Wings Over Lake Perez – a leather stamping collection from Shaver's Creek raptor country
A September study. Volume I-A.
Wings Over Lake Perez is a small collection of stamped leather from raptor country – the hawks and owls of Shaver's Creek and the woodlands around Lake Perez in central Pennsylvania. Five designs, each pressed into the object whose daily use matches the bird's own habit.
First, the broad-winged hawks. Every September they rise off these ridges in spiraling kettles and ride the thermals south, carrying nothing at all. We drew the kettle climbing over the wooded ridge and gave the luggage tag its motto – TRAVELS LIGHT.
Looks great when stamped onto the leather. The black tag carries the gold; forest green and caramel take the deep plain press.
Next, the American kestrel, the small falcon that hunts from wires and fence posts. On the journal it perches on the top rule of the page – the line becomes its wire – above the words FIELD NOTES. A journal is where a sighting gets written down while the light is still right.
It looks genuinely beautiful, on the warm gray and on the honeyed russet alike.
Then the great horned owl, for the keys. The owl takes the night shift over the valley; you get to go home. HOME BY DARK, under the tufted face.
The black fob takes the design in gold – the color of the owl's eyes at dusk. The caramel fob wears it deep and plain.
Then the toiletry bags. The peregrine falcon is named for travel – peregrinus, the one who journeys far from home. We pressed its hooded head and moustache mark small into the lower corner of the bag that goes wherever you do, on a warm gray bag over a dark espresso base, slate over forest floor.
Looks great pressed small into the corner.
And finally, the catchall tray, the one we kept for Lake Perez. We drew the long boardwalk reaching out into the water and the woodland closing around the far shore, with a few birds coming down at dusk. Around the rim runs the plain truth of every catchall – EVERYTHING LANDS HERE.
Looks absolutely gorgeous when stamped onto the golden tan tray.
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.
P.S.
