After retiring from a 40 year mechanical engineering career, I entered a different chapter of my life. I had been comfortable using computers to generate 3D models for product design, but now had to consider an analog approach to my creative process.
Leather work has become an important element of my life; I now design on paper, cut paper templates, and use those templates to cut out leather pieces by hand, one by one.
The making of a fine leather bag is labor intensive and viseral. Each step requires an unforgiving level of process control. A simple misstep or slip can cause the set back or complete restart of a project.
My goal is to produce leather products that appear to have been made by angels…but because I am only human, I rarely achieve that ideal! Sometimes, however, I get close enough to satisfy my drive for perfection.
I personally design and craft each item in my collection. I strive to make beautiful and wonderfully functional pieces that are of airloome quality which can be enjoyed for years and passed down to our next generation. Look closely at the workmanship, of each peice resulting from hours of careful consideration and often by using turn-of-the-century leather hand tools. The piece you choose is the result of a disappearing trade in this age of mass production and imported knock-offs. Your piece will become a reflection of your life path as the leather responds to your personal touch, “seasoning” over time and developing a patina that is as unique as you.
Many blessings,
Don Earl
Leather Artisan
(805) 701-3990
deleatherartistan@gmail.com
www.instagram.com/de.leatherartisan