Leather Earrings

[Johanna]

I love to wear these earrings when I get dressed up. I get lots of questions, and some people won't believe they are made of leather until they touch them. Paul Burnett has the coloring down so well that they look better than a real duck's feather. My late husband, John Henry, picked them out for me because he said the green in them matched my eyes, and he presented them to me after an IFoLG show as a surprise. I recognized them immediately- they had caught my eye repeatedly during the show.

Johanna

[ClayB]

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

[Johanna]

Clay, you assembling quite a collection!

The "Roz" is Roz (Short) Kaohn aka "The Dragon Lady" and she is a talented leather artist! Her work is maybe more like sculpture, but it is incredibly meticulously detailed and designed. I doubt anyone could duplicate her creations. She is also a warm witty person who doesn't mind being asked questions like, "How on earth did you do that?" and "Where did you get that idea?", which is good, because she probably hears that a lot. If you ever have a chance to get into a class of hers, jump on it.

Paul Burnett has written several books. Tandy used to carry them, but I don't think they do any more. The feathers are done with acrylics and a scalpel.

Since we're on the subject of feathers, I guess I need to take some pics of Billy 2-shews' eagles. When I took them to the frame shop, they had never seen anything quite like them before. When I came back to pick them up, they were hung prominently in the store, and I think the proprietor was a little disappointed that the eagles were leaving. Oh well! They are delightful to look at in my living room. LOL

Johanna

[ClayB]

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

[Don101]

this stuff is amazing and clay your picture carving has made my mind go crazy how the hell do you get it so realistique ... truly a master