Dove Satchel

Making the dove satchel has been my biggest project so far. It started as an idea for a Bible and notebook leather cover, but when the design wasn't working out, I decided to repurpose the main piece of leather into the flap on a larger book bag. The next challenge was figuring out what art to put on the bag. I like carving feathers, so I thought it would be interesting to put a bird with spreading wings. I chose the dove because of its significance in the Bible as the form the Holy Spirit took when descending at Jesus' baptism. Learning to sketch a dove was challenging. Here are some pictures from the journey:

After I was satisfied with the sketch of the dove, I transferred it onto the leather and did the carving.

For the back of the book bag, I wanted to have some symbols that were both meaningful and artistic. I chose to use a rune system that I invented during Thanksgiving this year. Each symbol represents one syllable. The symbols I chose read as, "Love Mercy, Do Justice."

On the front panel, I chose to put a vine with green leaves because I have been using the green leaf as a symbol for thankfulness in my own journaling for quite a few years now. I also put a sunrise to symbolize new beginnings and also as a reminder of the return of Christ.

Once the carving and structural holes were completed, then came painting, dying and finishing the leather.

I also cut, carved and dyed the straps for the buckle closure of the bag.

All the main panels and buckles are ready for assembly now. There still remains the shoulder strap, top handle, and D-ring connections. I look forward to updating you all as the project progresses.

Thanks for reading!