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Fifteen years ago I attended two 6-week saddle making school on a dare from a friend who handed me a brochure and said "You should try this..." Fifteen years and nearly 300 custom made saddles later, I still find working with leather to be as challenging and exciting at it was back then. I took my friend up on his challenge and attended the course, taught one on one by Gary Maher, from Menoken, N.D. I completed the class, came home and built a half-dozen really, really horrible saddles...which I managed to peddle to relatives for the cost of materials. I found that saddle making is a craft that must be learned by doing-most seasoned veterans in the trade will say that you are not a saddle maker until you have built at least 100 saddles, and I would agree. All of the saddles that I build start out the same way; with a rawhide covered wooden "tree" - this forms the foundation of the saddle and is basically the same way saddles were constructed as far back as the late 1800's. I have been asked, in this section to address the meaning in my work that I want to communicate to those who engage with my art...I really like the last part of that statement..."those who engage with my art"...therefore all saddles that I construct must reflect an acceptable blend of both form and function for that cowboy it must be functional, strong, trustworthy...it must also be pleasing to the eye, something he can be proud of; that he can pass on to his son someday. For that horse, it must be comfortable; it must fit. Both cowboy and horse are a high level, "engaged" with my art. My work shows the influence of both contemporary and traditional masters of my trade...I have been privileged to work personally with several of my heroes in the industry and have found them all to be gracious and more then generous with their wisdom. My own personal style continues to evolve, day by day, year by year. Leather continues to be an excellent medium in which to express myself.
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