From Design to the Final Product
Clients come to me for many reasons, mostly for a custom leather piece or saddle. That is just the adaptation of artwork around curves and surfaces for the most part. Some Clients are special needs riders and have to have a saddle tree and saddle to suit the needs of each rider.
When clients come to me for saddle tree needs, I start out one of two ways. The first is taking a working tree we have and refining it to fit the order. The second is an overhaul, starting with a base or completely from scratch. From that point I use body putty and light woods, that are shaped, sanded and filed. They are then Fiber-glassed and coated with an elastomer or hardened plastic.
Here are some examples of what the first design looked like to what the final product came to be.
When clients come to me for saddle tree needs, I start out one of two ways. The first is taking a working tree we have and refining it to fit the order. The second is an overhaul, starting with a base or completely from scratch. From that point I use body putty and light woods, that are shaped, sanded and filed. They are then Fiber-glassed and coated with an elastomer or hardened plastic.
Here are some examples of what the first design looked like to what the final product came to be.
The following photos are those types of trees that have been adapted by adding to them with bondo and wood.
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Quick turn arounds on prototypes are sometimes required for clients looking to sell their end product to another market group. This saddle tree was made with a new molding process to turn out prototypes like it. The saddle tree was cast out of a high density urethane. The mold made could possibly produce 5 prototypes in a week, and easily allow a finished mold to produced shortly after.
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In this photo, I'm working on converting an Aussie Stock saddle tree into a Roman Cavalry saddle tree. Unlike the traditional saddles with a suspension seat this one has a ground seat built into the tree and allows for the weight of the rider to be distributed to the back muscles.
More of this work can be seen in the gallery below and at my shop's website www.LiteRideTree.com. |
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This hat band has a "carved" plume on both sides of this top hat.
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This Growler Cover was a test to see if there was a market for custom leather covers.
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This deck of cards was designed for the Teslacon Fans. Drawings were taken from photos of the cast members. Then the drawings were inked. They were then digitally adapted and printed off.
Custom Saddle made for Kevin Conolly. For his television show episode where he wanted to joust. Having been born without legs, his ability to ride without an adapted saddle could be dangerous, but wanting to joust, that would be the challenge. I had to adapt a chair into the seat of the saddle. one reinforced with steel braced plates.
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Garden Gnome for a rancher's garden that was abandoned. Clay Sculpture.
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Here are some designs from an MC Escher study that use a western/cowboy motif. Escher's linear and planer designs make for very complex shapes and patterns.
