Friday, August 26, 2005

Horn and Hide


Peter Hodgson
Originally uploaded by notionnanny.
This morning I went to Ambleside to meet with horn and hide craftsman Peter Hodgson, who helped me make the strap on the Notion Nanny basket. We cut and stitched the leather while his dog Bob slept silently at our feet. The BBC Cumbria radio station played in the background as we chatted and got the job done. Peter told me some stories about his pet ferrets, "two shes and a he," who get up to mischief knocking books off of shelves and occasionally stealing his glasses. You might wonder about a man who makes his living carving animal horns and working with hides and leather, but Peter is a big animal lover. Amongst the carved horn combs, spoons, powder horns, lanterns, and walking sticks, there are bird houses, horse whips, collars, leashes, and squeeky toys for dogs and cats, and bins of animal feed in bulk. Peter also makes very beautiful and idiosyncratic carved animal jewelry and is a prolific watercolor painter of animals on postcards.

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