This project began when I saw a pattern in the Great Book of Tattoo Designs by Lora S. Irish. She has a buffalo pattern in the book and the way it was drawn, the hair on the buffalo reminded me of feathers. I liked the idea, so I decided to go ahead and carve a buffalo with feathers instead of hair. The first picture I did was painted and framed and made it's way to a couple of leather shows. The judges at the first show it went to commented that the hair on the buffalo looked more like feathers. Um...... that's what I was going for!When I finished the carving, I had a request to show how I did it, so I carved another one and wrote it up as a lesson on Leatherworker.net. I decided instead of finishing the second one myself, it might be fun to get some other people involved in the project. One of my friends suggested that adding some buffalo flying might show that I really did intend for the hair to look like feathers. I asked Kathy Flanagan if she would like to add to the background of my carving and she agreed to give it a try. She carved a buffalo calf laying in a nest (where else would a winged baby buffalo hang out?) and a small buffalo flying in the background.
After she returned the picture to me, I asked Clay Miller if he would like to add something to the project. He agreed, and drew up a Sheridan style corner pattern and carved it. Thanks Kathy and Clay for playing along. I think projects like this are pretty fun. So this is where the project stands now. The next step is to see if I can find someone interested in coloring it cuz I don't want to attempt it myself. If it gets finished in time, I'm thinking of offering for the raffle at the IFOLG show next fall in Albuquerque, NM.
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