john and anna bags

Once in a while i am moved to create little projects that challenge my primal creative skills. They always use very basic materials and i only use two tools to make them, my outdoor knife and my little marlin spike (my two very favorite tools). These projects are very special to me and are never commissioned and not for sale. They just happen...

Here are two that i made last month for John Powell and Anna Maidon (two very fun people I worked with for the opening and closing ceremonies)

black vegetable tanned leather, hand stitched sides, braided strap, and wood peg closure

braid: 18 strand english sennit, finished with mathew walker knots

fiveleft in the opening and closing ceremonies

Here is the story...David Atkins Etn. (the producers of the opening and closing ceremonies) contracted me to help create leathergoods to be used by the Four Host First Nations during the 2010 opening ceremonies

I worked with First Nations designer John Powell to make the bags that held drum sticks used to welcome the atheletes.

Tsleil-Waututh (pronounced sleigh-wa-tooth) Nation's bags

Lil’wat Nation's bags (I made two)

I was honoured to collaborate with some masters for The Squamish Nation and Musqueam Nation's bags...

woven wool covering (black,white,red)
by Robyn Sparrow for the Musqueam Nation

woven cedar covering
by Anthony Hunt for the the Squamish Nation

I was also asked to make a series of bags out of a buffalo hide...I made around 20
(with the help of Dana Smith)

Later they asked me to create a gift for ‘a prominent canadian artist’ (they wouldn’t tell me who)...a guitar strap that would be used during closing ceremonies...it was Neil Young.

photo credit: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

They gave me the length, the art work and I designed the strap. The graphics you see are images designed by First Nations artists from each of the the Four Host First Nations .

the round presentation case was my idea. I though the strap should have a beautiful case for it. the artwork on the top was designed by Jody Broomfield...

...thank you Anna Maidon, John Powell, and Paxton Downard for the wonderful experience

mushed clutch

I love this story, it is the ultimate testament to the durability of fiveleft leathergoods.
This is what the clutch looked like when it was assembled in my studio on Breakfast Television.



months later it flew off the roof of my car and was smushed by 32 hours of traffic on the Burrard St. Bridge....then it looked like this.

After I found, it I got it wet and folded it back into shape. I did not need to repair it at all, nothing was broken…just mangled. It was still functional.

It was then purchased for a Christmas gift in 2008, and went to the 2009 Leo awards. And is still in use today.

It will be on display in the granville optical window (corner of granville and robson) for the month of march 2010.

me and the big beaver

ha...ha...had to.

got in a shot at the David Atkins wrap party....