Dear Folks, this is copy/paste from "tandyleatherfactory" website, can you give any coment, addition?!
Don't forget, this is the start theory for any carving leather craftmen.
During the 1920s, a young Al Stohlman dreamed of some day illustratingthe popular Western stories of Zane Grey and Bret Harte. Scenes ofcattle drives, wranglers, chuck wagons and horses filled hisimagination and his sketch pad. As a youngster, Al's passion wasutilizing his spare time to sketch the animals that lived in theforests of the Pacific Northwest. Al Stohlman had his first experience with leatherwork in 1942 whilestationed in New Guinea while serving for the U.S. Army. It was thenthat he toyed with a GI issue leather belt to learn about the uniquequalities of leather, using only a pocket knife and some filed nails.It wasn't long before Al discovered the need for certain tools and theimportance of using a mallet or striking stick to achieve greater depthand detail to his projects. Four years later, back home in California,he learned to use stamping tools.
By1952 he was earning national attention through work for the CraftoolCompany. Craftool, a west coast company, was purchased by Tandy Leatheryears later. Many of the company's tools were developed by Stohlman.Later, as a freelance teacher/artist he traveled the country attendingcraft shows and guild meetings, teaching and sharing his techniques.
In 1962 one of his most precious dreams came true- the opportunity toshare his 20 years of knowledge with students of all ages andbackgrounds, in the convenience of their own homes, through the mail.Sponsored by Tandy Leather, the Al Stohlman Home Study Course wasrecognized as one of the most comprehensive guides to basicleathercrafters available anywhere. Through this correspondence courseand dozens of books, hundreds of thousands of people have been taughtleathercraft. The original finished projects used for this successfulHome Study Course are on display.
Withover 50 years of experience in the leather and saddlemaking field, AlStohlman gained tremendous pleasure of sharing his knowledge with allwho cared to learn. He believed the best way to accomplish this wasthrough instruction books. His dream was to eventually see his patternsand books published into encyclopedia form to preserve this valuablecraft knowledge for future generations. His 'one-of-a-kind' bookscontinue to be top sellers in our stores.
Ann Stohlman is quitea remarkable craftswoman in her own right. But then, she only had theworld's best leathercraftsman for a teacher. During their time togetherAnn became an accomplished saddlemaker, leather carver and buckstitcheras well as a frequent contributor to various leathercraft magazines.Ann passed away in 2004.
Al Stohlman once wrote, "I have oftenbeen asked what it takes to create a leather picture. More thananything else, it takes ideas. And being a realist, I feel a picture orscene must be authentic in detail, so it takes time. Lots of time"
The largest hand-tooled picture on exhibit is "The Brush Popper", pictured below. Measuring 43" x 27",it also includes a beautiful finely tooled leather frame. It is athree-dimensional piece that incorporates the use of embossing plugs, amost unique style. This beautiful piece of art is probably one of Al'smost ambitious projects. The carving alone took over two months. We arepleased that once again, this magnificent piece of art is available forthe world to view and appreciate.