125 YEAR OLD LEATHER TREE ART Sculpture

My career in the leather business has spanned over 30 years, having spent the better part of my life working with leather. My speciality was everything related to upholstery leather, from furniture to aircraft to automotive. A gift of placemats from my mom with thin slices of wood mounted on felt backing, would change everything. I noticed how the fiber structure of crosscut wood closely resembled the structure of thick saddle leather. I began to replicate the appearance of wood by cutting thin leather laces and turning them on their side, exposing the leather fiber. After about a year of R&D, my first leather tree rug debuted. The most rewarding aspect of my current business has been creating leather design works that are non-substitutable and one of a kind. Over the past years, these works of art were exclusively available to architects and designers, I'm excited to now share these with the public for the first time at Saatchi Art, THE OTHER ART FAIR CHICAGO 2022. Over the years my artistry expanded into oil painting, an additional passion. I'm pleased to also share a sampling of my paintings here. Enjoy! Scott Gelander SG