Booth 423
(See map below)
About the Artist
I have been working with leather and designing and creating works of art for over 35 years. It all started when I first came to the United States specifically New York City is where I found my passion and unveiled my ability to create and making pieces of art with my hands. I was born and raised in Beirut, Lebanon. I always had a passion for fashion and design and when I was 18 I left to fulfill my dream. When I arrived at my first job there was in a handbag factory making handbags as a subcontractor, I have never worked with leather prior to that and have never studied any kind of design. As soon as my foot hit the sewing machine I was a very quick learner and within a few months, I realized my ability of patience to paying attention to detail. I always enjoyed working with my hands and working with leather had instantly become second nature to me. I would live in the city specifically Brooklyn for almost 10 years honing my craft and teaching others in my journey as well. I was basically self-taught and at that time I had some younger students working under me and learning their craft and love the handbag business. To this day I am still creating some new styles of bags. I currently have my workshop in PA and I have taught my son and he now enjoys creating and designing bags with me as well. My creativity will expand forever because I am always creating and designing something new in my mind and then I will draw out different designs. Some nights I will sit up at night and think about a design for a bag and craft together in my mind, then the next day I will come in the studio and start to put together patterns and manually cut out patterns. All my designs are original but I will sometimes get ideas from here and there and then put my own creation together. I also like experimenting with many different colors and leathers. Sometimes I will go above and beyond and put together multiple colors/leathers. I specialize in doing two-tone bags and adding accents to decorate certain styles. I also specialize in custom work and I have done many custom bags for my customers over the years. Lives and works in Easton, PA.
