I tell my students that the ability to convey light and shadow with leather inlay/overlay is very limited, and it is, but I guess I’m a rebellious student who pushes against boundaries even when I’m the teacher. We have a beautiful pond next to our house and my favorite time of the day is early morning or late evening when the wind dies and the water is still and the pond perfectly reflects the land above it. I’ve always wished I had the ability to capture those moments but assumed that with my medium I could not — until recently, when I started thinking, “But what if I could? Is there anything I could do within my own craft to convey a reflection?”

Introducing: “On Jordan’s Stormy Banks I Stand”

The scene above the waterline is leather overlay, the reflection in the water is entirely stitching, done on my old non-computerized Singer 110W with its antique clutch motor.