From the 15^th century man has carved, stamped and burnt designs into leather. Geometric then floral designs dominated for hundreds of years. then figure and pictorial carving were incorporated in a quest for excellence. There are a number of excellent books with more being written each year with new techniques, new tools for grass, trees and water means more intricate and lifelike designs can be put on the leather.

I can do virtually any scene possible, if you have a favourite place or a special memory then as long as you can describe it I can carve it. I can work from photographs if necessary as long as they are clear, at present I can’t do coloured carvings so please bear in mind that I can only do dog or bird shapes not specific markings like patches or plumage

The other slips I have done have been a variety of different game scenes depending on the quarry usually shot. For example I did a slip for a chap in Denmark which had deer, mallard and woodcock on as these were the quarry he most liked to shoot. For this slip I wanted to specialise a bit more and do a single large detailed scene. I have a picture I love by Elizabeth Halstead of two Springer’s flushing a pheasant from briars and used this for my inspiration with a man stood in trees with a lab by his side. I did the spaniels to look like they were part of the beating team flushing birds towards a standing gun with a peg dog. The rough briars were particularly difficult and I needed to go back to basics and learn how to use several new tools to achieve the look I wanted.

This is one of my favourite carvings and it was done for a 250 cartridge case. It was the first time I had done distant trees other than conifers and the first time I had done splashing water when a duck was landing, it took around 49 hours to carve but I am very pleased with the result

CONTACT DETAILS

Contact me I can be contacted via email for enquiries and to place orders. Please feel free to email me at info@hcleathers.co.uk  and we will get back to you at the earliest convenience.