We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Scott George. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Scott below.

Scott, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

Leatherwork in all its forms had always fascinated me. However the process of tooling leather was what really drew me to the craft. Taking a blank veg tan piece of leather and carving and tooling a work of art out of it. In 2014 when I decided to actually try my hand at some leatherwork I started with only a few basic tools, a swivel knife, a maul and some very simple stamps. I then dove head first into the wide world of YouTube looking for how to videos from other experienced leatherworkers. I realized sooner rather than later that it was not a skill that was quickly or easily learned. It took many hours and many late nights of just learning how to properly use the tools. Once I started to get a feel for the basics of the tools it was all about practice, patience and allot of wasted leather and projects completely thrown out because of mistakes I had made in the project.

Now days with social media and the internet continuing to grow and other professionals willing to share their skills, successes and struggles with the craft I feel it is only that much easier to find detailed, in depth how to’s. One of the hardest things in my opinion is to find your own style. There are so many talented leatherworkers out there all with such differing styles and skills. These range from traditional western tooling, to people specializing in saddles, boots, accessories or to modern style hand bags made from high end leather, its tough to find out which road you want to go down without trying a little bit of everything and finding what you love to do. If you can nail down the type of leatherwork you want to pursue and the type of projects that you enjoy doing and start small and hone in your skills one by one I feel you will be on the right track. Start small and dream big.

The most essential skill hands down is patience. I can’t tell you how many times I was frustrated to the point of wanting to walk away from it because I was impatient. I felt like I should be able to just nail this down already! But being patient and continuing to practice you will see results, just not overnight.

The one obstacle that has always stood in the way is being able to set aside time specifically for leatherwork. Between an actual 9-5 job and a family its hard to squeeze the time in. But if it’s something you love, make time for it. Same as you make time for your family. It’s always worth it.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’m Scott George, and along with my Wife, Alisha, we are the owners of Four G’s Leather. We are just a small operation here in Bellville, TX that makes handmade leather goods. Everything we sell is 100% handmade by us. We make everything from wallets, purses, earrings and belts to holsters, knife sheaths and about anything else a customer may have in mind. We love to do custom tooled pieces for customers. Alisha draws up most of our custom tooled orders and Scott does allot of the tooling and assembly. It’s definitely a team effort and something we love to do together. What we feel sets us apart from other is that we NEVER skimp on quality of materials and focus heavily on a clean, finished look to all of our projects. We strive to make sure each piece stands out, is what the customer wants and will last. If it’s not something we would be proud to use or wear we wouldn’t expect our customers to either. Everything we make we want to be just as functional, durable and useful as it is unique and personal for each customer. Although we started leatherwork in 2014, it wasn’t until 2023 that we decided to really jump into it heavy and start an actual business. We made some necessary purchases like a sewing machine, some higher quality tools and allot of leather! All through 2023 we attended as many local markets and vendor expos as we possibly could. We started up our website and social media pages and have been trying to document projects for our customers and followers to see along the way. As well we hope to start some how to videos soon. Hopefully others can find their passion in the craft and learn from our mistakes, the same way we are learning from others.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

One of the most rewarding feelings is when a customer is truly excited about the end result of the project. Especially if it’s a gift and they reach out to you after it’s been given just to tell you how much their loved one likes it. Makes all the time and effort worth it.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

We would have to say that our primary goal is to make sure each custom order is truly custom to the individual. We all like and appreciate something that is our own, something thats just for us, something no one else has. When a customer comes to us with an idea and asks, “I’ve always thought this would be cool, can you do this?” We want to bring that idea to life for them.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.fourgsleather.com
• Instagram: @four_gs_leather
• Facebook: Four G’s Leather
• Youtube: @fourgsleather