Kenneth Amenn

Ken Amenn learned the value of fine handwork from his parents.  As a child, he spent hours helping them in projects as diverse as glove making, chair caning, furniture making, and woodcarving.  Raised in the Depression, both of his parents instilled values of thrift, pride in craftsmanship, and an eye for design, color and construction details that ensure long use of products hand made.  His interest in leatherwork began in 1968 as a college student while doing a special studies project at USC in Los Angeles.  Becoming intrigues with the prevailing styles of the “sixties” and the more traditional styles of tooling practiced by Mexican saddle makers, he returned to the East coast and began to merge these styles and construction techniques in making a wide range of products.  In 1972, he joined with a partner to open a leather shop in Rockville Centre, New York while pursuing graduate studies at night.  Demands of full time study required the closing of the shop two years later but the Craftsman has remained devoted to his craftwork.  His work has been shown in shops in Vermont and New York and he has displayed in literally hundreds of shows in the Northeast.  Most recently, his work has been displayed at the Lincoln Center and Columbus Ave. shows in New York City.

Ken’s interest in leatherwork has always run tandem with his professional studies and scholarly work.  In fact, both practice skill and instinct guide the intuitive approach to leatherwork, selecting, cutting and shaping the material to its unique purpose.  As such, it has always served as a respite from the intellectual disciplines that consume so much of his time.  As he works in his shop, he is able to let go of these preoccupations and trust that his hands and eyes can guide the work.  Many evenings and weekend hours have quickly and pleasantly passed in this way.

In the early eighties, he began to refine his work on wallets and books, using leather tanned in the traditional way.  This product is known as vegetable tanned leather and it offers a tool ability, firmness, and durability that is unsurpassed in today’s commercially manufactured products.  It bears special note that Ken has devotion not only to design innovation, but also to the craft tradition of durability and long service.  This is rooted in the utilitarian values of his upbringing and the true tradition of craft.  As a recent show, a young man approached the Craftsman and proudly displayed a wallet that his father had purchased some ten years ago.  It seems that the young man’s father had passed away and his son, recalling the pleasure the wallet had given his day, pressed it into his own service. This pride and tradition is reflected in every item that Ken makes and sells.