My passion for working with leather continues to push me to improve my skills and techniques on a daily basis.
My first encounter with leather work happened when I was employed at a residential drug & alcohol treatment centre back in 2003. Part of treatment for clients was learning healthy forms of recreation & leisure. The recreation therapists did many many activities with the clients, including running the large craft room. There, the clients could work with ceramics, traditional painting, and leather.
I worked as a Client Care Assistant, so a big part of my job was interacting with clients in a therapeutic way. A great way to do that was working on some leather right there with the clients. This was the first time I had the opportunity to work with leather and there was something about the physical interaction of taking a hammer and pounding on a stamping tool to make an impression in the leather. I became hooked, but had no idea how much I didn't know about this craft.
In the beginning I made thin bracelets for people I worked with as well as family and friends. All the work I did back then was with the stamping tools that anybody could purchase. My creativity allowed me to come up with many cool designs, but I was limited with the stamping tools I was using.
The big leap off the ledge came when I went to Tandy Leather in Edmonton around 2005 to purchase my own leather working tools. That was the beginning of using a swivel knife & bevelling tools to create whatever design I wanted. Through trial and error and experimentation, I've slowly taught myself the skills of leather working. I've been at it for 16 years and still have so much to learn. My goal is to have a shop where people can find leather accessories of the highest quality in design and originality. I love doing custom requests, don't hesitate to convo me with any idea you may have.
Thanks for reading my story,
Alexander.
