Limited release | only 5 were made

Quiet Horizon

A STUDY IN WASHED HIDES

Sculptural, freehand leather pieces shaped with no templates and painted in soft watercolor gestures. Each form is one-of-one, minimal, and quietly expressive… meant to be carried like an art object, not a utility bag. A collection about breath, restraint, and companion pieces that hold mood.

Recently, one early morning, I came across an image of sculptural bags beautifully cadenced as they dotted a gallery wall. Flat. Minimal. Quietly commanding. Next thing I know, I’m in the studio and feeling more alive than I’ve felt in quite sometime. Everything else had been feeling forced. This was anything but that. 

I’ve played with the idea of watercolor on leather for years, but that morning... I finally picked up a brush. The whole start of the collection just spilled out like it had been waiting for a green light… or that perfect space, place and time.

The shapes came first…hand-cut, unrehearsed, irregular in a way that felt perfect. Freeing actually. No patterns… just the leather, my hand and the blade. Then watercolor. Washed into the grain with almost no direction from me. Horizon lines in earth tones just effortlessly flowed and embedded themselves into the leather. I wanted the handles to be structural… artistic forms in and of themselves. The main bodies stayed minimal and flat so they could read as sculpture first, carry pieces second. Wearable art. Companion objects of atmosphere. Something you carry lightly to a gallery opening or set beside your favorite painting at home.

Of course I thought I’d finish them in a few days. Life said otherwise. Doubt crept in. I had to step back more than once and remember they weren’t supposed to become anything other than what they were meant to be. I realized that restraint had become a major part of this study… so many times I wanted to add more detail, a gusset, or hardware. But I had to remind myself that is not what this collection was about and that in and of itself was very freeing. After building the River Collection for so long…those structured, lineage-driven forms…Quiet Horizon became a counterbalance of breath and gesture. 

Two weeks later, they’ve evolved into something I’m genuinely proud of. Loose, whimsical, imperfect on purpose. Each silhouette stands alone, but they also hum together as a whole. There will only ever be one of each. Meant to be observed. Meant to be carried like quiet company. 

Studies in art history are often the most intimate objects…where the artist’s hand is bare. These pieces carry that same energy. They’re not bags for errands. They’re worn like a ring or a cuff. A sculptural adornment. A punctuation. A mood you take with you.

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a peek at the process in motion...