An issue of the Society’s newsletter, transcribed from the original. Download as PDF.
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Page 1
[Transcribed from the original eight-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].]
[[The masthead prints "VOLUME XLI NO. 3". By the sequence of the preceding issues — Fall 1992 as Vol XLII No. 1 and Winter 1992 as Vol XLII No. 2 — this should read Vol XLII No. 3. The volume numbering is erratic throughout these years and is transcribed here as printed.]]
CANADIAN LEATHERCRAFT VOLUME XLI NO. 3 SPRING 1993 0045-5121
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
Index 1 E. Ellin Carter: Leatherworker 2 Book Review René Hackstetter Adieu: Bob Muma 3 Lois MacPherson Moving? 3 Work Safety 3 Canadian Safety Council 1993 Membership Fees 3 Madeleine Mitchell Free Form Stacked Box 4 Bruce White 5 Busy Year 6 Dorothy McPherson Advertisements 7 C.S.C.L. Workshop 8
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.
EXECUTIVE
President: Don MacLeod 2165 Corsair Road Mississauga ON L5A 2L7 1st Vice Pres: Jack Meharg 36 Bailey Crescent Scarborough ON M1G 2P3 2nd Vice Pres: Glenn Nelson 152 First Street Campbellford ON K0L 1L0 Treasurer: Lea Love 311-3695 Kaneff Cr. Mississauga ON L5A 4B6 Recording Sec: Kevin Armstrong 1377 Hurontario St. Mississauga ON L5G 3H5 Correspond. Sec: Lois MacPherson 1407-350 Lynnwood Dr. Oakville ON L6H 1M8 Membership: Madeleine Mitchell 17 Light Street Woodstock ON N4S 6G7 Editor: Lois MacPherson 1407-350 Lynnwood Dr. Oakville ON L6H 1M8 Editor: Betsy Rennie 1357 Baldwin St. Burlington ON L7S 1K1
[The original prints "Cosair" for Corsair, "Cambellford" for Campbellford and "Lynnwodo" for Lynnwood.]
Page 2
E. ELLIN CARTER: ART LEATHERWORKER
Book Review by René Hackstetter
Reading through some old issues of "The Studio", a British magazine founded in 1893 and devoted to the Fine and Applied Arts, I discovered a reference to an "E. Ellin Carter", an Art Leatherworker whose studio was located in the West End of London.
The issue of August 14, 1926, has an advertisement from Miss Carter, a gold and silver medalist from the Paris Salon and London, indicating that her production includes "Caskets, Covers, Cases and Bags...suitable for GIFTS and presentations".
I wondered if there might be more information on this artisan and, scanning through "The Studio" published in the years after WWI and before WWII, I found other advertisements and discovered her studio was originally at 3 Stratford Court, then moved to 128 Crawford, around 1927. The information was scant, until one day, on a ride to the Beaches, I stopped into a little bookshop and found a small volume entitled "Artistic Leatherwork" by E. Ellin Carter. This copy was the third edition 1926 New Impression, and the publisher was E & F Spon Ltd., an Industrial Publisher from London. It runs 67 pages and there are six plates and twenty-one illustrations.
[The page reproduces Miss Carter's 1926 advertisement from "The Studio":]
Miss E. ELLIN CARTER ART LEATHERWORKER Gold and Silver Medallist. Exhibitor, Paris Salon and London Caskets. Covers, Cases and Bags of every description suitable for Gifts and Presentations. Work may be seen on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. 128, Crawford Street, Baker Street, W.1. (Eight minutes' walk from the recent Studio)
This delightful book is divided into seven chapters - Introductory Notes, Tools and Materials, Methods of Decoration, Colouring and Staining, Gilding, Padded and Embossed Work and Making Up.
Miss Carter’s critical observation in the introduction is that "...the thought, the conception at the back of the expression (is what)...stamps the work as either vital of lifeless." Miss Carter then outlines six methods of decorating leather - Cut or incised Work, Embossed, Modelled, Carved, Hammered or Punched and Mosaic Work.
Worth reading...and it’s in the Library!
[A photograph of the book's title page is reproduced:]
ARTISTIC LEATHER WORK
A HANDBOOK ON THE ART OF DECORATING LEATHER
by E. ELLIN CARTER 6 Plates from Work executed by the Author and 21 Illustrations THIRD EDITION · NEW IMPRESSION London: E. & F. N. SPON, LTD, 57 HAYMARKET, S.W.1 New York: SPON & CHAMBERLAIN, 120 LIBERTY STREET 1924 [the date is indistinct in the scan]
Page 3
MEMBERSHIP FEES ARE DUE APRIL 1, 1993
INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS - $20.00 SUSTAINING MEMBERS - $35.00
PLEASE SEND CHEQUE (NO CASH) TO:
MADELEINE MITCHELL
17 LIGHT STREET WOODSTOCK, ON, N4S 6G7
BRANCH TREASURERS, PLEASE COLLECT MEMBERS FEES AND SEND TOGETHER TO SAVE POSTAGE. MEMBERS ATTENDING THE ANNUAL MAY PAY THEN.
Madeleine Mitchell
ADIEU
This February, C.S.C.L. lost a valued and remarkable friend in leather - Bob Muma. Bob’s life and history as a charter member of C.S.C.L. will be celebrated by Fred Brown in a future issue of Canadian Leathercraft.
Lois MacPherson
MOVING?
There are so many people to inform when you move -friends, utilities, credit card companies, government agencies, circulation departments and clubs and organizations you belong to. THAT’S US!
Please don’t forget to let Madeleine Mitchell know if you change addresses. We need to know in order to keep your bulletin coming!
WORK SAFETY
Although it was a surprising revelation earlier this century, today we are well aware that the stresses and strains of working in unnatural positions or ~3- remaining static for many hours can have serious negative, long-term effects on our health. A great deal of time and money have been spent minimizing the risk of back, neck and joint injuries to computer operators and others who "sit on the job", but more attention needs to be paid to appropriate chairs for working at home.
The lumbar region of the back needs to be well supported and chairs should allow you to place your feet flat on the floor and to sit with your elbows at a 90 degree angle to the work surface. If your chair are not adjustable, a foot rest or chair pad can be used to improve the fit.
You also need to face your work squarely, without twisting. The construction of your work table must allow room for your feet to fit underneath so that you are not leaning forward an unnatural angle.
Proper lighting is important, too.
Plan both natural and installed lighting to eliminate glare as well as shadows. Lighting problems interfere with the ability to distinguish visual detail, creating an unsafe situation when using sharp tools or handling hot substances.
(Canada Safety Council)
Page 4
FREE FORM STACKED BOX
by Bruce White
Decide on the dimensions.
Cut sole leather pieces for body, about 5 or six pieces to a depth of about 1-3/4".
Cut top - 2 pieces.
Glue body together. Rough all surfaces but the top piece.
Glue 2 pieces for the top. Make sure the inside piece is in good condition. After the glue has set, cut the outside of the body of the box. Free form is best, but it can be rectangular or oval.
To cut the inside of the box, make sure you have 2 points in opposite corners that are thicker, for the lid swivel.
Cut the inside with a coping saw or scroll saw. Do not try to use a chisel, as the pounding will loosen the glued leathers. If you have trouble with sawing, add numerous drill holes around the area to be cut out. the inside piece can be used for another box, so no waste.
After cutting, sand inside and out.
I use a drill press or drill with sanding drums. (If you can’t get sanding drums, cut a length of 3/4" dowling, about 3" long. Put a long bolt (4 x 1/4") through it. Make a narrow saw cut along the dowel, then place sand paper in the saw cut and wrap sand paper in the same direction as the drill runs. Then put elastic bands around the top to hold the sandpaper and start sanding. (Use up to about 300 gnit.)
Tack the finished box on the lid. Cut the lid into 2 parts - no straight lines (gentle or "S" curve) Sand this cut, both sides, and make sure they align closing. After finishing, put the 2 pieces together again and put the bottom of the box on and trace around the outside. Then cut and sand the outside. Now take the sander and sculpt the top (small dip in the centre of one side).
Put the top on and drill 2 holes through the top and body at the thick part of the body. Use 2 pieces of brass rod - coat hanger wire will work. (1-1/4" or longer)
Now cut 2 pieces of leather slightly larger than the top section and tool your pattern.
Cut the bottom piece (6/7 oz) and tool for inside pattern on the bottom.
Glue 2 top pieces, cut to shape and finish. Finish bottom inside.
Dye all parts and finish.
Place the brass rods in the holes of the top and glue in place.
On the inside of the bottom, glue the tooled leather in place and cut it to the shape of the outside. Now assemble the top by placing the rods in the holes. If the rods are too loose, remove and carefully make a slight bend in the middle. This tightens the rods in the holes.
Now glue a piece of suede to the bottom, as a protector and to finish it off.
Happy leather working!
Page 5
[A full-page hand-drawn pattern sheet for the stacked box, hand-lettered:]
FREEFORM STACKED BOX
Top - 2 pieces
SIDE VIEW
Bottom, approx. 5-6 pieces (approx. 1-3/4" deep)
Pattern · Pattern · Brass rod
[At the foot of the page, a boxed invitation:]
HAVE YOU EVER FELT LIKE.........?
What's the funniest, most frustrating or most embarrassing story in your leathercraft experience? Jot it down and send it to us. Give us all a laugh, even if it's at your expense!
[Beside it, a cartoon: a customer at a leathercraft counter beneath a sign reading "LEATHER BELTS EMBOSSED WITH YOUR NAME". The assistant asks "What's yer full name?"; the customer replies "LICOLN BARTHOLOMEW ALOYSIOUS ABERCROMBIE KATZENALLENBOGEN DUNALD, JUNIOR." ["LICOLN" and "DUNALD" are as lettered; Lincoln and Donald are meant.] The hand lettering is only partly legible in the scan and the names are given as best they can be read.]
Page 6
BUSY YEAR
By Dorothy McPherson
"Good morning, and welcome to Haliburton School of Fine Arts. I’m sure glad you're all here, because if you weren't here, I wouldn’t be here", was instructor David McPherson’s opening remark to the Class of ’92 in LEATHER BOXES at Haliburton School of Fine Arts last summer.
C.S.C.L. was well represented by five people. For many students, me included, it was a first attempt at box-making. Don Colvin, talented Toronto leather garment maker, always wore an earring to class while he was instructing that week, so our BOXES class made him a_ dangling earring cut from the side of one of our boxes. That week, leather made headlines in Haliburton’s newspaper, THE ECHO, when a reporter had me pose on a handmade wicker seat with one of my leather decoys, outside Rail’s End Gallery. Risking life and limb, I perched on the very edge of the railway station platform. The feature article resulting from my death-defying act of courage on behalf of "leather", highlighted the Haliburton Highlands Guild of Fine Arts (HHGFA) show and sale held the following week.
HHGFA membership ($15 single, $25 family) is open to all media and, as Guild members, we sold at the popular annual show, with the Guild keeping a graded commission from sales, depending on how many volunteer hours we put in demonstrating leather work and cashiering. Other jobs included checking crafters in and out of the show. When the fashion show section needed someone to model a man’s handknit pullover sweater, David good-naturedly agreed to do it and I captured the event on film
Our Donnelly dolls and triangular box, submitted to the juried portion of the show remained on display throughout the week. We each had separate tables of leather goods and I sold out of decoys. Then I had to make more. While other people at our Lake Kashaga-wigamog trailer park were soaking up sunshine, we were busy making leather earrings and pins.
Leather was represented at the lively auction held by HHGFA at Pinestone Inn, when David, as a ’92 instructor, donated a box. Several BOXES students attended the Haliburton School of Fine Arts buffet supper and evening of casual entertainment at Wigamog Inn.
CLASS OF ’93: LEATHER BOXES course is scheduled to run Monday-Friday, July 19-23. Registration/information: Sir Sandford Fleming College, Box 339, Haliburton, ON, K0M 1S0.
Meanwhile, we've been busy preparing work and slides for OCC’s ONTARIO Crafts 93 show. David made a box and I inset gemstones in a leather bowl. The show runs from June 9th to September Sth, at the Craft building, 35 McCaul Street, Toronto.
To promote leather crafting, we spoke about it at a Niagara Guild of Crafts regular meeting last year. My leather horse, PEGASUS-GALAXY TRIPPER was in the Midwest. ’92 OCC. show. It appeared in my Welland/Port Colborne newspaper column. That essay also appears in my Canada 125 cardbook, MISS JANEY CANUCK desktop published in June.
Our latest venture? In November we leased gallery space at Guildhouse, 140 Talbot Street, St. Thomas, where they sell leathergoods for us.
David and his studio apprentice are now preparing entries for the C.S.C.L. ’93 Annual.
SEE YOU THERE!
Page 7
BRUCE H WHITE · LEATHERCRAFT
[Decorative border lettering: SNAPS · RIVETS · EYELETS]
I WILL BE SELLING HARDWARE AND SUPPLIES
AT THE C.S.C.L. ANNUAL MEETING
IF YOU NEED ANY SPECIAL SUPPLIES
PLEASE CONTACT ME AT
1-416-755-4464
LEAVE A MESSAGE IF NO ANSWER
NEW HORIZONS — Garnett Company
WE'LL BE THERE!
ENGLISH CARVING LEATHER 2-9 OZ
NATURAL SKIVER
BELTING SPLITS
Leather Dyes · Litres by order only
Golden Tan
Call Joyce 844-9471 GARNETT CO.
SEE YOU AT THE ANNUAL!
Page 8
C.S.C.L. WORKSHOP
WHEN: Saturday May 29, 1993 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. PLACE: Cooksville United Church 2500 Mimosa Row Mississauga, Ontario DEMONSTRATOR: BETSY RENNIE PROJECT: Making a Pattern for a Leather Vest.
PLEASE BRING: Brown or White paper suitable for a Pattern.
Large enough to draw a Front and a Back
2 pieces 18" x 40" or 1 Piece 36" x 40"
Meter stick and Square or a Roll of Tape measure
Masking Tape
Pencil, eraser, and Paper Scissors
DIRECTIONS: From Hwy #401, take Hurontario or Hwy #10, go south one street past Hwy #5, turn left (there is a Plaza on the left and a service station). Turn left onto Mimosa Row.