An issue of the Society’s newsletter, transcribed from the original. Download as PDF.
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Page 1
[Transcribed from the original 8-page issue. Paragraphs are reflowed from the original setting; spelling, punctuation and wording follow the original, including its own inconsistencies. Editorial notes appear in [square brackets].]
CANADIAN LEATHERCRAFT
VOLUME XLIX NO. 1 — FALL 1999 — 0045-5121
2. WONDERFUL WORDS OF WISDOM JACK MEHARG 3. LOST MEMBERS THIS YEAR EDITOR DON MACLEOD 4. & 5. DEMO BY SILVA FOX SILVA FOX 6. & 7. & 8. LEATHER IN THE MILLENNIUM BILL WHITTINGHAM 8. WOODSTOCK REPORT MADELEINE MITCHELL
All material published in Canadian Leathercraft is the property of THE CANADIAN SOCIETY FOR CREATIVE LEATHERCRAFT and may not be reproduced in any form without the permission of the Society.
President: Bill Whittingham 42 Robinhood Rd. Islington Ont. M9A 2W8 1st Vice-Pres: Nancy Durham RR #4 Princeton Ont. N0J 1V0 2nd Vice-Pres: Jack Meharg 36 Bailey Cres. Scarborough Ont. M1G 2P3 Treasurer: David Windeyer #507 95 Prince Arthur Ave Toronto Ont. M5R 3P6 Recording Sec: Kevin Armstrong 1377 Hurontario St. Mississauga Ont. L5G 3H5 Corrsp. Sec: Membership: Madeleine Mitchell 17 Light St. Woodstock Ont. N4S 6G7 Editor: Kevin Armstrong 1377 Hurontario St. Mississauga Ont. L5G 3H5 Editor: Don Macleod 2165 Corsair Rd. Mississauga Ont. L5A 2L7
[The Corresponding Secretary line is printed with no name and no address. The McPhersons held the post through Summer 1999; the masthead does not say whether it had become vacant.]
THE NEXT ISSUE WILL HAVE ALL THE INFORMATION, DATES, WHERE AND HOW TO REGISTER FOR THE JUDGING IN EACH CASE, THE BIENNIAL AND THE ANNUAL IN WOODSTOCK AND FOR WHERE TO SEND YOUR REGISTRATION, AMOUNTS, AND ENTRY FORMS.
TO BE SENT IN JANUARY 2000.
DON'T FORGET YOUR 6" X 6" QUILT SQUARE, DESIGN AND DO IT YOURSELF AND PUT YOUR NAME ON IT.
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"WONDERFUL WORDS OF WISDOM"
Nothing is impossible to a willing heart. Patience unlocks the door to achievement. Victory belongs to the most preserving. Laughter by definition is healthy. Beauty without virtue is like a flower without perfume. The secret of getting ahead is getting started. Your attitude determines your altitude. Greet the dawn with enthusiasm and you may expect satisfaction at sunset. We do not remember days, we remember moments. What you have inside counts less than what you have inside. Never lose a chance at saying a kind word. The greatest gift we can give to others is a good example. We can't direct the wind but, we can adjust the sails. Seek first to understand ---- Listen !!! Pleasure in the job, puts Perfection in the work !
Submitted by our own old philosopher
JACK MEHARG, Toronto Group May 28, 1999
[The eleventh line is printed as it stands, with inside in both halves.]
Page 3
"WE HAVE LOST THREE LONG TERM MEMBERS THIS YEAR"
This spring and summer we lost 3 long time members.
GLEN NELSON
In the spring we received word of the sudden passing of Glen Nelson, long time Member-at-Large, at his home. We all remember him and his wife at the annuals, always enjoying themselves and participating in discussions at meetings. Glen at one time a member of the Executive, did beautiful work, which he loved to display, and teach to others at workshops at the annuals.
BEA RUSHTON
In June I received letter from Bea's daughter in Iroquois Falls, telling us that her mother had passed away earlier this year. Bea had been from Kingston, she had been a Member-at-Large since the Kingston chapter had closed down about 15-20 years ago.
BEA AUSTIN
Late in mid-summer we received word of the passing of former long time Executive member and one of the original members of the Hamilton Guild. Bea always dropped in at workshops held at her church in Hamilton, and always had a good word to say to everyone. A long time Fellow of C.S.C.L., she just picked up a piece she was judging, ran her fingers over the edges and made her mark decision at once, no questions asked. Her group will miss her very much.
When People disappear from the Executive or the Annual meetings, where they have been active for some time, people wonder but, being Canadian, they don't ask.
Sometime its refreshing to find the answers given to why they are not around any longer. Our deepest sympathy goes out to all members of families and groups over the loss of these members.
[The forename is printed Glen Nelson here; he is Glenn Nelson everywhere else in this run, including his 1997 Associate citation. The notice also records that a Kingston chapter existed and closed about 1979–84.]
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This copy and demo are from a local workshop that Silva Fox gave to her local guild.
From the Desk of Silva Fox
I want to thank all of you who participated in the "back to basics" tooling class given at the August meeting. Everyone did very well and I look forward to seeing continuing progress in the future. My schedule is hectic in the next couple of months but, I wanted you to complete the rose pattern in a sensible period of time. If you have questions about basic tooling there are several guild members, Don Berglund, Hugh Cassidy, etc. who are more than qualified and willing to help.
Tooling steps are done in this order because the impressions from different tools take better at different moisture levels.
1. Transfer & cut - Use more pressure for heavier cuts on areas over only background and lighter cuts in areas that overlap. Remember that on my patterns solid lines mean to cut; short dashes mean to bevel only and long dashes mean to cut VERY lightly.
2. Bevel - Try outline beveling the flower first to see how much depth is available to work with then bevel the petals inside the rose. Use the F976 pointed tool for the serrated leaves and work from the cut line on the leaf to the tip.
3. Flatten ridges - Use a large figure beveler to flatten the ridges caused by previous beveling. This helps to give the scene multiple depths.
4. Pear shading - Tilt the tool to fit smaller areas and shape the rose petals. If you find the tools I suggest too large for your own comfort, use slightly smaller ones.
5. Vein - Begin veining at the base of a leaf and work toward the tip. Gradually place the tool marks closer together and tap lighter as you reach the tip.
6. Background/Mat - These steps are done as smoothly as possible to push the background into the distance.
7. Model and double check the design before calling it finished.
As you look over the tool work watch for and correct the following "MOST COMMON ERRORS" that I see as a competition judge.
1. Are the cuts clean -- was the swivel knife held straight up and down or are there undercuts?
2. Is the beveling done smoothly and on the correct side of the line?
3. Have the ridges left by beveling been flattened through out the design?
4. Does the pear shading have smooth transitions from deep to light and fade so the contours look real?
5. Are the veiners, camoflage and seeder tools spaced evenly to complement the overall design?
6. Is the backgrounding and matting done consistantly?
7. Have you nicked any raised edges with your tools? If so, smooth them with a modeler.
[Two guild members are named as sources of help — Don Berglund and Hugh Cassidy — members of Silva Fox's own guild in Illinois, not of CSCL.]
Page 5
[A full page of hand-lettered demonstration diagrams accompanying the tooling article, showing a carved rose at successive stages. The annotations are drawn rather than typeset and recover only in fragments; those that read are: USE VARYING DEPTHS OF CUTS; ROUGH BEVEL; NOW MAKE SURE THE SMOOTH TRANSITIONS FROM DEEP TO SHALLOW; ARE SHADOWS REALISTIC; FLATTEN THE .... No continuous text is recoverable and none is reconstructed here.]
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Leather and the Millennium
Hello fellow surfers. During the course of the summer I have visited many sites on the internet in search of sites that will inspire you and get those leather glands salivating for another year. This edition's focus is on exotic leathers, manufactured interiors that can be adapted to hand-crafted interiors and Christmas gifts for the "hard to buy for" crowd.
The first site comes from Australia and deals with a wide variety of different items. "Mick's Whips" features extensive use of crocodile and kangaroo hides as you'd expect and these exotics are used in the following categories: Whips, Wallets, Belts, Skins, Hats, Straps, Key rings, Earrings and there is a section call Books although at this time there is only one listed. I am assuming this last category is under construction and will be added to at a later date. Of course being essentially a whip site this seems to be Mick's area of expertise and the braiding is well done, but the other work represented here seems to be finished nicely as well.
To view this site go to: www.ozemail.com.au/~whips/wallets.htm
Oddly enough, one of my favorite things about this site has nothing to do with leather at all. The site has a currency converter which instantly tells you the equivalent of one country's currency in another country's currency. So for example, if you always wanted to know how many pesos you'd get for a Japanese yen, your answer is but a few clicks away. It's very handy indeed. I bookmarked the site for that feature alone.
The next two sites feature manufactured items, but the interiors are very unique and well within the realm of possibility for us to render by hand ourselves.
"The Wallet Store" has the usual manufactured items in the following categories: Ladies Wallets, Checkbooks, Handbags, Jute Bags, Handicrafts, Men's Wallets and Miscellaneous. The most interesting thing here is some of the interior combinations found in the wallet designs. If these interiors were rendered in a 4 1/2 ounce or goat calf skin the results would be stunning. Some of you may look at these interiors and shake your heads, but I urge you to take a second look. There are some very good ideas here, and things that we haven't tried before. If they do it by machine, we can do it better by hand.
Under the "handbag" category please take a moment to look at the "Masket" handbag. This has a very interesting, eye-pleasing shape, and personally I can envision this done in vegetan and a variety of exotic leathers. It simply screams style and panache and for those of you thinking of trying for your Associate or Fellow Certificate or that special Weston Trophy piece, this could be the item you've been searching for. The shape of this bag would also serve as a wonderful canvas for some elegant decorative carving or tooling.
For this site please go to http://walletstore.com/SOO-195.html
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The other site for the manufactured interiors is for "Dagas On-line".
Once again the interiors here are unique and some would say complicated but in my mind there is still no reason why any one of us could not produce them by hand. Time consuming yes, but the results would be well worth the effort.
Please go to http://www.dagas.com/tips.html
When the page is finished loading click PRODUCTS and there will be five leather goods categories to choose from: Wallets, Bags/Portfolios, Purses/Clutches, Planners/Organizers, Other Goods.
The wallets category has 4 pages with a wide variety of different interior designs, and the portfolios and planner/organizers were designed with the office professional in mind. Once again, I urge you to take a moment and study the construction of these pieces. Your first impression will be to run in the opposite direction, but upon careful reflection, I'm sure you'll agree that with a carefully selected leather and some quiet time, the hand-crafted results could be spectacular.
The last site is a bit of a hoot. It is for "Lazy Ass Ranch Inc." (I don't name them folks, just report my findings) and they specialize in trophy belt buckles. This site is extensive, it is thumbnailed for close up viewing of the pieces and there is some really oddball stuff here.
Please go to www.lazyassranch.com
First of all there is an impressive array of finishes available. You can choose from Brass, German Silver, Bronze, 24 Kt. Gold plate, Sterling Silver, Antique silver, or 24 Kt Gold Plate and silver, and all finishes are priced accordingly.
Categories include Oval, Rectangular and Sweetheart Trophy buckles. These are available only in the more expensive finishes so prices range from $80 US and up.
There is a small selection of Ranger buckles, also available in the more expensive finishes, but the star of the show is the Motif Trophy buckle selection. The finishes available are brass, antique silver or gold and silver plate and the prices range from $28.00 US to $59.00 US. This grouping of buckles is broken down into: Antique Colt Revolvers, State, Rodeo, Animals, Occupations, Schools, Sports, Military and finally Miscellaneous.
The "Animals" selection is different from what most of us are use to. Yes there are the requisite eagles, but there are also loons, antelopes and unicorns, just to name a few. Attention to detail is quite evident, they would be a pleasure to own as well as to give and the perfect complement to a hand made belt.
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You say you have a log truck driver in the family that is impossible to find a Christmas gift for? Well look no further my friends, they have a buckle for that special person under the "Occupations" heading. There are some of the most obscure occupations you could think of represented here and once again the detailing is quite well done. As I was browsing through this site, I found myself designing a number of belts in my head just for the opportunity to use one of these buckles. If belts aren't your thing, it is still worth the time to visit because I am certain you will find other project ideas popping up unexpectedly inspired by the designs on these buckles. Some of mankind's greatest creations started as a spark of an idea. Dare to dream.
Have you found a site you think should appear in this column? Is there something specific you want me to try for you? Let me know. You'll get credit and we'll all benefit.
Until next time, keep smiling and surfing.
Respectfully submitted, Bill Whittingham F.C.S.C.L.
WOODSTOCK REPORT — ALSO FOR THE MILLENNIUM
LEATHER 2000 "50 years of Leather"
Biennial report
Location is to be in the newly renovated "Grand Hall" second floor of the Woodstock Museum. Set-up May 20, 2000 and out by June 17, 2000. They have show cases we can use. There is an elevator. They will be producing a professional flyers and posters. Judging dates for entries still to be determined.
Annual Report
More next issue, dates April 14-15-16, the week before Easter, location has been established, and prices are being worked on, lots more in the next news letter in January 2000, plus entry forms for Biennial and Annual. Woodstock is repeating their request for quilt squares, remember your design, 6" by 6" square, 3-4 oz leather, do one or two if you please, especially if you haven't done one before.