Horace Thomas & Shawn Thomas

I’ve been a full time, self-employed leather smith for thirty-five years. Until her current illness, I worked in our studio and at art shows with my wonderful wife of 36 years, Barbara Thomas. Now our son Shawn is helping with many of her jobs and sometimes doing shows without me so I can stay home to help Barbara through her difficult and too frequent chemotherapies. The leatherwork you see in this booth is the result of my work and my son Shawn’s work in our own studio. Sometimes we even cajole his sister Tanna into the workshop to help with some of the dozens of projects that need to be finished.

My favorite job is using architectural design methods to bring unique, practical shapes to the all too rectangular world of leather bags. Also we’ve enjoyed developing and constructing many unique styles of belts and small leather articles over the years. Currently I am having great fun discovering a process for transferring my artwork permanently onto leather. I am still happiest when I am cutting, shaping, dying and finishing a great smelling piece of cowhide into a functional, well designed object.