Found Near the Brazos – leather studies of Bryan, Texas
From the Practice Log – an ongoing series of leather stamping studies in original design.
A September study. Volume I-D.
Bryan, Texas sits in the crook of the Brazos, and the river is generous with what it leaves behind – mammoth skulls in the gravel, bluebonnets over the old townsite at Boonville. Found Near the Brazos is a small leather collection built from that habit of finding, pressed onto luggage tags and journals, keychains and a catchall tray.
First, the mammoth. Their skulls have come out of the ground near the Brazos, older than the state and every fence in it, so we drew one mid-stride, tusks leading, and set OLDER THAN TEXAS beneath its feet.
The black luggage tag carries the design in gold; the deep brown keychain and the toiletry bag in warm tan over chestnut take a blind stamp. It looks genuinely beautiful.
Next, the turtle. We gave ours the high domed shell and spotted forelegs of a box turtle out on its morning errand, and arched IN NO PARTICULAR HURRY over the dome – a motto for the recipient who takes their time and is right to.
It walks across a golden tan luggage tag and a warm tan keychain. Looks great when stamped onto the leather.
Then Boonville, the county seat that came before Bryan. What stands there now is an 1856 dogtrot house with bluebonnets crowding the porch every spring, so we pressed the log facade, porch posts and all, with the flowers massed along the ground line and the town's name overhead.
It settles onto a deep green luggage tag and a journal in pale warm greige.
And finally, the one we liked the most. The Brazos is short for its old full name, los Brazos de Dios – the arms of God – so we drew the river from above, splitting into two arms around an island of stones, and set the name along the ring.
It fills the base of the golden tan catchall tray, where everything found in a pocket lands at night, and the cover of a navy journal. It looks absolutely gorgeous when stamped onto the leather.
We made this out of love. Leatherius Woodman is on a mission to create and share artifacts of beauty, craft and love – this study is one of them, and we hope the feeling is mutual. Every image is a render – how we prototype before cutting a die.
If you'd like this collection made real, or anything here changed – say hello through our contact page.
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