Korean leather crafters share skills
From handbags to bible covers - if it involves leather, Kate and husband Darren are the people for you.
Kate Park and Darren Han have been creating leather products out of a workshop at City Gallery in Invercargill using traditional methods and are opening up their skills through a series of workshops.
However, there’s more to the art of leather crafting than meets the eye.
Park has more than 20 years experience in the art, and Han learned the craft from a Korean leather master.
‘‘I picked it up as a hobby ... I didn’t have any intention to have a business like this,’’ Park said.
For about 10 years, the couple ran a store and workshop in Seoul’s Insadong district, a hot spot for tourists in Korea.
After their son came to Auckland for schooling about two years ago, Park and Han soon decided to join him and they moved to Invercargill.
Exhibiting their skills and goods at City Gallery, Park said it was simple, but time consuming.
Park said she found the craft to be a psychological and emotional process, because of the amount of concentration required in putting a piece together.
‘‘For me it’s art, and a healing process,’’ she said.
A handbag could take up to five days to make, because holes had to be punched in the leather before the thread went through, and the material was dyed, dried and decorated.
Back in Korea, the couple had used a special machine to do some of the stamping work, but in New Zealand they used special stamp tools or hand carving to emboss the leather.
Park said she and Han wanted to share their skill with the community, and would be holding demonstrations of their leather craft at City Gallery this week.