Introduction

[smays]

I guess I would just like to introduce myself.... Shawn Mays, Sulphur Louisiana, have been doing leatherwork for almost fifteen years and have always wanted to venture into engraving but never have. I started doing leatherwork by building rodeo chaps for friends around the house and what started as a hobby became a steady secondary income. When I started looking at the art of engraving, what cought my eye first was the similarities of the layout.... smooth rooling scrolls and the awesome floral designs which exceed anything I have ever dreamed of doing in leather. I could just look through the gallery for hours(which I already do). But anyway, i cant wait to sink my graver into some metal and see how it comes out! It's just amazing how much I have learned from this forum alone!

I know this is suposed to be an engraving forum, but I wanted to show a little of the similarities between the two(layout... not detail by any means). I hope you guy's don't mind. Just a few things I have done in the past few years. If any of you are familiar with the PBR televised on OLN(professional bullriders association) the rodeo chaps are Mike Lee's. Not your traditional rodeo chap, but the most current ones I have done.

Again, thanks for all the wonderful info. As soon as I engrave my first practice plate, I'll post it to let you guy's know how good your help really is!!

Shawn Mays
View attachment 418 View attachment 421 View attachment 419 View attachment 420

 

[Mike Cirelli]

Beautiful work Shawn. Looks like it belongs here. It's just your canvas is leather.
Keep posting
Mike

 

[William Grubb]

Welcome Shawn,

Your leather work looks real nice , you may have a jump on engraving with your understanding of scrolls ,flowers ect. I'm looking for someone that is good at knife sheaths. Do make them?

 

[smays]

I do make them once in a while. Dont have any pic's of them though. Thanks for the comment! Very much appreciated.

 

[Andrew Biggs]

Welcome aboard Shawn.

Beautiful carved leatherwork. A long time ago, in a galaxy far away I used to make my living carving leather. Still have all the tools. I used to really enjoy it.

Best regards
Andrew

 

[smays]

New Zealand is a galaxy far...far away.... from me, that is! That's cool, i would love to see some of your work somtime, if you have any old pic's. I collect stamping tools. Let me know if you want to get rid of some of them.

Thanks for the welcome,
Shawn Mays

 

[Andy]

That is some incredible leather work. Some of the cleanest I have ever seen. You should have no problem navigating the design process needed for engraving based on what you have shown here. Thanks for showing your work to us.
Andy

 

[Sam]

Hello Shawn, and welcome aboard. That's some fine looking tooling you're doing there, and thanks for showing us your work. With a background like yours you won't have any trouble adapting to engraving designs. Keep us posted on your progress.

~Sam
Franklinton, Louisiana

 

[ddushane]

Beautiful work Shawn, I've done some leather work in the past myself, I'm wanting to learn the art of engraving myself, was told today by Josh at GRS that this is the place to be to learn until you can make to one of the classes these guys teach. He said that several that visit here are great and ready to teach us. Now we just have to come up with questions. Hang in there, Dwayne

 

[Tira]

You do beautiful leather work and should be at home here quickly. I like your layout and design.

 

[smays]

Thanks for the welcome and the wonderful comments! I can't wait to get started!

Shawn Mays

 

[smays]

ddushane.... I used to be somewhat of a neighbor of yours... I went to College in Big Spring. Small world, huh

 

[monk]

very cool work. i like the rich glow leather has and the way light plays with the dimensional aspect of this work. your work has a beautiful , natural flow to it. engravers always strive for this in tiny areas. you seem quite skilled at giant scale. i'm sure your eye for design will be evident in your engraving endeavors. for most newbie engravers, the drawing or designing phase seems to intimidate them. this will not be a problem for you. best of luck !