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Selected life & work

A collection of his masterpieces

Fifty years of creating: the workshop he built, the work that filled it, and a few glimpses into the hands, tools and processes behind it.

Peter’s leather carving of a brick cottage with a green corrugated roof, a picket fence and a tree, worked and coloured onto a tan hide.
The cottage, carved
Peter’s leather workshop in 1977: a long timber bench under warm light, tools racked in rows, a tooled saddle on a stand.
The workshop1977
A leather carving of a rustic cabin interior with hanging pots and pans, a broom, a shovel and a fireplace, set in a hand-formed leather frame.
Cabin interior, in a leather frame he made for it1980
Four hand-tooled leather handbags photographed together, each labelled with its year: a plain carved satchel from 1970, an envelope clutch with roses from 1977, an oak-leaf shoulder bag from 1980, and a bag with a carved cabin scene set into its flap from 1984.
Handbags, fourteen years apart1970 to 1984
A carved leather portrait of a smiling man in a checked shirt standing in a leatherworking shop, tools on the wall behind him.
Portrait in a workshop1984
A round carved leather emblem reading Lone Star Leather Crafters, with the Texas flag and state outline at the centre and bluebonnets either side.
Lone Star Leather Crafters1988
A pair of black cowboy boots with tops carved and coloured with pink and yellow roses among green leaves.
Boot inlays, roses
A circular leather piece: a ring of red and orange autumn leaves around a central medallion carved with the word “tuit”.
A round tuit1989
A carved and coloured leather picture of a grizzly bear standing in a river holding a salmon, shown beside the unassembled pieces it was built from.
A bear, and the parts it was made from1991
A carved leather portrait of Rene Rivkin, bearded, in a dark suit and striped tie, against a black ground.
Portrait of Rene Rivkin1994
A pale tan shoulder bag and matching purse against a deep red ground, both carved and coloured with fine green leaves, red berries and a tulip at the centre.
Bag and purse1995
Peter’s workshop in 1997: hundreds of stamping tools hung in ranks above a horseshoe of timber benches, with a carved chair at the centre.
The workshop again, twenty years on1997
A framed display announcing Australian Leather Carving by Peter Main: the carved and coloured book cover at the centre showing a corrugated-iron farmhouse, a cockatoo and a rosella, surrounded by eight small panels of carved pattern samples, with the words Coming Soon above and a red banner reading it is here.
The display he made for *Australian Leather Carving*, his first book1997
The cover of Stohlman Step-by-Step by Peter Main, the title carved and coloured in leather among roses and scrolling foliage.
One of his five books
A leather carving of a polo player at full gallop, with two inset photographs showing the early rough stage and the finished horse’s head held between two fingers.
Polo, with two glimpses of how it was made2000
A carved and coloured leather picture of a white-haired man in a cardigan reaching up to hold the muzzle of a bridled grey horse, framed within a carved leather bridle and rein.
A man and his horse2002
A large undyed leather panel with a shaped foot, carved edge to edge with dense symmetrical scrollwork and leaves, left in its natural tan so only the tooling gives it depth.
Carved and left undyed, so only the tooling carries it2002
A dense leather carving of roses, tulips, daisies and scrolling leaves in pink, purple, gold and green around a plain orange centre.
Floral panel2004
A carved and coloured leather picture of a longhorn steer standing in green rolling country under a wide sky.
Longhorn2004
A carved and coloured leather portrait of a smiling older man in a white cowboy hat and a blue jacket with a red collar, sitting in a patterned armchair against a carved gold ground.
Portrait in a white hat2007
Two close photographs of Peter’s hands with a fine brush: painting a miniature wine label, and colouring a tiny crane no bigger than a fingernail.
The size of the brushes he worked at2013
A pair of tan and black cowboy boots carved with scrolling foliage, a motorcycle rider on each shaft and a skull at the toe.
Boot inlays, rider and skull

Moments with Peter →