clay

Hi Holly, Both the cup and the koozies were from the new Tandy kits. They seem to be fine, but ya never know about the cups until you get something hot in them. I thought that the leather was a little tough to cut with the swivel knife, but it tooled pretty nice and I was happy with the finished leather parts looked. Clay

I just finished a couple projects using kits from Tandy. The first one is set of can koozies. I liked the floral pattern that came with the kit so I used it. On the insulated cup I used a belt pattern from a Robert Beard class that I took a few years ago. Both pieces were finished with a coat of neatsfoot oil followed by a coat of neatlac. Some people say that combination isn't supposed to work, but I have had good results using it. I rub the oil in good, and then let it set for a bit, then apply the neatlac and rub it in really good too. These were fairly quick and easy to make up. They got a pretty good reaction from my family. Clay

Hi Shirley, Your work is really great, as always. Your patterns are different than what I normally see done in leather and I like what you are doing. There was a guy in Sheridan a couple years ago that did some pictures with a lot of the shading done with a background tool like you did and it is a really nice effect. I saw this year that his picture of Tom Selleck is now hanging in the King Museum in Sheridan. I am very reluctant to critique your work because you are doing things with a year of experience that I couldn't do with my 30 years of practice! But for what it's worth, I am going to throw something at you. I am wondering if you would double bevel the teeth where they touch the skull if they would look more like they were attached and not sitting on it? I am not saying it doesn't look good the way it is. I have looked at this several times because I like what you are doing and hope I can learn some things from you. Thanks for sharing the pictures of your work! Clay

Gonna answer my own question here. Had an email from Richard and he said they had been having phone problems due to lightning storms, and contractors. His phone number is still the same, and he gave me a cell phone number in case I continued to have trouble reaching him. I wont post it here, but if anyone is having trouble getting in touch with him, let me know and I can send it by private mail. Clay

You dont want to tool the pattern, just cut it deeply with the swivel knife. Then you cut the shape out, flower, leaf, etc. When you use the tap off, it will give you an impression on the leather sort of like a craftaid does, but the cut lines will become raised, not depressed. I haven't used a tap off, but that's the basic idea shown in the Sheridan Carving book.

Anybody have a phone number for Richard Fletcher of Green Parrot? I tried the one I have and it says the number is no longer in use. I checked out his website and that is the same one listed there. I did email him, but in the past that has been unreliable. I am still waiting for a maker stamp that he said he would send right after the show in Sheridan back in May. Clay

Thanks to all of you for the nice comments on the bear. I think maybe you have to see the real thing and study it to see what is wrong with the nose. The nose is pointing towards the right, while the mouth is still facing forward. It just doesn't quite look right. I do know that we are are own worst critics. The more work I see by the real masters of this craft, the more I want mine to be that good too. I will probably never be completly satisfied, but that's ok. I enjoy practicing at it. If you are wanting to give embossed animals a try, the Robb Barr videos are a good way to learn. I have also been taking lessons from Jan Schoonover. Jan takes it a step or two farther than Robb did. Jan also goes about it differently, and I think some of his ways are easier. Several of us have been trying to encourage Jan to record his techniques in a book or videos. He mentioned in Sheridan that he may be making his first video in the near future. I hope he does. Clay

I'd also like to encourage any of you that get the chance to attend this show. I got to attend my first IFoLG show last fall in Denver. You will get to see some great leather work from around the world, have a chance to attend classes, and buy things from suppliers. But, the best thing is getting a chance to meet other people that work with leather from around the country and the world, from beginners to experts. You will make some new friends. I was hoping I would get a chance to make this show too, and meet some of my friends from that side of the country, but I dont think it is going to happen. Clay

Hi, My name is Clay Banyai and I live in the badlands of southwestern North Dakota. I have been carving leather as a hobby for about 30 years. I like to try lots of different things with leather but my favorite thing right now it extreme embossed figure carving in the style of Robb Barr and Jan Schoonover. I have taken several classes with Jan in the last couple years and he is a really good teacher and has become a good friend too. I never got a chance to meet Robb, but have gotten to know a couple of his relatives, so have had a chance to see quite a bit of his work in person, and he really had an amazing talent. I started learning to build saddles a couple years ago and that has been fun and challenging. You can see pictures of my work at my photo site http://clayb.dotphoto.com

Johanna asked if I would share some of the pictures of the saddles that I have made. This is the only one I have on this computer. This is my attempt at replicating an old style saddle. I did this saddle through a grant program with the North Dakota Council for the Arts' Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program. The program is designed to let apprentice craftsmen (or women) work with master artists to learn traditional art forms. This was the second saddle that I have built through this program and the fifth saddle that I have made. Also in the picture is the saddle that we tried to replicate. Clay