Leather by George - MacFest

George is enjoying displaying his leather work at downtown Mesa's MacFest. It will run every Saturday from October through May. This picture was taken on October 4th, the opening Saturday of the festival, by the Arizona Republic and was published in the paper. There has been a lot of interest in his work. In addition to the Republic, he has been mentioned in the Mesa Tribune. Many people have stopped to watch him work and ask questions about leather working. They want to touch and feel his work.

He has wrist bands available for the children and they have been a big hit. They can choose what they want on it from his many designs, he then adds their name and paints it. In the picture he is finishing one with a Boy Scout design for a young scout.

Come and check out MacFest and watch him "work". It's fun!

George started doing hand tooled leather work in 1953. While in the navy during the Korean War, he was stationed at the Naval Training Center in San Diego. He wanted to get a job to give us a little more money. He went to the Hobby Shop on base and asked them if they needed any help. They asked him if he had ever done any leather tooling. With a perfectly straight face, he told them "yes". Maybe he thought banging the mallet a couple of times when he was a very young boy scout, counted as leather work. At any rate, they hired him.

At first he worked the counter; selling supplies, collecting payment, stocking shelves, etc. It wasn't long before he was actually tooling leather and giving lessons as if he really knew what he was doing. I guess he did as there were never any complaints. While working there, he made his first purse, a stirrup bag for me. It has Brer' Rabbit, from my favorite fable, tooled and painted on it and is finished with red suede. I still have it.

In the early days of our marriage, he would do a little leather work. He made wallets for Christmas presents, belts for him, Paul, and Craig, and a couple of purses for me. While running his business, he never really had time to work at it seriously. It became just a leisure hobby. As a long time Scout Master, he taught the basic steps of leather work to many scouts, and served as a Boy Scout Merit Badge Councilor for Leather Work.

It wasn't until he retired and we moved to Mesa that he had the time to really work at it. Still, it was just a hobby, making gifts for family and friends. After we had been here several years, I talked him into entering a piece of his work at the Arizona State Fair for judging. That very first entry won a Premium Blue Ribbon for first place. For the next few years, he entered one or two pieces and received a ribbon on each piece he entered; first, second, third, or honorable mention. He realized he was good at this, and he was hooked!

Now, he would like to make people aware of what is involved in tooling leather. With so much commercial work being sold where the designs are stamped on and much of the finish work is done by machine, hand tooling and finishing, is becoming a lost art. To keep it alive, and because he enjoys it so much, he will continue with his leather art. MacFest is his first venture in taking his work to an Arts Festival.