Cow Tales NEWSLETTER. LONE STAR LEATHER CRAFTERS Of TEXAS APRIL 2016

Transcription

1 Cow Tales NEWSLETTER LONE STAR LEATHER CRAFTERS Of TEXAS 1 APRIL 2016

2 Guild Events Guild Meeting April 2 Chili Cook Off at Jim Linnell s Elk Tracks Studio Sam Cortina will demonstrate making one of his unique card wallets. See Sam s pattern on Page 3. Jim Linnell will have crates and crates of old craft aids and doodle pages for sale that day so bring plenty of extra $$$ with you in addition to buying your fundraiser raffle tickets. Jim says some of the craft aids and doodle pages are extremely old. Once he goes through and picks out what he wants to keep in his files, the rest is up for sale - literally crates of them! May 7th Guild meeting Scheduled Demonstration Ray Truesdale will demonstrate making a horseshoe paperweight. May 20th, 21st and 22nd Rocky Mountain Leather Trade Show, Sheridan, WY. Held at Holiday Inn, Sheridan Sponsored by The Leather Crafters and Saddlers Journal. Call for information Or June 3rd through 5th 1st Annual Leather Carvers Reunion ( See Page 11 for details ) Beaver s Bend State Park Broken Bow, Oklahoma June 4th Monthly Guild Meeting Future Demonstrations: George Hurst has agreed to do a demonstration showing his techniques for Making decorative cuts. A date for this demo has not been set. September The 2016 IFOLG 50th Anniversary Show Crown Plaza Columbus North 6500 Doubletree Ave. Columbus, Ohio October 7th & 8th Boot and saddle Makers Trade Show Wichita Fall, Texas BIG NEWS!! The Saddle makers Contest is back!! See Page 2

3 These are the interior pieces that Sam Cortina will be using for his Demo this Saturday 3

4 Saddle Contest Returns to Wichita Falls for 2016 In 2016 the Saddle Makers Contest start anew, based on growing interest, with a new venue for contests. No money, prizes or voting will be involved in the contests. Winners in each category will be awarded plaques and/or buckles. Judges will decide winners. New categories will be added to provide more opportunities for beginning saddle makers as well as the pros. Leather Stamps by Clay Contact Information cdmiller@msn.com 2015 ~ 16 Officers President Cartie Yzquierdo 1st Vice President Bob Alexander 2nd Vice President Pat Spencer Secretary ~Treasurer Darla Sellers Activities Tobin Tucker Lone Star Leather Crafters P.O. Box Fort Worth, TX contact: djstx@flash.net Our Guild The Lone Star Leather Crafters Guild was established in Fort Worth, Texas in 1986 by a small group of leather enthusiasts. Today, our Guild has grown into an international organization with members in the United States, Austria, Brazil, Germany, Japan, Norway, Sweden, Taiwan, and The Netherlands. Our skill levels range from novice to master, hobbyist to professional, with all members willing to share their ideas and skills with other leather enthusiasts. If you are interested in learning more about our Guild, we invite you to visit a monthly meeting which is held on the second Tuesday of the month. Membership in the Guild is $20 for a single membership, $30 for a family membership, or a onetime $150 for a lifetime membership (U.S. funds). Dues are payable in January. All submissions for the Newsletter should be submitted to the address or to your left. Submissions must be accompanied by the name and address of writer and are subject to editing for clarity and/or length. The deadline for submission is the 25th of the month prior to publication. 4

5 222 Blackburn St Rhinelander, WI USA Tel: Fax: Complimentary Guild Subscription Program The Leather Crafters & Saddlers Journal and the International Federation of Leather Guilds have come together to offer a special complimentary subscription program to all guilds to help bolster guild membership. The program is made of two parts as follows. Part 1 New members to your guild are eligible for one free ½ year (3 issues) subscription to the Leather Crafters & Saddlers Journal, compliments of the Journal. A guild officer is asked to be responsible for submitting the names and addresses of these new members on a regular basis to the Leather Crafters & Saddlers Journal, attention Brian (see mailing address or address above). Part 2 When a current member either subscribes for the first time or renews their subscription to the Journal, $6.00 for each year of the subscription will be paid to the respective guild from the Journal. A one-year subscription will produce a $6.00 payment and a two-year subscription will produce a $12.00 payment to the guild. The member needs to make the Journal aware that the guild is to receive credit for the new or renewed subscription. The Journal can provide preen coded flyers to the guild which, when used by the members, will ensure that proper credit will be given to the guild. If the guild is a member of the International Federation of Leather Guilds, the IFoLG will also receive $6.00 for each year of the paid subscription (for new subscriptions only). If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Brian Stelzel at the Leather Crafters & Saddlers Journal at Thank you for your interest in this program. Sincerely, Brian Stelzel Circulation Manager 5

6 Lonesome Dove s Rawhide After years of transforming leather into art, Jim Linnell is excited to celebrate the legendary TV series. Posted March 16, 2016 by DAVID DUNN in Arts When most people look at a sheet of leather, they usually see just that: a piece of smooth, firm material. But leather crafter Jim Linnell sees each one hiding a new creation, like how a painter views a canvas or a sculptor a marble slab. The 60-year-old has been in the leather profession for more than 40 years, going from making saddles and wallets in high school to more complex shapes and designs. In the backyard shop behind his house in Venus, Texas, tools, aprons, saddles, souvenirs, and his own work cover every inch of free space. Linnell s most recent creation is a leather wall art display that will be signed by the cast of Lonesome Dove in celebration of the TV miniseries that debuted in After the display is signed by Robert Duvall, Tommy Lee Jones, Danny Glover, Diane Lane, Fort Worth s Barry Corbin, and others, it will be auctioned off at the Lonesome Dove reunion, Thursday, March 31, at River Ranch in the Stockyards. Linell offered to make the piece for the reunion for free. It has really become a big deal, Linnell said. Lonesome Dove has some absolutely crazy fans. I mean, there s people that think that was the greatest [television series] ever. It exemplifies the cowboy lifestyle and the breaking open of the West and the changing of an era. And for it to be hosted in Cowtown Oh, my gosh, that was just the ultimate thing. Linnell spent four months completing the project. It s not about tracking the time, Linnell said. It s about doing it until I m happy with it. I m by far my worst critic. Most people look at it and can t even conceive how I get there with a piece of leather. In a corner of the shop, a three-dimensional eagle protrudes from a flat sheet of leather, its feathers and beak as lifelike as the real thing. On a desk, a longhorn skull sits on a stump a skull that Linnell says is also made entirely out of leather. On another shelf, a pair of feather earrings hang from a hook. The feathers, too, are made of leather, a fact that seems unreal considering their fine textures and smoothness. I don t like to do a lot of the same stuff, Linnell said. Doing flat pieces, saddles, wallets, belts, things like that, bored me pretty quick. I had more creativity in me than those things allowed. When he was 11, Linnell got his first experience at carving into leather in an industrial arts class. Finding it thrilling, Linnell badgered his parents to buy him a beginner s set of tools so he could do his own work outside of class. Continued next page 6

7 It s pretty much been a part of my life ever since, he said. As he continued practicing throughout high school, his peers really liked his work and even wanted to buy some of the items he made in class. He ended up working in a saddle shop after school, where he said he met his greatest teacher: experience. But Linnell wasn t done yet. Now, he said, he needed to look like he earned all of his recognitions One of the best teachers is screwing up, he said. A lot of leather workers these days are selftaught. This isn t a subject that is taught at most schools, so where do you learn it? After graduating high school, Linnell decided against college. He and his wife married young, and he immediately went out into the working world. I grew up quickly, he said. At first, Linnell worked in construction to support him and his family. Eventually, an opportunity arose at the Tandy Leather Company. The beginning rate was $2.65 an hour, a significant decrease from his construction pay. Fully committing to leather crafting meant his wife would also have to get a job. They were both scared, but Linnell felt it was then or never. I felt that if we didn t make those decisions and didn t take that bold of a step at that age, when you got older, you wouldn t do stuff like that, he said. He spent so much time in a leather shop that his children did too. His daughter Lindsey remembers growing up around leather crafting her whole life. I don t have a memory of him not doing it, she said. From 1978 onward, Linnell had the chance to hobnob with some of the industry s greatest leather crafters, including Al Stohlman, who is considered one of the greatest leather pioneers. Seeing their work inspired Linnell to redouble his efforts not as a leather crafter but as a leather artist. Still, many years passed before Linnell decided to exhibit his work at a leather guild show. People were awestruck. Many thought some of it wasn t even possible to make. They said, Oh, my God. Where did this guy come from? It s like some hidden talent that they had just discovered, he said. This is the stuff I had been doing for a long time. For all my life. It surprised me that it was regarded as it was. Linnell started filming instructional videos, publishing patterns, and writing articles on leather crafting. He traveled to 34 states and then to Europe, England, and Puerto Rico to teach. He also has received multiple crafting awards, including the much-respected Al Stohlman Award, in Stohlman s wife, Ann, presented it to Linnell. Continued next page 7

8 But Linnell wasn t done yet. Now, he said, he needed to look like he earned all of his recognitions. I am 60, he said. I won t live forever. But I would love to hope that when I m done being able to do leatherwork, there s more people in love with it, more people involved with it, that it continues on, and that there are more talented leather workers that pick it up who are around today. I hope they build upon that. Dave Smith, executive director of the International Federation of Leather Guilds, said that Linnell s willingness to share his talents with other people is arguably one of his greatest contributions to the industry. Two of those students include Lindsey s daughters, Analisa and Emilee, who frequently craft with their grandpa at his shop. It s amazing how far he s come, from our kitchen table to now having his own shop in the backyard, Lindsey said. It brings back memories of a good childhood to see [him and my daughters] work together. Linnell said he never thought leather crafting would take him this far, but he s even more excited for how leather crafting will not only survive but thrive past his years. Leatherwork is alive and well, he said. And it s actually going where it s never gone before. Congratulations To Jim from all your Friends at Lone Star Leather Crafters!! 8

9 The Academy of Western Artists presented Kathy Flanagan With the Master Leather Artisan of the Year Award March 5th, at TCU auditorium in Fort Worth Jim Linnell presents Kathy Flanagan with the Master Leather Artisan of the Year Award Kathy said Receiving this award is one the most humbling experiences in my life. The Lord has blessed me in so many ways. Kathy Flanagan, husband Pat, daughter in law Michelle, and son Sean. Paul Krause was presented the Boot Maker of the Year Award. 9 Jim and Denise Linnell George Hurst

10 Go to the Leather Crafter and Saddlers Journal Website for complete information on classes and activities Sheridan Holiday Inn 1809 Sugarland Dr, Sheridan Wyoming Call the Sheridan Holiday Inn (307) for hotel reservations 10

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12 March Guild meeting held at the Tandy Flagship Store in Fort Worth Texas If you are missing the meetings, you are missing a great show of leather projects completed by the members, informative demonstrations and great fellowship with fellow leather crafters. One of the new Lone Star patches on a vest These are truly some Vintage Lone Star items. A shirt from our 2007 Show and a cap from earlier years. 12

13 March Guild meeting held at the Tandy Flagship Store in Fort Worth Texas Page 2 13

14 March Guild meeting held at the Tandy Flagship Store in Fort Worth Texas Page 3 14

15 March Guild meeting held at the Tandy Flagship Store in Fort Worth Texas Page 4 15

16 A Note from the President April 2th Chili Cook Off First welcome to new members Roy Brigman from Fort Worth and Steve Watkins from Baytown, TX. Welcome to Lone Star. Just a few words this month. Our get together this month is at Jim Linnell s Elks Tracks Studio. The Chili Cook off judging will start at 11:30. If you would like to be judge please get there a little early. This event is always a great get together where we have time to just visit one on one and discuss projects and ideas. This month we have a very special guess to do a demo, Sam Cortina. In addition Jim Linnell has acquired a lot of old doodle pages which he intends to have for sale if you are interested. If you have items that you would like to sale you are welcome to bring them as well. See you there, Cartie A note for the Editor As you may have noticed, we have a very large Newsletter this month. Lots of things happening and lots of pictures. We also have more pictures of the braiding demonstration that Cartie did and the results of the Tarrant County Junior Livestock Show Leather Competition. Lone Star furnishes the judges for this event and we donate prizes for some of the categories. A big THANKS to Darla Sellers for getting Lone Star involved in the Show each year. The remaining pictures from Cartie s braiding demo and the Tarrant County Junior Livestock Show will be in the MAY Issue of the Newsletter. Have a good un Ya ll Editor 16

17 That s right! It s reserved for YOU! For YOUR PICTURES, for YOUR PROJECTS, YOUR OWN HOW TO ARTICLE. People always love to see what other Guild Members are doing. That s why we have Show and Tell at every Guild meeting. So, how do you do it. Simply your pictures to the Editor at: saddlesmith@sbcglobal.net Be sure to put a little descriptive information with each photograph. Oh. you ve never done a How To article before? No problem! Have you discovered a new trick that you d like to share? How about storage tips? Every leather crafter continually looks for ideas on how to store more supplies, tools, and so on. Maybe you d like to share so tips that you use in construction or the way you finish your projects. Contact the Editor and we ll walk you through the process. This is YOUR SPACE. Please take advantage of it!! 17

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