About the Artists

Marjorie has been working leather for more than 35 years.

She is fascinated by its texture and malleability, even its scent.

The images emerge from the surface, interacting with the character of each piece of leather, using modern and medieval tooling techniques. She prefers to control the entire surface, and of thousands that make up a finished piece, each mark is placed one at a time.

She has transitioned from tooling as decoration of practical objects, to the presentation of images that may be enjoyed on their own.

Eugene, sharing Marjorie’s interest in letterforms, actively researches museum and library collections for beautiful illuminations and artifacts. Our special area of interest is Hiberno-Saxon illuminated manuscripts from the 7th through 9th centuries. He drafts the artwork for Marjorie to carve, cuts it into the leather, and completes the work with handmade wooden frames.

As much as we love the calligraphy and illumination produced in the British Isles, we have found inspiration in artifacts dating from as much as 5000 years ago. While Celts and Vikings are widely known people, they were proceeded by a fascinating Iron Age culture called La Tène, who were also nice enough to leave some beautiful objects for us to appreciate. There exist very interesting neolithic artifacts that form the basis of relatively modern Celtic symbols.

Our work has been exhibited in galleries and nationally recognized juried art fairs in Arizona, California, Connecticut, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming.

Marjorie Dwiggins

Eugene Dwiggins