His creations ride on the backs of horses, on the waists of soldiers in Iraq and on the shoulders of fiddle players.
They are the intricate, handmade designs in leather created by Bruce "Pops" Donaldson.
Take the saddles he's made - 28 so far - mostly owned by family members and friends.
"Each of my saddles has a story behind it" says Donaldson, 80, who lives in Tucson.
One was crafted for his second-oldest son, an avid hunter who leads an annual pack trip.
After one of his son's horses broke his leg and had to be put down, Donaldson built him a saddle.
"On one side is my son on that horse leading a pack train out of the Gila Wilderness. On the other side, he is squatting down with a favorite dog in front and a young colt behind. Across the saddle, I wrote, 'My friends.' "
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Saddles and leather are a natural for Donaldson, who spent a slab of his formative years growing up in the ranching hub of Hachita, N.M., about 40 miles or so from Lordsburg.
"From ages 11 to 14, I did summer roundups. We did it the old-fashioned way, with a remuda of horses and a wagon pulled by mules that had our bedrolls. We were gone six weeks, rounding up cattle along the way and branding them."
Wages made were not near enough to earn him the new saddle he always coveted.
That would come much later - after a stint in the Navy, decades of work in the drywall industry, a marriage and three kids, a divorce, and a second marriage to a woman named Dessie with four kids.
"I met Dessie at the Maverick in 1974; we married in 1975, and we've been dancing ever since," Donaldson says with a slight twinkle in his eye.
Although he'd crafted a few belts and billfolds while still a teen, it wasn't until Donaldson retired in 1992 that he made his first saddle.
"I found a guy in Texas who made four step-by-step tapes on how to make a saddle in 60 days. I bought the tapes."
He must have been a stellar student. "The first one I made I'm just as proud as the last one," says Donaldson.
But his true artistry came about when he met the late Harry Blackstone, a wildlife-on-leather artist.
"Harry taught me how to do 3-D art on leather," says Donaldson, whose backyard workshop carries all sorts of specialized tools, including more than three dozen punches.
"But these are my most special tools," says Donaldson, wriggling his fingertips.
Thanks to the skills he learned from Blackstone and other artists, Donaldson has won several best-of-show awards at the Arizona State Fair.
Among his more unusual items are leather-carved "paintings" framed with old barn wood, and fiddles covered in intricate leather patterns.
"I had two fellows who used them, and they said they worked just fine."
About 10 years ago, Donaldson struck up a deal with a Santa Fe, N.M., bootmaker who sent him the leather cutouts. "I did the designs and sent them back. I made good money for about five years, and then the economy went down," says Donaldson, who now works with Osuna Boots, here in Tucson.
Oddly, some of his best sellers these days are also the least decorated: heavy-duty belts for soldiers serving in Iraq.
"My son-in-law was a Navy SEAL," says Donaldson. "Then they sent him to Iraq, where he did security. I had made him a belt, no tooling, heavy duty, to carry a gun. He showed that belt to the other guys there, and I've had a steady stream of customers ever since."
Prices for his work range from $25 and up for items such as cases for glasses and checkbook covers, to $500 and above for a fiddle. The few saddles he's sold were priced at about $3,500.
"I don't do saddles anymore; it's too hard, though I would do one if someone offered me $5,000," says Donaldson.
It's the labor, of course, that dictates much of the price. For example, a tooled belt takes eight hours, start to finish.
Working at a granite block in his workshop, Donaldson demonstrates by taking a small strip of moistened leather, then patiently carves a sample design entirely by hand, without a pattern. He then uses a variety of tools to lift and define the design.
As for what he gets out of turning leather into an art form, Donaldson says: "When people tell me what a good job I did, that's my pay, my satisfaction."
For more info
For more information on Bruce Donaldson and his work, log onto www.popscustomleather.com
Bonnie Henry's column appears Sundays and Mondays. Reach her at 573-4179 or at bhenry@azstarnet.com or write to P.O. Box 26807, Tucson, AZ 85726.
