Leather Art: Molding, Shaping, and Color Techniques to Take Your Work Beyond the Ordinary

Through 18 projects with step-by-step instructions, leather artist and gallerist Cathy Wiggins teaches you how to create beautiful and functional art by molding and sculpting leather. Although intermediate-level leather crafters will find this book especially inspiring, no previous leather experience is required, and this way of artistically using leather is also appealing to anyone ready to try leather as a new art medium.

Start by making a leather vase and small bowls to understand the basics about how shaping, molding, and color use can deeply impact any leather item. The next projects show how to use those techniques to create more-complex pieces. Each utilizes skills learned in the previous chapters, building your confidence in molding and sculpting leather as you progress through the book.

You’ll learn how to select the right leather, use dyes and paints to create depth and dimension, and then use molds to sculpt the leather into just about any shape you can dream up. Projects include bowls, catchall trays, lighting, table sculptures such as a Rawhide Fish and the artist’s popular design the Reading Angel, and dimensional wall art. Plus, an inspiration gallery of Cathy’s original art offers you even more ideas to get excited about in your own work.