OldLeatherGuy

Learned leather braiding from reading Bruce Grant books and self-teaching basic skills back when I was a young teen with a horse needing a new set of reins. [Went on to braid a total of 8 sets of reins, a couple of head stalls, chin straps, and other horse tack, and figure out what I wanted to do when I got out of school.]

Took a few years off to help out Uncle Sam, following that stint in 1964 to 1968, I owned and operated a couple of businesses including owning a full time autobody shop [24 yrs.], learning to teach a vocational post high school program [Autobody Repair and Refinishing of course], guiding wilderness canoe trips in the Quetico Wilderness for a few years of summertime teaching breaks, owning an outdoors oriented retail art gallery [13 yrs.] until finally moving my art gallery down to Florida and becoming a "survivor" of hurricane Ivan in 2003! I worked in a couple of art galleries and trophy shops until I was laid off in 2008. After almost a year of climbing the "walls of retirement", I mentored under a clocksmith, for a few years, learning to repair antique wall and floor clocks of all kinds, and finally deciding to buy a few hand tools to begin my "ongoing" education of making all sorts of things out of leather. I like to think of all of these various skills as a temporary "layoff" from my original interests in leather braiding from back in the days of mid-last century.

I am still a student of my leatherwork and although I have been "learning" for the past 11 or so years, I will continue through this learning process until I can no longer hold a round knife or see to carve leather or sew fine straight lines on my products, all of which are hand done. [Sewing machines aren't part of my journey]! Or I may open up a local leather wholesaler to get rid of this present habit of mine of buying almost everything I see on "sale" or other means of procuring various types of leather, both veg. tanned and also specialty leather, [crocodile, kangaroo, and python to name a few]! I never thought I would become "addicted to leather purchasing, but .......

So, here I am, almost ending my 81st year on this planet, and still finding new things to study.