EHAL Magazine February 2017

Everything Horses and Livestock Magazine

The Art of Working with Leather

As Randy Cornelius and I begin to talk about his

passion for leather craft, my eyes couldn’t help but

wonder around his shop as I listened to his journey.

The first thing I see is his work bench where hun-

dreds of tools all have their place and his leather

work is mastered. As he carves and shapes the

leather, a tech light illuminates his work for perfec-

tion of each hand stroke. Everything is organized

and within reach.

I continue scanning the shop and focus on another

bench full of larger tools. There is leather every-

where, carved earrings and necklaces, tooled can-

teens, chinks, chaps, and saddle trees waiting for

leather.

As I focus back on Randy, my eyes stop on a

framed picture of a beautiful Indian village and

feather that is sporting a bald eagle, red string and

beads.

“This is an example of the leather pictures I have

been working on.” Oh my goodness the feather and

eagle are leather too! This piece is a favorite of his

wife Debbie and has a place on the wall in their

home.

As he puts down the completed piece, he shows me

one of the feathers up close. So many fine details

from the center vain to the curled edges and spot on

paint job, these feathers are one of a kind. Not only

do they look great in the leather pictures, they would

look fantastic in the side of a straw or felt hat too!

Picking up his latest leather picture project, this one

really caught my

eye. It is my per-

sonal favorite and

its not even com-

pleted yet.

This work of art is

a single piece of

flat leather carved

with a White Buffa-

lo, village and In-

dian head behind.

This buffalo looks

like he’s running

straight towards

me. You can see

and feel the buffa-

lo’s coat. I am very

anxious to see this project complete.

February 2017

EHALmagazine.com

Continued on Page 40