More garage crafts

[Lee]

The client wanted something with the flavor of "tooled leather". I suspect those of you who are accomplished leather toolers will not know whether to laugh or cry at this offering. It's a good thing you are kind people.

This is work in progress on the second side.

 

[Lee]

This is the first side.

 

[bigransom]

I like it, Lee. The work is excellent, but moreso, the design uses negative space well and it allows the focus to be on the elegance of the design itself. It makes complexity look elegant and refined. I think your client will be more than happy with that. Kudos.
scottd.

 

[Sam]

I love it, Lee!!

 

[Douglas]

Very well done, as always.

 

[monk]

you gave a high degree of respect to the art of leatherwork. it also is a great rendition of engraving. thanks for showing. i've always wondered why more engravers seem to avoid this design style. you shpw here that it is quite beautiful to the eye.

 

[Mike Fennell]

Reminds me of the saddle I had when I was seven.

By the way, do you ever sleep?

 

[Lee]

Second side

 

[silverchip]

I Like that!!!

 

[didyoung]

wow very nice!

 

[Roger Bleile]

You nailed it Lee!

What kind of action is that?

 

[mitch]

The client wanted something with the flavor of "tooled leather".

well he ought to be pretty tickled with it...

 

[Beathard]

I like them both, but the second side is really special.

 

[rod]

Splendid in every way, Lee!

Are you using one single blow with the the En-set, or repeat blows per background dot stipple? The result is very good, and your overall designs never fail.

Rod

 

[Peter E]

BEAUTIFULLY done Lee. The client will love it no doubt!

 

[Lee]

It's a nice pick-me-up on a Saturday morning to read all of the comments. Thanks.

Roger, it is a Luxus Arms. I believe at least some of the ownership if not all is an offshoot of Luxus Walnut.

Mike, I haven't slept well in years. I'm sure there is a way to blame it on farming and kids.

Bigransom-I looked at the design again and realized that it is a good example of something I put in my book and DVD. For those that have them refer to the section that talks about a variety of sizes-big, medium, small. This piece has a rectangular panel for each side and two equal sized scrolls probably could have been fit in but I chose not to. I began the design with a large scroll that occupies approximately half of the space and rolled into two other scrolls to fill the rest. The bottom right of the second side is roughly the medium sized scroll and the top right is the small. The small scroll overlaps the medium and by covering up a bit it also downsizes the medium a touch pushing it a little closer to the medium category. In addition I have an overlap and also one interlocking element-the three leaves interlocking with the large scroll near the beginning. All of these -variety of sizes, overlapping, and interlocking- add a little extra interest and sophistication. A challenge with every design is to make it arresting without becoming too involved and confusing.

Rod- I used the gravermach for the beaded background. I suspect there are ways to use the enset for this application but I'm very accustomed to the gravermach for this and it works as I wish. I did use the enset for the rest-cutting and shading scroll. It's a new tool and I can't resist test driving it on new courses. I chose to stipple in the shading instead of lines thinking that on this project it might give it a bit more of the "tooled leather" look. The enset worked very well in this application. Between these two machines I have a wonderful range of speeds and possibilities. This will sound really strange to some of you but I normally run my magnum between 1200-1400 and after using the enset for a while, the magnum felt like it was going really fast, perhaps too many years on tractors and combines.

Now I am going to reveal my latest secret- a new application for milk. Milk has become the base for my smoothies, just yesterday a delightful elixir of spinach, peas, carrots, corn, beans, strawberries, bananas, and protein powder. All were frozen except the milk and banana. I think I would recommend leaving out the peas. It's a strong taste that is hard to cover up. I was doing just fine until a couple of unblended clumps landed in the third glass. To my relief it was the banana. I really dislike biting down on clumps of frozen peas or spinach. Come to think of it this may be contributing to my insomnia either by inducing too much energy or indigestion related nightmares. As a side note I have tables at both the Dallas Safari Club show and Engravers Guild show and would be delighted to sit down and dine with anyone attending. I do have a well deserved reputation for excellent taste in exquisite cuisine.

 

[jetta77]

great effect! Thanks for showing us Lee

 

[Titian]

Wow I love it.

 

[Brian Marshall]

You must have done a little research and studyin'?

In another incarnation, I was a saddlemaker and carved leather...

You definitely did it well!


Brian

 

[Christian DeCamillis]

Lee,

This is truly an eye catcher and you have created something unique for sure. I always said you were unique or was that a freak. I don't remember. Seriously though this is wonderful. BTW what are you going to call this style. I was thinking it should be called Ornamental LEEther scroll.

Chris