Darlin Companion – Heather Bartels

Leatherwork, Handbags, Satchels, Wearables

Fall Open Studio Map #52

I am in leather worker living in East Jamaica, Vermont. I make functional accessories like handbags, wallets and jewelry that is entirely hand stitched. It is my preference to work with leather from one of the oldest tanneries in Italy, the Badalassi Carlo tannery, because of the rich color palette and unique texture they achieve with environmentally safe, traditional vegetable tanning and processing. I source unique patterned hides from choice suppliers in the US to accentuate nearly every piece I make. My leather working  skills are self taught, though I have been trained in almost every medium starting from my days in Maryland Institute, College of Art in Baltimore, Maryland, where I studied fiber arts as a weaver. Leatherwork has offered me a way to marry my love and experience of so many mediums that I have worked in over the years, from metalwork to sewing to bookbinding and clothes making.