Ropin’ and Toolin’ in Johnson City, Texas By Gene Fowler Leather artist Seth Stidham has a front row seat on Main Street of the Texas Hill Country. When he sits at his workbench at Stidham Outfitters and Custom Leather in the two-stoplight town of Johnson City, tooling most any creation that befits the classic Sheridan […]
Features
EPIC LEATHER WORK, ON A GREEK ISLAND
Co-founders of Epos Custom Leather create powerful mythic imagery and historical recreations By Lynn Ascrizzi If gray winter ever gets you down, think of the Greek island of Rhodes, set like a rough-cut gemstone in the sparkling Aegean. “It’s called the ‘Island of the Sun,’” said Natalie Orfanidi, a gifted leather artist born and raised […]
Pecard Leather Company – The Legacy Lives On
by Liisa Andreassen It was in 1902 that the Pecard Chemical Co., Inc. first got its start as a small family-owned business in northeastern Wisconsin. Since then, it’s gone through several changes, but it’s commitment to service and quality has never wavered. Pecard remains a trusted name for the treatment, preservation and weatherproofing of leather. All […]
J and M Custom Boots: A Legacy of Resiliency
By Nick Pernokas The young boy reached Chihuahua City at dawn. He’d brought a couple of tortillas wrapped around some meat in a paper sack for breakfast. As he nibbled on them, he wondered if his family had noticed him missing from their home in Juarez yet. The year was 1950, and the 15 year […]
Tad Mizwa: A Lasting Impression
By Nick Pernokas John Kelley always eagerly anticipated his monthly copy of Shop Talk! Magazine. The Morton, Illinois, leatherworker had been working with leather since he was 10. He had created beautiful knife sheaths, holsters and handbags, many featuring beautiful carving and fine hand stitching. In 2009, he was in his late 50s and he […]
Celebrating 100 Years of Exceptional Harness Making
Bowman Harness is sustaining a living heritage tradition By Lynn Ascrizzi The folks at Bowman Harness, Ltd. of Millersburg, Ohio, don’t put much credence into talking big or taking on airs — they’re too busy doing. In fact, the four-generation, collective family enterprise has been hard at work making exceptional harness products and providing dedicated […]
American Tanning & Leather’s Queen of Gator
By Danna Burns-Shaw Christy Plott is part of multi-generational family leather business, American Tanning & Leather LLC. “Am Tan” is a five-generation business that is located in Griffin, Georgia, 40 miles south of Atlanta, right at the source of the finest raw material in the world, the Louisiana alligator. The Name Christy was named after […]
“The Michelangelo of Cowboy Boots”
“Charlie Dunn, He’s the One to See” by Gene Fowler Perched all pretty on the Colorado River, where the limestone hills of Central Texas tumble down from the west to meet the Blackland prairie from the east, the city of Austin has changed a lot since I first laid eyes on it in the 1960s. […]
Tennessee Tanning Company: Staying Ahead of the Ball
By Nick Pernokas Terry Kennemer would remind you of a chef. He can talk about intricate recipes and what they produce off the top of his head. Like many good chefs, he won’t tell you all of the ingredients. However, it’s not a gourmet meal that he’s enthusiastically describing, but rather a signature piece of […]
Billykirk!
“The Proof Is in the Patina” Leather Products as Distinctive as the Company Name By Gene Fowler Brothers Chris and Kirk Bray—owners of the Jersey City-based quality leather gear company Billykirk—know a thing or two about savvy branding. Really, has there ever been a cooler company handle than the peppy Billykirk? It almost yodels with […]