Goodwill Leather Art

Over at 16/ F G. J. Khan Road, you’ll find us working away. Goodwill Leather Art is basically a workshop where the smell of leather is everywhere. If you aren't used to it, it can be pretty strong. We spend the whole day cutting, gluing, and stitching. My father started this years ago, and I grew up around the scraps on the floor. We use a lot of traditional tools, some of them are quite old now but they still work better than the new ones. The light in the shop isn't great, so we have to sit near the window when we’re doing the fine work. It’s a busy street outside with people always shouting and horns honking. We have stacks of hides in the corner waiting to be processed. Sometimes the dust gets to you, but we wear masks when we need to. We don’t really do any advertising. People know where we are. We just focus on making things that hold up well. It’s messy work and your hands get stained from the dyes, but it feels good to finish a piece. We keep a small radio playing in the background to help the time pass. It’s a simple life here on G. J. Khan Road, just us and the leather. We don't have much space for visitors, but if someone drops in, we pull up a stool and talk for a bit while we work.