Al and Ann Stohlman

Al Stohlman (August 15, 1919 – March 6, 1998) was a pioneer in leathercraft and continues to influence hundreds of thousands of leathercrafters worldwide. He and his wife Ann (June 30, 1924 – June 10, 2004) produced hundreds of magazine articles, doodle pages and other valuable tools still used in the leathercraft industry. A museum featuring much of his life's work is part of a collection of leather art located in the lobby of the Tandy Leather Factory Headquarters in Fort Worth, Texas.

Born in Olive, California, young Al Stohlman loved to draw and spent his spare time sketching animals of the Pacific Northwest. He hoped to one day be an illustrator in western books and magazines by authors like Zane Grey and Bret Harte. In 1939, Stohlman was called to serve in 46th Engineer Regiment of the Army during World War II. There, he used his artistic interest to create sketches of his activities in the South Pacific. While serving in New Guinea, he saw natives creating decorative designs in leather and became curious about exploring the art. He and a few friends used pocket knives to carve the leather and created rudimentary tools out of nails shaped into various forms. They also used India Ink to detail their work.

After 40 months serving in the Army, Stohlman was discharged and returned to civilian life. He moved to Laguna Canyon where he settled in a shack that he made from an abandoned chicken coop. There he took care of horses and began earning income through his amateur leatherwork when he started purchasing plain saddles and decorating them to be sold at auction for a profit. He often got inspiration for his designs by attending rodeos and sketching other designers’ western art work.

His leather carving and stamping skills got him a job working for the SchaffLeather Company with Guy Lauderbach. Stohlman initially learned to make functional leather items beginning with suitcases and other simple projects until Lauderbach eventually taught him how to build and design saddles. In 1952, Stohlman created a leather carving of a palomino wearing an ornate wooden saddle that attracted the attention of Dick McGahen, owner of the Craftool Company. McGahan hired Stohlman to design leatherworking tools and to write publications, earning national attention with his first book, “How To Carve Leather”. Working for Craftool Co. brought Stohlman to Los Angeles where he lived for 2 years before becoming a freelance artist and moving to a private ranch Hemet, California.

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