Eros & Awl is a small archive of handmade leather objects created slowly, one piece at a time.
The name brings together two ideas: Eros, the life force that moves us toward connection, beauty, intimacy, and meaning; and Awl, the simple tool used to pierce, mark, and prepare leather for stitching. Together, they reflect the heart of this work: objects shaped through attention, pressure, repair, and care.
Each piece begins as raw material, the hide, thread, and hardware become; something personal through the rhythm of the hand. Cutting, stitching, burnishing, and finishing are quiet acts. They ask for patience. They reveal mistakes. They reward presence.
As a therapist, I am drawn to the ways crafting mirrors the inner life. Leather carries marks. It softens with time. It becomes more beautiful through use, not despite it. A handmade object does not hide the evidence of becoming; it holds it.
Eros & Awl is not a shop, a product line, or a place for orders. It is a gallery of pieces made for friends, family, and the people I love. Some are practical. Some are symbolic. All of them carry a story.
This archive was made to honor the work of the hand, the meaning held in everyday objects, and the quiet beauty of making something that may be carried, touched, worn, and remembered.
Crafted slowly. Given personally. Held with care.
About the Maker
I spend much of my day working with people, stories, trauma, and the inner worlds we carry. Leathercraft gives me another way to work by using my hands. There is something honest and grounding about slowly cutting, stitching, shaping, and finishing an object.
When I make something for someone, the object is only part of the gift. What I am really offering is time: hours of attention, care, frustration, patience, revision, and presence gathered into something they can hold. A handmade piece carries more than material. It carries the quiet evidence that someone was thought of, attended to, and loved in the making.
Why Handmade Matters
This short film, The Encounter Collection, captures something I deeply admire about handmade work: the way an object can hold memory, relationship, and meaning beyond its function. It reflects the spirit behind Eros & Awl.
"A handmade object is never only the thing itself. It is the time, attention, and affection that shaped it."
Behind the Scenes
Each piece begins with leather, tools, glue, thread, and pieces spread across a small workspace in my home. The space is simple and personal, just big enough to lay everything out and begin the slow work of cutting, marking, shaping, and hand saddle stitching.
