Eagle Class with George Hurst

[Rawhide]

Just want to share a bit with you all. ScissorMedic, and ATX drove up from Austin to Hidecrafters, followed closely by their cohort Daniel, to attend a class with myself and "the doc" (I forget his real name, but we call him doc)...and Mr. George Hurst.

I cannot begin to tell you the blast we had...George is one hell of a guy. We learned a lot in class and a lot about George's adventures in the leather business. The first day of class was spent tooling, talking, talking some more, and painting using acrylics (my first time using acrylics other than the occasional splash of white). After we coated our projects with resist, we left them overnight to dry.

ATX, Scissormedic, and I then followed George to his home and he and his wife began to show us all the different original leather projects he, Al Stohlman, Robb Barr, Chan Geer, Bill Gomer, and others did...Talking about a hall of fame. He showed us a closet full of tools, some original tools that never made the cut for production and some that did, some specially made swivel knives, and a professional baseball collection of the likes of Joe Dimaggio. Then he showed us file cabinets FULL of original patterns, (Al Stohlman was quite the hoot - Just trust me on this)...

Then we sat down and talked for about an hour or two about leather, his friendships with Al, Robb Barr, and Robert Beard...Man what a time. The next day, all we needed to do was antique our work. Since we were ahead of where George thought we'd be, he said, let's do another little project...just to fill the rest of the time that the class would have gone for...So we embossed a little fish. I haven't dyed mine yet, but will here in the next few days. He's one of the greatest.. The other guys may chime in on the day, but I'm still laughing and in awe at the stories and the talent. I'm humbled.

Result of the class:

[mendedbowl]

wow Marlon!

sounds like you had a great time. (and you did some very nice work on the eagle too)

i can only imagine how wonderful it would be to sit down and just listen and soak up the knowledge and the history...

so... is there any chance you'll ever share what you saw in the file cabinets?

ken

[Rawhide]

wow Marlon!

sounds like you had a great time. (and you did some very nice work on the eagle too)

i can only imagine how wonderful it would be to sit down and just listen and soak up the knowledge and the history...

so... is there any chance you'll ever share what you saw in the file cabinets?

ken

Sure, just probably not on the public forum. I can only describe it, I don't have a picture of it, but trust me you'll get the visual.

[King's X]

Rawhide: Thanks for the thread. First, it was our pleasure to finally meet Marlon the "man!" You've helped me since joining this site and it was great to put a face to the legend.

No, really it was such a good time. One thing I learned about Mr. G is that he is one of the original "pimps!" (inside joke) Anyways, we had so much fun with Mr. G and the rest of the group. This was not my first time getting an opportunity to discuss leather and tooling with Mr. G in great detail. The last time we met, he offered to invite us to his residence to see some items that have never made it out of the inner leather circle and some that were very recognizable to many. Some leather art we saw was absolutely amazing!! Trust me, some things we saw, I never thought could be made from leather (yea, I know small mind). It was funny, when we walked down the hallway to his office, he ask all leather workers to put their hands in their pocket before he revealed his favor collection. Like an idiot, I did, and then Mr. G opened the hallway closet. Like Rawhide said, there were many tools that we all share and many more that never made it to production. Even though Mr. G was not concerned for what he was sharing as a retired cop, I wouldn't want to give exact details. You can tell that Mr. G is very admired and it showed from all of the gifts he has received from people located literally around the world to include some in state hotels.

Mr & Ms. G were the best hosts to open their home to strangers and then share some life experiences with us. To them it was probably another day, but to the three of us, we were in aw. Interesting enough, Scissormedic and I focused a discussion on Mr. G's work area, which was nothing more than two desks in a very small room. Much like most of us use everyday. The other thing was how free he was open to share any secret or short cut he knows about leather working.

Rawhide and I were the lucky ones of the group. We each received a signed leather project from Mr. G. I received the tooled eagle and Rawhide received the Bass we did on Sunday. Mr. G also agreed to come to Austin to teach similiar classes. Danny, ScissorMedic and I are going to have a meeting to plan some classes here in Austin and San Antonio since our guild has members in SA. If you are interesting, keep a watch out here, I will post it. We are looking at a cost of $50 to $100 for each class.

I appreciate the opportunity to share another memorable experience with a master leather craftsman like Mr. G. Kudos also goes out to Mr. Ron at Hide Crafters for opening the store on his day off to allow us to finish our projects. By the way Ron, if you read this..................Where the damn catalog! Haha

Rawhide, again, it was our pleasure meeting you. I haven't forgotten the copy of Mr. G's Airbrushing video. And, if you decide to come to Austin for training, you have a place to stay with us, bring your son and he will have a couple of kids to play with here.

Okay, enough, thanks again

Great frame work on your eagle, but the frontal photograph doesn't do it the justice it deserves.

[jbird]

Man you guys are lucky for sure thanks for sharing guys

Josh

[Rawhide]

Man we had such a great time. I definitley hope we can do it again. Let me know what class you guys set up in Austin...That would be a nice trip.

Jbird,

I'm sure you'll get the chance if you attend some of the shows. I don't think George is going to Sheridan this year, because of a graduation, but that's probably the closest for you..