Two times in the past week two different people referred to me as a master leather worker. Honored for certain but it got me to thinking what such a title holds because I really don't see myself as one.
I have been working with leather since 2005. Before that, fabric was my medium. I was taught how to sew by my Mother who was a sample maker for a Boston area fashion designer, and she too was taught to sew by her Mother. I later on pursued a formal education at Massachusetts College of Art leaving there with a BA in fashion design and with a wealth of knowledge on how to bring to life a 2 dimensional concept. I can draft patterns and illustrate like no one's business.
After 10+ years of working at this leather biz thing, I can tell you a little about marketing, websites and SEO, customer service, graphic design and how to (and not to) grow and manage an ETSY shop. I have even had the honor to be tutored and have worked with an extraordinary Master leather artisan out in California. Through it all I have married, divorced, raised 2 kids mostly by myself, watched people I love deeply die, loved and lost and loved again. But Master?
I'm still learning, I'm still growing and I'm still evolving; as an artist, leather artisan, mompreneur, and person. And to be honest, the only thing I would like to master is life; how to live it in love. I feel as if that is the one thing in my life I'm actually able to have some control over. The other stuff, is just stuff I do that when I do it in love makes my life so much more enriched and complete.
Thanks for reading my rant. 💜