Leathercuts is a unique western art form
reflecting artist Bob Cossman’s experience of cowboy life. Bob was
introduced to leather work while still in his teens, living in Texas
and attending Cal Poly Tec and Texas Christian University’s School
of Ranch Management. He worked part time tooling saddles, wallets
and belts for a local saddle shop. Bob explains, “I was a grunt for
an old Mexican saddle maker at the store. Now, he was an artist. I
learned a deep appreciation for craftsmanship and the heritage of
fine leather work”.
Bob’s first leather pictures were done from photos of his college
rodeo teammates in action. The carved leather pictures he produced
were laced to a cowboy’s rope bag or tack duffel. Excited by the
results, Bob devoted more and more time to pictures and less to
classical leather tooling. Dissatisfied with the restrictions of
available leather tools, Bob experimented, creating his own devices
to cut and mold the leather. The technique, reminiscent of scrimshaw
(which Bob also does) produced the look of a pen and ink drawing cut
with a graver.
Bob’s Leathercuts subjects come from memory or from photographs
taken while doing his job as a cowboy, feed yard doctor, and ranch
manager. As the years passed, the pictures became more exacting in
detail and color. Bob’s technique has evolved to using only knife,
bevel and brush to make thousands of individual cuts in the leather.
The textured relief and natural warmth of leather is especially
suited to his subject, Western Americana. In producing fine quality
giclee prints from Bob’s Leathercuts, great care was taken to
capture the detailed cuts and the grain of the leather.
Home | About | Gallery | Order | Contact
