The Craft Shall Set You Free
This blog is called Zen and the art of leathercraft for a reason. Achieving Zen and mindfulness are good goals, but as goals go they are lengthy and challenging to say the very least. It is not something that happens quickly and it certainly will not happen without a great deal of effort on our part. When I talk about Zen it is not because I have achieved it but because it is something I strive for, and for no other reason than wanting to have peace in my life. I do not pretend that one day I will be a Yogi and people will come from all over the world for advice and wisdom. What I do hope for is that someone out there will read these written words and understand that they are not the only person with a few loose screws looking to change their behavior and set themselves on their own path.
Leathercraft is one of the oldest crafts known to the human race. Whether or not it predates stone masonry is similar to the age-old argument concerning the chicken and the egg. My guess would be that when fig leaves went out of season (get it?) people turned to furs, skins, and pelts to cover their bodies and those skins probably came from animals they killed with weapons made from stone so it’s at least in the top two skills throughout history. Scientists are still pulling cavemen out of the ice wearing the same leather garments and accessories they made somewhere towards the end of the stone age (between 6000 and 2000 BC).
My love affair with leathercraft began with a wallet and has grown into other beautiful projects over the last seven years. If you want to see an almost complete gallery of my work you can see it here. I usually resist the chance to plug my web site, but if you can’t plug your own site on your own blog then what’s the point? Anyways, I digress. As I started with my first project I was amazed at how the leather worked. My first fumbling with a small 8″x11″ raw sheet of leather I bought from Hobby Lobby was awkward and frustrating. I couldn’t cut it with scissors and every attempt I made to carve into the dry skin was resisted so thoroughly that I almost gave up on it. In fact I did give up for a few weeks until I went to the local leather store to ask some questions. Needless to say, once I walked in the front door of the Tandy Leather Factory I was so completely overwhelmed that I almost turned around and walked out.
If it wasn’t for a nice guy named Owen I probably would have. Apparently I wasn’t the first person he had seen with the same dim-witted sloe-eyed look on their face and he swooped in to help me out. We talked about the different types of leather and the basic tools (of which there are 6) and some of the project kits they had on display for beginners. These kits are perfect when you’re starting out. They basically do all the design work for you. They provide pre-cut panels that already have the holes punched and stitching material. All you have to do is tool it any way you want (they provide patterns and instructions for that as well) and then stain it, paint it, and stitch it together. It is a basic approach to craft, but as I would come to learn it is still more than most people are able and willing to do for themselves.
I took the kit home and started working as soon as I was back at my desk. I followed the instructions I was given and read my little beginners book every step of the way. I did a few tests on the scrap pieces I finally figured out how to cut from that piece from Hobby Lobby and before too long I had a neat little flower tooled in the style I came to know as Sheridan, which is the real pretty and ornate floral style commonly associated with and worn almost exclusively by cowboys. After I spent a few hours admiring my handy work and showing if to every member of my family, including my dog, I went back and set to the task of planing the decorative work for the tri-fold wallet I was attempting to make.
Celtic Cross
Combat Medic Cadeuces
Compass Rose
It took me a while and the finished product was a little rough in comparison to the quality of the work I have come to expect from myself but this was mine. I made this wallet. I looked it over from front to back and ran my fingers along the cut lines. I felt the grooves and impressions I made with my little set of tools and admired the honey color of the Antique Saddle Tan gel I used to stain the leather. I was amazed at the braided pattern I managed to lace the wallet together and even though I knew I did the work I could not believe that something this beautiful came from my hands. I made something that is beautiful and useful on its own, but I can also carve and symbol, logo, or image into the leather to add even more layers of beauty and the only limit is my imagination (and availability of materials, which cost money, which is another story altogether).
I sat back in my office chair looking this wallet over and over and I asked myself “If I can do this, what else can I do?” I have grown up around motor cycles my whole life so I had always had an appreciation for good quality leather but could never afford it. Now I have the ability to make whatever I want at a fraction of the cost and ideas started pouring into my head. I would lay awake at night thinking about the possibilities of future projects and all of the things I would make for myself. I bought a Bible Cover kit for my mother-in-law as a Mothers Day gift and managed a pretty decent Celtic Cross
This cover was another basic design from a pre-fab kit, but she loved it. As I saw the look on her face and her reaction to the gift it started to seep through the full thickness of my skull that I might be able to make other people happy if I gave them a gift. This was the first time I had really thought of other people and their feelings in a very long time. I spent so many years insulated and isolated that it never occurred to me that I could have a positive affect on someone else’ mood by simply putting some thought into a gift I could make for them. I sat there wondering “What else can I do?”
After that, everything started happening pretty quickly. I found a hobby I could be passionate about and it gave me a means by which I could interact with people again, but on my own terms. Even though I didn’t want to talk to people I had to know them, to some degree, if I were going to personalize whatever gift I would be making for them. At a bare minimum I needed to know if they had a favorite color or logo that was meaningful to them. Little did I understand that asking those basic questions of or about others would start me down the path to socialization and reintegration into society and eventually to a business of my own that caters specifically to the needs of others. It is then that I first realized there was more to the world than what was in my head and I was curious to learn more about it. It was there that I took my first steps towards mindfulness, awareness, and Zen.
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