We have been working leather for more than 45 years. We make mages in the style of illuminated medieval manuscripts, executed in acrylic paint on tooled leather.

The images emerge from the surface, interacting with the character of each piece of leather, using modern and medieval tooling techniques. Of thousands of marks that make up a finished piece, each is placed one at a time by hand. Each spot of color is applied using tiny brushes with acrylic paint.

Marjorie and Eugene combine a lifelong interest in letterforms with research into things medieval. Eugene actively researches museum and library collections for beautiful illuminated manuscripts and artifacts. He adapts and draws the images, transferring them to leather. Both Marjorie and Eugene tool the images into leather. With Marjorie painting them, and Eugene handling finishing operations.

Our special area of interest is Hiberno-Saxon illuminated manuscripts from the 7th through 9th centuries. In addition to the calligraphy and illumination produced in the British Isles, there are many interesting images produced in manuscripts throughout Europe from the 10th to 14th Centuries. 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, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Washington DC, and Wyoming.

Marjorie Dwiggins

Eugene Dwiggins