Grand & Main – leather studies of Painesville, Ohio
From the Practice Log – an ongoing series of original leather stamping studies.
A September study, Volume I-D.
Grand & Main is a small leather collection rooted in Painesville, Ohio – named for the river that runs through the town and the street that runs through the middle of it. Luggage tags and journals, a toiletry bag and a catchall tray, each pressed from a die we drew for this place.
First, the smallest traveler in town. Township Park's new meadows were planted with asters and sunflowers for the monarchs passing through, and every fall the monarchs leave Painesville for the mountains of Mexico. So we set one above its aster, over the words PAINESVILLE TO MEXICO.
The black tag carries the design in gold; the golden tan and navy tags take a blind press.
It looks genuinely beautiful.
Next, the fishing pier at Township Park, drawn from a photograph – the railed walk running out under the curved canopy toward the low sun on the lake, with ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD arced over the horizon. We put it at the center of the catchall tray, where the keys land when the day is done.
Looks great when stamped onto the leather.
Then, the town's first name. The earliest settlement here was called Oak Openings, for the scrub oaks that grew in its sandy soil, so we cut an oak sprig with two acorns above the words. It presses small into the corner of the toiletry bag, honeyed russet over deep espresso, and onto a chestnut journal – a journal being a kind of opening too.
And finally, the one for the flower people. A perennial dies back every winter and returns every spring, so we drew the whole promise – the bloom above the ground line, the bulb waiting below it – over the word PERENNIAL. It rides two keychains, deep green and pale rose, and a journal in dusty lavender.
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 any of these made real, or anything here changed – say hello through our contact page.
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