Denby Jorgensen
I am an artist. I create and make, and then I go and create more. Over the years I have done a great deal of work in the plastic arts starting with illustration and more towards concept art, digital design, and photography. I’ve loved all of it, but these days much of my focus has been on photography and leatherwork.
Outside of leatherworking I keep busy helping others be it through crisis intervention or just lending a hand to friends in need. I also tend to have my hands full taking care of my son, a number of pets, and far too many plants.
Leatherwork
I started in leatherwork many years ago during a challenging time of grief and transformation in my life. As a medium, I found it to be both complicated and yet exciting and rewarding – to make the switch from working on a two dimensional surface to three dimensions was new to me, and not only that once cut or coloured there is no undo, there is no going back. As the final results can last a lifetime of daily wear and exposure to the elements I’ve been passionate about doing everything I can to ensure it is both functional and a work of art. I have had to learn techniques from the past that are not readily available available anymore, and create new ones that have never been documented. My specialties from my earlier years of being an artist are working with colours – I greatly enjoy doing vibrant mixes and things that contrast and stand out above the rest, and since starting with tooling and embossing leather I have taken a great deal of time to learn how to best impress fine details and create as three dimensional of results as I possibly can.
A great majority of my work utilizes vegetable tanned leather over other available types. It is a preference I found myself drawn to initially due to its strength, durability, and flexibility when it comes to molding, shaping, and being able to be debossed (tooled). Presently much of my leather is sourced from the Tuscany region of Italy under the The Genuine Italian Vegetable-Tanned Leather Consortium a body which oversees the quality and sustainability of leather production. For more information please view their model here: CONSORTIUM MANIFESTO SUSTAINABLE SINCE FOREVER
