Al and Ann Stohlman

There, he took care of horses and began earning income through his leatherwork when he started purchasing plain saddles and decorating them to be sold at auction for a profit.

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.

[5] 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".

[4] 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 in Hemet, California.

The Stohlmans moved to Cache Creek, British Columbia in 1969, where they spent the next 29 years creating the bulk of their life's work.

[7] In the Spring of 1963, Ann was fishing trip in the Big Creek Lodge when she attended a leatherworking demonstration Al Stohlman was performing at the property.